It is been many a year since I was in the service. If I remember correctly, there were restrictions on the type of security clearance one could get if they still had family members in communist countries. Not sure what the requirements are today..
“Not sure what the requirements are today”.
It’s much more lax now. Scary lax. DH had T.S. for his entire career, and then Q at the end. Through the years he watched it decline.
At first, it was as you described. We couldn’t even be social with wonderful Chinese members in our church. By the time he retired, non-American ex-pats had those clearances. It was disgusting. So other countries are stealing our technology. Whose fault is it? We know how they live their lives, i.e., as thieves, yet we practically invite them to screw us.