I was tempted to call this the bottom news of the day … but that might be misinterpreted. Forget about tariffs, this is serious!
“The US government has imposed a sweeping ban prohibiting American diplomats, their families and security-cleared contractors in China from engaging in romantic or sexual relationships with Chinese citizens, Associated Press has reported.”
More seriously, in a world in which every spy movie features honeytraps, why would any government ever have allowed its diplomatic staff to take the risk of romance – unless that government was in the business of providing honeytraps?
In a very real sense, your comment, “?why would any government ever have allowed…” could be the opening part of almost every inquiry into government behavior.
One of those I have been thinking about lately. In the mid 80s I used to debate with some students at the university that were from Iran (they said Persia). I have been wondering why the US government would allow students from Iran to come to the US at that particular time. The US government had placed significant sanctions on Iran in 1979. The US embassy was seized by Iranian students in 1979. The US severed relationship with Iran in 1979. In 1981 the Iran hostage crisis was resolved. During this period and for at least several years after the hostage crisis, the US was accepting Iranian students in significant quantities?
Your concern is touching – but there is no need to worry. Even if the diplomats (a lot of whom are female these days) now have to behave themselves, there still is the Secret Service! If what goes on in Central & South America is any guide, those Asian ladies will still have more business than they can handle.
Forget about tariffs, this is serious!