The United States on Wednesday hardened restrictions on the travel of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members and their families, The New York Times reported. The rules took immediate effect.

Under the new guidelines, the maximum validity of travel visas for CCP members and their families has been limited to one month and a single entry, NYT reported quoting two people familiar with the matter. 

Also read: US visitors from developing nations to pay thousands in visa bonds

Earlier, the validity of visas for CCP members was 10 years.

The new measures, however, don’t affect the members’ eligibility for other kinds of visas.

Also, the new rules allow US officials to determine someone’s party status based on their visa application and interview. It also includes the officials’ local understanding of CCP membership.

Thus, they’re likely to hit CCP’s top leadership, thus exacerbating the US-China ties, that have deteriorated significantly since President Donald Trump assumed office four years ago.

According to The NYT, the policy change could affect the travel of 270 million people from China. CCP has about 92 million people.

The two nations have locked horns over a range of issues, which include trade, technology and the novel coronavirus. 

The fresh restrictions are likely to prompt a reaction from China. It’ll also pose a challenge for President-elect Joe Biden’s administrations if it seeks to normalise ties.

Also read: Joe Biden says China will have to cooperate; US to rejoin WHO

The Trump administration had earlier put visa restrictions on various categories of Chinese citizens. These included officials responsible for internment and surveillance of Uighurs in China’s Xinjiang province, the journalists working in the US officials responsible for the political crackdown in Hong Kong.

The US announced in May it was cancelling visas of graduate- or higher-level students in the US who had ties to the Chinese military institutions.