The United States has ordered the evacuation of non-emergency staff from its diplomatic mission in Shanghai as the city of 25 million enters its third week of a blanket lockdown to enforce China’s “zero-COVID” policy. American diplomats and their families had previously been authorized to leave on a voluntary basis, according to a notice over the weekend. On Tuesday, however, the U.S. mission in China said non-emergency staff were ordered to depart after capacity at its consulate general in Shanghai was reduced. “Our change in posture reflects our assessment that it is best for our employees and their families to be reduced in number and our operations to be scaled down as we deal with the changing circumstances on the ground,” the statement said. “The employees and family members will depart on commercial flights. The Department ordered the departure due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.” (https://www.newsweek.com/shanghai-china-covid-lockdown-us-state-department-consulate-general-staff-evacuation-1697142) Ambassador Nicholas Burns, who only arrived in Beijing in March, and other American diplomats “have continuously raised our concerns about the safety and welfare of U.S. citizens with People’s Republic of China officials. We have informed the government of the PRC about the ordered departure,” said U.S. Mission China.