LONG OVERDUE: The State Department is abandoning the Chinese-owned NYC Waldorf Astoria as its base of operations for US diplomats and staff during the UN General Assembly.  The Department didn’t explain why, but China’s recent hack of OPM personnel records probably emphasized that the Chinese cannot be trusted to respect the privacy of US personnel while at the hotel.

The State Department routinely warns U.S. diplomats in China about physical and electronic surveillance and tells American citizens in the country to be aware of similar risks, notably in hotels.

“Hotel rooms (including meeting rooms), offices, cars, taxis, telephones, Internet usage and fax machines may be monitored onsite or remotely, and personal possessions in hotel rooms, including computers, may be searched without your consent or knowledge,” the department’s travel advice for China says. . . .

The officials said the State Department’s decision probably would affect the traveling operations of the White House, which also sends large numbers of officials to New York for the General Assembly, including the president, who has in the past stayed at the Waldorf.

It was not immediately clear whether the Waldorf residence of the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations would be moved to another location. The State Department has leased an apartment for the ambassador on the 42nd floor of the hotel’s Waldorf Towers for more than 50 years.

I think it’s safe to say that the US ambassador to the UN shouldn’t be staying in a Chinese-owned hotel, either.