China Refutes Rumours of Passport Suspension
In the aftermath (for some, though not for all) of a global health crisis like COVID, it is inevitable that the media engages in some ‘who did what and when’ style of journalism. The exact sequence of what actually happened, and for what reason, to the issuing of travel and other government-issued documents during the various easing and tightening of travel restrictions may never be known – as this story from China highlights.
As reported by several media outlets at the time 1,2,3 in July 2021 Chinese authorities announced ‘a series of strict and tight policy measures’ limiting the issuance of new passports.
According to the state-run People’s Daily, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) National Immigration Administration temporarily stopped granting ‘entry and exit documents such as ordinary passports… for non-essential and non-emergency exit reasons.’
Immigration Administration spokesperson Chen Jie, who is also head of the body’s policy and regulations department, advised applicants ‘to cancel or postpone their exit plans abroad if they do not have urgent and necessary reasons.’
The move was billed as an epidemic prevention measure to ‘protect people’s health and lives’ at a time when there was considerable scepticism as to the true spread and lethality of Covid in China, with local residents and health workers telling overseas Chinese language media that most cases go unreported.
There was speculation, at the time, that Beijing may also have been concerned with emigration from mainland China, particularly by the wealthy, powerful, or politically dissident.
According to the Immigration Administration, only those who could verify they needed to leave China for study, work, or business had the right to apply for or renew a passport.
For context, the PRC issued 335,000 passports in the first half of 2021 — just 2% of the amount issued in the first half of 2020.
Since July 2021, media reports about state control of travel document issuance have continued. This month, Chinese news service website ECNS Wire 4 issued the following statement: ‘The media report that China has stopped issuing passports and cut off a corner of the ‘green card’ to prevent holders from leaving the country has been refuted by a spokesperson for China’s National Immigration Administration.’
The statement goes on to make the case that the steps taken regarding issuing travel documents were ‘efforts in pandemic prevention and control’, reminding readers that, even now ‘there is still a high risk of infection of COVID-19, so people living in China should continue to refrain from leaving the country unless it is necessary or urgent.’
We’ll never know precisely what the motives were behind the Chinese government’s actions during the summer of 2021 – or for that matter the intentions behind the media reports that speculated on their actions.
Was it a sensible and proportionate step in the fight against the spread of a virus that is widely accepted to have originated in China, or was it an opportunistic attempt to put a tight lid on state and Communist Party officials, dissidents and wealthy Chinese from exiting the country?
What the tale does illustrate is the incredible power that is vested in government-issued identity and travel documents and that the decision to interfere with a citizen’s right to travel should never be taken lightly.
2 - www.rfa.org/english/news/china/ curbs-08062021095546.html
3 - www.visiontimes.com/2021/08/03/china-orders-temporary-stop-issuing-non- essential-non-emergency-passports.html
4 - http://www.ecns.cn/travel/2022-05-13/detail-ihayhruk0772005.shtml
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