May 17, 2022 at 3:06 am
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Recently, there have been online rumors that China has suspended the issuance of passports, and has also banned citizens from leaving the country for cutting corners of green cards, which has caused widespread concern. However, the Chinese authorities responded that these rumors are false news, but China is still implementing strict and strict immigration policies.
A political scientist told BBC Chinese that the current entry and exit management policy is determined by China’s “zero” epidemic prevention policy, and China will not change this policy in the short term.
Entry and Exit Blocked and Official Response
Recently, many netizens said that they encountered obstacles when leaving China.
A netizen said that he went to Canada with a student visa to study at a university, but when he left the country, he was asked by the border inspector what he was going to do in Canada, and also asked if there were offline courses in Canada. When he answered no, the border inspector directly cut his passport.
There are also screenshots of WeChat chats circulating on Twitter saying that when someone leaves the country with a green card in Guangzhou, the green card is cut.
Twitter netizen “Du Ruitang” commented: “China has locked down the country, and even international students are not allowed to go abroad to study, so they have to cut their passports.”
In response to these rumors, the National Immigration Administration of China stated on May 13 that “suspending passports” and “prohibiting exiting the country by cutting corners of green cards” are all fake news, “distorting and discrediting my entry and exit management policies, intending to interfere with normalized epidemic prevention and control. Legal, accurate and effective entry and exit management measures under the conditions.”
The spokesperson of the National Immigration Administration of China also said that at present, the global epidemic is far from over, the development of the epidemic is still very uncertain, and the risk of infection when going abroad is still relatively high. Leave the country urgently, ensure personal health and safety, and jointly maintain the hard-won major strategic achievements in epidemic prevention and anti-epidemic.”
In addition, the Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou Entry-Exit Frontier Inspection Stations also issued a statement to refute rumors, saying that the information on the Internet such as passports, green cards being cut, and passports being taken away are all rumors.
The BBC could not verify claims such as cutting passports and green cards, but China has indeed tightened its entry and exit policies in recent years.
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The “non-essential” departure battle
According to May 10Party group meeting held by the National Immigration Administration of ChinaIt is pointed out: “Strictly implement the strict and strict entry and exit policy, strictly restrict the non-essential exit activities of Chinese citizens, and strictly approve and issue entry and exit documents.” The official WeChat account of the Immigration Administration stated in the article.
When China’s National Immigration Administration responded to readers below the WeChat article, it clarified what constituted “necessary” reasons.
“For those who go abroad to resume work, production, and school, as well as necessary activities such as economics and trade, scientific research, and schooling, as well as those who have urgent humanitarian reasons such as seeking medical treatment and caring for critically ill patients, timely accept and approve passports and documents, go through the procedures for going abroad, and minimize the impact on normal production. , study, life and the impact of necessary personnel exchanges. Provide expedited certificate and customs clearance facilities for personnel and vehicles going abroad to participate in epidemic prevention and anti-epidemic, transportation of disaster relief materials and fresh agricultural products, and effectively ensure the safety and stability of supply chains and industrial chains. ” The National Immigration Administration of China responded.
Radio Free Asia, headquartered in the United States, quoted the staff of the consultation hotline of the National Immigration Administration of China as saying that “non-essential” reasons include travel and family visits, and border inspectors will dissuade them; “essential” mainly include study abroad, employment, business, or It is for reasons such as going abroad for medical treatment, participating in epidemic prevention and fighting, and transporting disaster relief materials. Beijing border inspection staff also said that for “necessary reasons” leaving the country, the reasons and supporting documents should be strictly checked, and the on-site implementation shall prevail.
The Chinese authorities’ restrictions on outbound travel can be traced back to November 2020, when the National Immigration Administration stated that it would strictly approve the applications for entry and exit documents for non-essential reasons such as travel by Chinese citizens, and discourage and restrict mainland residents from traveling, visiting relatives, and friends, etc. Non-essential and non-urgently needed entry and exit activities.
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The definition of non-essential travel has always been a controversial topic.
The effect of epidemic prevention and the “Twenty National Congress”
Chen Daoyin, a Chinese political scientist, believes that China’s recent stricter entry-exit management policy is for “foreign prevention of importation”, especially for short-term return passengers, because these passengers will return to China after leaving the country, bringing risks to epidemic prevention and control.
“You go out for a walk now, and then come back in half a month. If you bring the epidemic in, will the domestic epidemic worsen again?” he said.
He also pointed out that such a policy must be related to the “Twenty Congress”.
“If the foreign defense input cannot be controlled and the domestic epidemic cannot be controlled, it will inevitably impact Xi Jinping’s dynamic anti-epidemic decision, which will inevitably affect the legitimacy of his re-election to the 20th National Congress, or his political achievements.”
Chen Cheng, a professor of political science at the State University of New York at Albany, also told the BBC that strict control of entry and exit is an important part of the zero-clearing policy. At present, it seems that before the 20th National Congress, the Chinese government is unlikely to adjust the zero policy.
She believes that there are political and practical reasons for it. “Politically, in the past two years, the CCP has regarded the reset as a major achievement, believing that the reset reflects the superiority of the Chinese system under the leadership of Xi Jinping. The 20th National Congress is an important meeting where the outside world unanimously expects Xi Jinping to be re-elected as the top leader. Before that, if the epidemic is out of control, it will undoubtedly be an embarrassing situation for Xi himself and the Chinese government, and it will definitely be vigorously criticized by ‘hostile forces’ at home and abroad.”
In terms of reality, Chen Cheng pointed out that although some people are quite critical of the reset policy, there are still many regions and people who have not been significantly affected by the epidemic support the reset policy. “In addition, China’s vaccination rate, especially the vaccination rate of the elderly population, is still unsatisfactory. Coupled with the differences in medical conditions between urban and rural areas, and regional differences, if it is released immediately, there will inevitably be medical runs, and a large number of elderly people will become seriously ill and even die. This will undoubtedly have a certain impact on the regime.”
Chen Daoyin predicted that China’s zero-clearing policy may last for three to five years. The current restrictions cannot reach the level of “locking the country”, but the movement of people has been strictly restricted.
Chen Cheng believes that although the reset will definitely cause negative economic and social impacts, and it may be difficult to make major adjustments before the 20th National Congress, this does not mean that China will be “locked to the country” for a long time.
“In addition to the negative economic and social impact, the chaos in Shanghai is also a major blow to the CCP’s reputation internationally. It is not realistic to have an endless reset. This wave of epidemic control should also buy time to increase the vaccination rate. Raising the vaccination rate is expected to be the next focus. Under this premise, it is not without the possibility of policy adjustments after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.”