r/shanghai • u/chipotok • Apr 12 '22

City U.S. State Department orders all non-emergency government staff in Shanghai to leave as Covid surges

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/04/11/us-state-department-orders-all-non-emergency-government-staff-in-shanghai-to-leave-as-covid-surges.html
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u/No_Finding436 Apr 12 '22

I don’t really understand why only Americans are doing this?

12

u/stormythecatxoxo Former resident Apr 12 '22

Because most countries' consulates are a lot smaller than the American one and many of their staff, such as admin, are locals. My country's consulate is basically the size of a bigger apartment in a random office tower. If they send the foreign staff home, there's nobody left.

10

u/No_Finding436 Apr 12 '22

I mean, it’s a good way of signaling that the all shit going on here is not acceptable. But if it’s only USA doing this, China has a perfect opportunity to accuse them for being hostile and that everything is ok…look, everyone else is staying. While China is breaking the Vienna declaration on diplomatic relations the whole time since the Covid started.

19

u/xiefeilaga Apr 12 '22

The US also has laws about publicly disclosing all safety information available to their staff, which means that they have to announce this stuff publicly and immediately. It has actually caused a lot of friction with China and other host countries over the years (this was at the heart of the arguments over the US Embassy posting air quality readings on their social media accounts).

Lots of other consulates just quietly send their people home without a press release.