Speaking to ANI, the Tibetan government-in-exile’s spokesperson, TG Arya, said: “I think this is a very good step that America has taken because China needs to follow certain rules and regulations. What China has been doing in Tibet, Uighur, Mongolia is not appreciable."

"There is a lot of human right violations, religious freedoms are being trampled down and China is not heeding what the international community is saying," Arya said.

In a biting criticism of China's continued restrictions over access to Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan areas, the US State Department had announced visa restrictions on PRC government and Chinese Communist Party officials under the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018.

US Secretary of State Pompeo, in a statement, earlier said that Tibetan areas are increasingly vital to regional stability, given the PRC’s human rights abuses there, as well as Beijing’s failure to prevent environmental degradation near the headwaters of Asia’s major rivers.

Secretary Pompeo said under the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, PRC government and CCP officials determined to be “substantially involved in the formulation or execution of policies related to access for foreigners to Tibetan areas” will be issued visa sanctions.

The announcement came just a day after Tibetans and supporters worldwide marked the 85th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.