The Washington Post published on 1 February 2020 a commentary titled "Trump's Travel Ban Expansion Is an Unexpected Win--for China" by Charles Dunst, London School of Economics.
In 2017, the Trump administration barred entry to citizens from eight Muslim-majority countries, including Libya, Somalia and Chad. (The U.S. subsequently removed Chad from the list.) Citing "information sharing deficiencies and national security risk factors," the U.S. has now expanded the list to include citizens from Nigeria and Eritrea, who can no longer apply for visas to work and live in the U.S. Sudan and Tanzania are no longer allowed to participate in the diversity visa lottery. The author concludes that these new restrictions will inevitably strain relations with the affected countries and provide another diplomatic windfall for China.
