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Concerned about Chinese tourists using the visa-free system to spy on US military facilities, the United States announced it would suspend visa-free travel to the Northern Mariana Islands taking into account the immigration enforcement risks as well as the risks of renovating the Tinian Island base.
Nikkei Asia reported that the US government announced on the 27th that it will suspend visa-free entry for Chinese tourists to the Northern Mariana Islands in the western Pacific, citing concerns that China will use the visa-free system to get into the region.detective Activities to spy on US military facilities there and in nearby Guam. The decision comes as the US military is actively renovating the Tinian Air Force Base in the Northern Mariana Islands.Department of Homeland Security Warned that the current visa waiver system creates unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks.
The Department of Homeland Security said on the 27th that the system could be used by China to conduct espionage and intelligence gathering targeting sensitive US defense infrastructure in the region. The statement also stressed: “The security of the Indo-Pacific region, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands is of vital strategic importance to the United States.”
The United States will launch the “Economic Vitality and Safe Travel Authorization Program” (EVS-TAP) in 2025, which will allow Chinese tourists who pass pre-review to enter the Northern Mariana Islands visa-free and stay for up to 14 days.
Gregory Brown, assistant professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Australian, New Zealand and Pacific Studies, explained that the visa-free system allows Chinese tourists to skip the US State Department review and consular interviews that other tourists have to go through. There have been cases of abuse of the system in the past. He said that in 2024 and 2025, a human trafficking group was convicted of trafficking Chinese nationals from the Northern Mariana Islands to Guam, and some Chinese nationals later appeared in or near US military facilities.
Brown emphasized that the US Department of Defense is currently renovating the military airbase at Tinian Airport. In this situation, it is necessary to tighten immigration controls. “You don’t rebuild a military base and at the same time leave the side doors open,” he said. American B-29 bombers that dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, took off from Tinian Airport during World War II.
In addition to concerns about spying, the US Department of Homeland Security is also concerned that Chinese tourists may use the visa waiver system to give birth in the United States, allowing their children to acquire US citizenship at birth. Even if children have no other significant ties to the United States, they will still receive citizenship rights, which may make immigration enforcement more difficult.
According to the US birthplace citizenship system, children born in the United States and its jurisdictions can, in theory, automatically acquire US citizenship. The Trump administration is trying to restrict this right. Trump signed two executive orders in August seeking to further restrict birthright citizenship, after the Supreme Court overturned a previous related executive order in June this year.
Summary FAQ
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The US Department of Homeland Security believes that the current visa waiver system could be used by Chinese tourists to spy on or collect intelligence on sensitive US military facilities in the Northern Mariana Islands and neighboring Guam, so it decided to suspend it.
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The United States launched EVS-TAP in 2025, allowing Chinese tourists who pass pre-screening to enter the Northern Mariana Islands visa-free and stay for up to 14 days. The basic objective is to promote tourism and exchange.
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The United States is also concerned that Chinese tourists may use visa waivers to come to the United States to give birth, allowing their children to acquire U.S. citizenship if born there, making immigration enforcement more difficult and echoing the Trump administration’s policy direction of restricting birthplace citizenship.
