U.S. diplomats faced COVID 'anal swabs' in China: Judicial Watch report

American diplomatic personnel in China said they were asked to submit to "anal swab" testing for COVID-19 by the Chinese government, despite denials from Communist Party officials.

Conservative legal group Judicial Watch announced Tuesday it had obtained documents confirming the incident through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the U.S. State Department. 

U.S. officials in China complained about the invasive tests via email, and at least one American "was given an anal COVID swab at his apartment" in 2021, according to the records.

"These documents detail confirm abuse of US diplomatic personnel by the Chinese government," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. "The Biden administration doesn’t seem to have done much about this abusive anal swab testing other than pretend it didn’t happen and cover it up."

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters last year that "China has never required US diplomatic staff stationed in China to conduct anal swab tests."

Some Chinese officials claim that anal swab COVID tests are more accurate. 

Chinese paper The Beijing News reports that tests have been brought back ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which are scheduled to start in less than two weeks.