Chinese border police clipping passports of incoming Chinese citizens

Border police in Guangzhou have stepped up controls on incoming Chinese citizens, questioning them about their overseas activities and confiscating passports, amid ongoing controls on people leaving the country.

Some passengers had their passport corners clipped, invalidating them for further travel.

Spokesman Chen Jie said immigration authorities were “continuing to maintain the highest level of prevention and control,” resulting in “low levels” of outbound passengers at border crossings and airports.

A Chinese national surnamed Zhang said border guards often use passport-clipping as a way to prevent people from leaving the country, and anyone hoping to leave must first get an exit permit, signed by their local police station.

“My passport was clipped two or three years ago now”, Zhang said. “There has been a strict requirement for exit permits for two years, and basically the border guards don’t want people to leave on Chinese passports.”

Reports continue to surface on social media of people leaving China for foreign study having their passports clipped as they tried to board a plane, and also from people who had been denied passports when they applied for them.

A current affairs commentator surnamed Lu said., “It shows that the Chinese government is trying to reduce the number of Chinese people leaving the country”, “They are worried that if they do, they’ll find out what the situation is in the rest of the world.”

An employee at an overseas study consultancy surnamed Huang said the government has suspended permission for minors in primary and secondary school to study abroad.

Huang said, “The government has said that nobody should leave the country unless it’s absolutely necessary”, “Parents aren’t allowed to send their children overseas too young either.”

Huang said she expects the restrictions to stay in place even after zero-COVID controls have lifted.

The immigration authorities said a crackdown on “illegal entry and exit” was under way.

“The police have … strengthened full-time and all-region patrols, controls and investigations, closely cooperating with law enforcement in neighboring countries to crack down hard on illegal entry and exit activities”, the agency’s Chen said at the April 27 news conference.

Chen said, “People are coming in and out through illegal channels”, but he didn’t explain which “illegal channels” were being used.

Police in the central province of Hunan in April said that residents had been ordered to hand over their passports to police, promising to return them “when the pandemic is over”, amid a massive surge in people looking for ways to leave China or obtain overseas immigration status.

China’s zero-COVID policy of mass compulsory testing, stringent lockdowns and digital health codes has sparked an emigration wave fueled by shocked middle-classes fed up with food shortages, confinement at home, and amid broader safety concerns.

The number of keyword searches on social media platform WeChat and search engine Baidu for “criteria for emigrating to Canada” has skyrocketed by nearly 3,000 percent in the past month, with most queries clustered in cities and provinces under tough, zero-COVID restrictions, including Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong, and Beijing.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES