Comments on: Beijing Enters Lock-Down Mode as Olympics Nears

By: LoveChinaLongTime

LoveChinaLongTime — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:54:54 +0000

The IOC doing anything??? Hahahahahaha

They were bought off ages ago and in complete cahoots with the CCP masters. Their record of exemplary ethical behavior makes the CCP officials look like Boy Scouts!!!

My belief is that the Chinese want absolutely NO foreigners in China to attend the games (for fear of the unexpected “incident” AND thier natural xenophobia) and don’t want them to return either in the years afterwards.

“Thanks for the FDI…we’ll take over that facotry now…”

By: peter

peter — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:50:39 +0000

From Shanghai too: I can only confirm Bob’s account. Police has been lingering outside and inside our compounds trying to levy fines on us because we could not produce the yellow slip of paper (registration with the police when you first move to a new apartment). This slip of paper though is taken away by the police when they issue one’s residence permit. Still, the policemen have been asking for this slip and have been threatening fines of up to RMB 5,000 for failing to produce. For me, this request went away when I explained to them their own process. Goes to show that there is a fair amount of profit taking in it for the police. They went to my friend’s house (he is a residence permit holder too) and told him that he actually had to register with the police every time he returns to Shanghai from a business trip (which is totally not true).

Olympic paranoia? Or is this some kind of attempt to develop an immigration policy? I have lived in China for almost 10 years now and it is close to impossible for us to obtain permanent residency. Instead, our status is reassessed on an annual basis. Hardly enough to make one feel welcome in this country.

By: Bob Shead

Bob Shead — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 08:18:01 +0000

From Shanghai - increasingly foreigners are being targetted leaving their apartments in the morning. Squads of police have been noted early morning outside apartment blocks where lots of foreigners live. As Chris says - this is returning to the bad old days, when all foreigners were regarded with suspicion! My son is having major problems obtaining a Chinese tourist visa from the Embassy in London - so far 2 unsuccessful visits, each taking 4 hours!

By: peter

peter — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:52:44 +0000

john, what does you having a great chat with the passport control chick and arrogant foreigners have to do with the apparent problem at hand: a whole lot of confusion and uncertainty for people who have called this place their home for years. this country still is a paranoid dictatorship and no
the current passport checks in china do not compare with the behaviour of the police in hk. Ur obviously confusing many issues here. Maybe you just haven’t been here long enough…

By: john

john — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:39:14 +0000

Well,
I have not had any problems from any government officials , nor have I had my passport checked , and I had a great conversation with the passport checking girl at the boarder.

That said, it is a requirement to carry identification documents both in Hong Kong And China , and it has been for some decades.

I have however seen foreigners acting as if they have some sort of special right to be in China, perhaps this is the trigger.

By: Chris Devonshire-Ellis

Chris Devonshire-Ellis — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:23:43 +0000

Scholar; as I mentioned, the individual cases seem to make no logical sense, other than petty officials throwing their weight around. To be refused entry because your wife is a Uighur makes no sense of China’s “One China” policy either. The situation you describe is one of many strange inconsistancies we’re heard over the visa issue - although arriving from Hong Kong does seem problematic and we are aware the government there are unhappy about it. Kohaso; actually they used to check foreigners in the street years back, and house visits to check on foreigners and ensure they were registered were common until recently. What is worrying is the fine issue - we were told by the PSB that this would not be introduced until July 1st. We’ve already been made aware of other similar cases and the difficulty with them can often be the difference between an official fine being imposed and the solicitation of cash via harrassment. In our view China has to be very, very careful with these sorts of policies if it is not going to cause itself commercial illwill. But right now, it is obvious that the Chinese government are placing individual commercial business interests - including those made by foreigners - at a far lower level of importance than holding the Olympics. The borderline ‘harrassment’ of foreign businessmen in China was not in the brochure when the Chinese government were looking for investors, and neither was it on the agenda when the IOC and the international community voted to give them the games.

The Communist Party have been here before, and it took 40 years to reopen the country the last time foreigners had to leave their investments behind. It’s not the signal investors want to hear from a country that has eaten up so much FDI the past 15 years, and their treatment of legitimate foreign businessmen at this moment at best is becoming remarkably shabby. It’s also unnecessary - and that’s the worrrying part: Why ?

By: Kohaso

Kohaso — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 11:14:48 +0000

What about harassing passport checking of foreigners on the street in Beijing? This is unprecedented. In Beijing, foreigners are required by police to carry on his passport at any time and a certification of residence and police registration. I had my passport with me by chance (actualy I was on my way to make an official procedure to a government office), when I was required to be checked, so I could show it to them, and averything was ok with it and my visa, but I got fined because I was not carrying a certificate of the place I was living in (my own house). Of course, nobody had warned foreigners about that new requirement. My address is in my passport as I live permanently here, and they could check it perfectly.
The police told me that this was a new policy related to the Olympics.
And I have to point out that I´m an investor that creates wealth and jobs in China.
We don´t have to forget that China is by far the source of ilegal aliens (workers) to the rest of the world (with the hidden support of the Chinese government), and without the harassmet the legal foreigners have to stand here. When are the rest of the countries going to press the Chinese government to be fair in it´s treatment of (legal) foreigners, at least as fair as other countries are with the Chinese ones?

By: Scholar

Scholar — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:22:56 +0000

An American executive with a long time legal work record with the biggest American fast food brand in China and also investments in the community here, was denied entry last month at Pudong Security from Hong Kong, where he also has residence. Still no reason, no information. My only guess is that his wife who now lives in HK is a Xinjiang Uyghur.