AFTER the Chinese Government failed to prevent the US deciding to fingerprint all Chinese visitors when they apply for non-immigrant visas, 300 Chinese students were among those putting their index fingers onto a small scanner in the US Embassy on March 22, the first day of the new procedure.

As a countermeasure, the Chinese Government has adjusted its visa policy for US visitors.

The new Chinese policy, put into effect on April 1, has three basic aspects: US citizens with diplomatic or service passports have to apply and pay fees for common visas when planning private visits to China; the Chinese Embassy in the US holds interviews with some US citizens before issuing visas; and US citizens visiting China are not allowed to apply for port visas on arrival but must instead complete visa applications at home before leaving.

Because they were not familiar with the change, two American citizens have been prevented from entering China at customs in Beijing and Xiamen in South China's Fujian Province, according to the Beijing Youth Daily.

Three Americans were also not allowed to enter Shanghai on April 4 at Wusong Port, according to the Youth Daily. The three senior American citizens had taken a ship to travel around the world and they had planned to get a port visa after they arrived in Shanghai. They said they had no idea of the new Chinese visa procedure.

Fingerprint policy

The US Government announced on January 5 it was beginning its new "US-visitor programme" at its 115 airports and 14 seaports, requiring the fingerprinting of visa-applicants from most countries, excepting only its 28 visa-free allied countries, including Britain, Australia, Japan and most of the European Union countries.

Visa-applicants from Brazil and some Asian countries were among the first to be asked to go through the procedure.

This move has been strongly opposed by Chinese Government as a privacy-intrusion and a discriminatory act. The policy for selective countries has been seen as contradicting the US claim to a "global" requirement for US-visa applicants.

People from the 28 countries that have the visa-waiver privilege can travel to the US without a visa for up to 90 days.

However, on April 2, the US has also started to require fingerprints from people from all of the visa-waiver countries except for Canada.

The deadline for the implement of the policy falls on October 26.

But children under 14, seniors over 79 and government officials as well as their spouses who hold diplomatic and business passports are not required to go through the procedure. Those who have lost one index finger can fingerprint the one remaining and those who have hand injuries should apply for a visa after they have recovered.

The Xinhua News Agency reported that countries in the European Union have not argued against the new US move.

So far, sources with the US Consulate General in Shanghai said the consulate had not begun to fingerprint applicants from Shanghai, or those from other parts of East China.