US diplomatic officials forced to undergo anal COVID tests in China

The documents, which were acquired through the Freedom of Information Act and published on Tuesday, revealed that at least one of the US diplomatic officials who was administered the humiliating test had received his COVID rectal exam "at his apartment."

In June 2021, Judicial Watch filed an FOIA request for "records about US diplomatic personnel in or seeking to enter China being subjected to anal swab tests for the COVID-19 virus including all complaints and communications regarding such testing," the organization stated. The request, which initially went unanswered, led to the organization filing lawsuit to obtain the records.

Although some details have been redacted from the information dump, emails between US officials confirm that diplomatic officials were anally swabbed to test for the coronavirus by Chinese health officials.

"So, a colleague from [redacted] telling our group [redacted] that he was given an anal COVID swab at his apartment," stated an email from a general services officer at the US Consulate General in Shenyang, China.

"Just a heads up, as I am sure it is going to blow up soon… if you aren’t already dealing with it. Employee’s name is [redacted]. Just getting ahead before the word of mouth starts spreading," read the email, which was titled "New Testing Method?"

Another official, responding to the email, asked the first person for details of the city in which it supposedly occurred, and for details about the test itself. The official asked if the anal swab recipient was given forewarning before being given the rectal examination, and whether he had the option to refuse.

A third redacted official stated that the incident occurred in Beijing, at the American’s apartment.

"No notice or options as I can tell," the official wrote. "He had to both a nose and anal swab."

A further report from Judicial Watch details how on Jan. 22, 2021, a management officer at the US Consulate in Shenyang wrote: "FAO [foreign area office] is telling the Embassy that it was a mistake to ask for anal swabs and that it didn’t apply to diplomats. TBD how [redacted] will play it, but for now we’ll have to tell people they don’t have to do it. Reportedly you do it yourself in private so not as bad as I envisioned."

Other US officials expressed anger at the anal swab tests, calling on superiors to "do something about this."

A redacted official wrote on Jan. 27, 2021: "I have asked [redacted] to contact [redacted] immediately regarding the anal swab and environmental testing. He is calling them now."

It was met with a same-day response, informing the official to "Please contact the [redacted]. [Redacted] turned off the anal swab, and indicated that we are fine with an oral or nasal swab. He also turned off the inside the apartment environmental testing as I protested both of those items."