Travel Advisory from US Dept of State

[Randy W]

I'm not sure why this is news all of a sudden, but I'm seeing it in multiple places, so here you are!

 

 

See https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/China.html

 

Travel AdvisoryJanuary 10, 2018 China – Level 2: Exercise increased caution

 

Exercise increased caution in China due to the arbitrary enforcement of local laws and special restrictions on dual U.S.-Chinese nationals.

Chinese authorities have the broad ability to prohibit travelers from leaving China (also known as ‘exit bans’); exit bans have been imposed to compel U.S. citizens to resolve business disputes, force settlement of court orders, or facilitate government investigations. Individuals not involved in legal proceedings or suspected of wrongdoing have also be subjected to lengthy exit bans in order to compel their family members or colleagues to cooperate with Chinese courts or investigators.

U.S. citizens visiting or residing in China have been arbitrarily interrogated or detained for reasons related to “state security.” Security personnel have detained and/or deported U.S. citizens for sending private electronic messages critical of the Chinese government.

China may refuse to acknowledge dual U.S.-Chinese nationals’ U.S. citizenship, including denying U.S. assistance to detained dual nationals, and preventing their departure from China. If a dual U.S.-Chinese national enters China on a Chinese government travel document, such as, but not limited to, a Chinese passport or a national ID card, U.S. consular officers will not be allowed to visit the individual or assist in interactions with the Chinese government should the individual be arrested, detained, or involved in criminal or civil investigation.

If you plan to enter North Korea from China, read the North Korea Travel Advisory.

Read the Safety and Security section on the country information page.

If you decide to travel to China:

Enter China on your U.S. passport with a valid Chinese visa.

If you are arrested or detained, ask police or prison officials to notify the U.S. Embassy or the nearest consulate immediately.

Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive Alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.

Follow the Department of State on Facebook and Twitter.

Review the Crime and Safety Reports for China.

U.S. citizens who travel abroad should always have a contingency plan for emergency situations. Review the Traveler’s Checklist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dan1984]

This seems like it is pretty big news actually, as lots of Chinese with US citizenship still use their ID cards and other identification when back in China as if they were still regular Chinese citizens.

[Randy W]

This seems like it is pretty big news actually, as lots of Chinese with US citizenship still use their ID cards and other identification when back in China as if they were still regular Chinese citizens.

 

 

China has ALWAYS had the policy of not recognizing dual citizenship (see their Nationality Law). That's exactly why maintaining dual citizenship is problematic.

 

A Chinese passport is useless for leaving China, unless it has a visa or the holder has a green card, neither of which are available to American citizens.But once you get a visa in your American passport, the Chinese passport is voided.

 

Someone who ENTERS China as a Chinese citizen is presumed to be ONLY a Chinese citizen.

 

It's unclear from the alert whether there was an actual incident that inspired the alert.

Edited January 21, 2018 by Randy W (see edit history)

[dan1984]

 

This seems like it is pretty big news actually, as lots of Chinese with US citizenship still use their ID cards and other identification when back in China as if they were still regular Chinese citizens.

 

 

China has ALWAYS had the policy of not recognizing dual citizenship (see their Nationality Law). That's exactly why maintaining dual citizenship is problematic.

 

A Chinese passport is useless for leaving China, unless it has a visa or the holder has a green card, neither of which are available to American citizens.But once you get a visa in your American passport, the Chinese passport is voided.

 

Someone who ENTERS China as a Chinese citizen is presumed to be ONLY a Chinese citizen.

 

It's unclear from the alert whether there was an actual incident that inspired the alert.

 

Duly noted, and I definitely understand China does not recognize dual citizenship under any circumstances.

 

With that said, as you outlined, I know many people still try and take advantage of the pseudo-dual citizenship and use their Chinese ID cards when back in China and US passport when outside of China - more or less.

 

My wife and I are living here in China, so this does not present any problems for us, but I know quite a few people who this enforcement could not start to affect.

 

Actually, not so much US citizens who have married a Chinese person, but two Chinese people who have went and had a baby in the US.

 

Of course they wanted the US citizenship for their child's future, but while still living here in China, they have got the baby a Chinese ID card, put in the hukou book, etc. This way the child can still attend school in China and receive all the other benefits of being a Chinese citizen.

 

I'm actually not too familiar with this issue at all or how they operate in this grey area, but, when I saw this notice, it seemed like a big piece of news to me, as this could affect the plans of quite a few people operating in this legal grey area (well, not really a grey area at all.....China doesn't recognize dual citizenship) should China start to monitor and enforce this issue.

[Randy W]

 

 

This seems like it is pretty big news actually, as lots of Chinese with US citizenship still use their ID cards and other identification when back in China as if they were still regular Chinese citizens.

 

 

China has ALWAYS had the policy of not recognizing dual citizenship (see their Nationality Law). That's exactly why maintaining dual citizenship is problematic.

 

A Chinese passport is useless for leaving China, unless it has a visa or the holder has a green card, neither of which are available to American citizens.But once you get a visa in your American passport, the Chinese passport is voided.

 

Someone who ENTERS China as a Chinese citizen is presumed to be ONLY a Chinese citizen.

 

It's unclear from the alert whether there was an actual incident that inspired the alert.

 

Duly noted, and I definitely understand China does not recognize dual citizenship under any circumstances.

 

With that said, as you outlined, I know many people still try and take advantage of the pseudo-dual citizenship and use their Chinese ID cards when back in China and US passport when outside of China - more or less.

 

My wife and I are living here in China, so this does not present any problems for us, but I know quite a few people who this enforcement could not start to affect.

 

Actually, not so much US citizens who have married a Chinese person, but two Chinese people who have went and had a baby in the US.

 

Of course they wanted the US citizenship for their child's future, but while still living here in China, they have got the baby a Chinese ID card, put in the hukou book, etc. This way the child can still attend school in China and receive all the other benefits of being a Chinese citizen.

 

I'm actually not too familiar with this issue at all or how they operate in this grey area, but, when I saw this notice, it seemed like a big piece of news to me, as this could affect the plans of quite a few people operating in this legal grey area (well, not really a grey area at all.....China doesn't recognize dual citizenship) should China start to monitor and enforce this issue.

 

 

 

Well, yes - that's the question! IS there any news behind this alert, or is it simply business as usual? I'm not seeing any news here from the Chinese perspective.

[Greg.D.]

Well, there were the basketball players who stole sunglasses and were held behind when the rest of their teammates got to go home. Maybe it was that simple and somebody in the Dept of State thought they should state (what the rest of us thought was) the obvious in a travel advisory.

 

Doubt they mean minors who are US-born children of at least one Chinese national: my son must travel on a PRC travel card to China with his US passport - and, should he need any assistance, will be blocked from visits by US Embassy personnel.

[Randy W]

The only actual NEWS that I could find was this, although "sending private electronic messages critical of the Chinese government" is not mentioned in the article, It could very well have been the trigger for the alert, however.

 

China steps up human rights crackdown with arrest of foreign activist

Swedish human rights campaigner Peter Dahlin becomes the first foreigner to be detained for ‘endangering state security’

 

. . . and the NY Times (he's being released on the 25th)

 

China to Expel Peter Dahlin, Swedish Human Rights Advocate

 

 

I think the primary significance of the alert is that paragraph - "U.S. citizens visiting or residing in China have been arbitrarily interrogated or detained for reasons related to “state security.” Security personnel have detained and/or deported U.S. citizens for sending private electronic messages critical of the Chinese government."

 

The rest, I expect, is simply a generic warning of the nature of the "rule of law" in China.

 

Greg, I hope you can get your son out of that citizenship loop as soon as possible. Can you look into renouncing his citizenship with his local PSB in China?

[Greg.D.]

We called the consulate and were told we can not renounce citizenship from the U.S., will need to go (together) to likely her PSB and do it. Since a travel card is good for 3 years, we won't do it this trip as I will stay behind to work. For the record, a travel card is good for 3 years.

 

Also: we will watch the Laowhy video again, as that was the subject of one of them. I swear they did the renounce AND got a visa for their daughter in HK.

 

Sad about the internal crackdown on thought and communication in China. PR-wise, it is a black mark and makes it difficult for people to listen to you tell them all the great things about China.

[Randy W]

We called the consulate and were told we can not renounce citizenship from the U.S., will need to go (together) to likely her PSB and do it. Since a travel card is good for 3 years, we won't do it this trip as I will stay behind to work. For the record, a travel card is good for 3 years.

 

Also: we will watch the Laowhy video again, as that was the subject of one of them. I swear they did the renounce AND got a visa for their daughter in HK.

 

Sad about the internal crackdown on thought and communication in China. PR-wise, it is a black mark and makes it difficult for people to listen to you tell them all the great things about China.

 

 

No, I think they got the Exit Visa AND renounced her citizenship at the PSB in Huizhou. I don't think he ever said anything about getting a subsequent visa for her to return to China - I suspect it was no problem, since he had the PSB renunciation forms

[Greg.D.]

Yep, right. I confounded their trip to the local PSB - about which he commented that he had "bad memories of this place" - with a post by someone elsewhere about going to HK to do something faster than they could have in Mainland.

[Randy W]

The news behind the news (although this ongoing incident occurred in June) - from the NY Times


China’s Tactic to Catch a Fugitive Official: Hold His Two American Children

Instead, within days, police officers detained their mother, Sandra Han, who, like her children, is an American citizen. They moved her to a secret site, commonly known as a black jail. The children discovered at the airport that they could not leave China, even though the police had said they were not being investigated or charged with a crime, the children told American officials and family associates.

By holding the family hostage, they said, the police are trying to force the siblings’ father to return to China to face criminal charges. The father, Liu Changming, a former executive at a state-owned bank, is accused of being a central player in a $1.4 billion fraud case.

The children say their father severed ties with the family in 2012, but the Chinese authorities have still held them for months under a practice known as an exit ban — a growing tactic that has become the latest flash point in the increasingly rancorous relationship between the United States and China.

 

. . .

 

“The investigative officers have made abundantly clear that neither my brother nor I am under any form of investigation,” Ms. Liu, 27, wrote to Mr. Bolton in an August letter obtained by The New York Times. “We are being held here as a crude form of human collateral to induce someone with whom I have no contact to return to China for reasons with which I am entirely unfamiliar.”

 

. . .

 

The Chinese Foreign Ministry defended the holding of the three family members, saying: “The people you mentioned all own legal and valid identity documents as Chinese citizens. Because they are suspected of economic crimes, they are restricted from exiting the country by the Chinese police in accordance with the law.”

 

. . .

 

Liu Changming, 53, the father, is among China’s most-wanted fugitives, accused of helping to carry out one of the country’s biggest bank frauds, in which $1.4 billion in illegal loans was issued to property developers. He fled the country in 2007.

 

[Randy W]

The warning is popping up in the news again this year, along with this update from the SCMP on the two children. The article attempts to link the warning to the arrest of the Huawei executive in Canada.

 

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2180613/us-issues-china-travel-warning-about-arbitrary-law

 

A son and a daughter of Liu Changming, a former Chinese bank executive wanted by the Chinese government for financial crimes, remain in China after being refused permission to leave the country, one person familiar with the case told South China Morning Post. Victor and Cynthia Liu have been unable to leave China since June, according to earlier reports by CNN and The New York Times.

 

[Randy W]

This warning seems to be all over the news this year - at least the New York Times is pointing out that it is a renewal of the warning from last year, and includes a reference to the Liu children, who are still being held.

 

U.S. Renews Travel Advisory for China, Warning of Arbitrary Detention

 

The travel advisory issued by the State Department on Thursday was a routine renewal of a similar warning issued in January 2018. It urged Americans to “exercise increased caution in China” because of so-called “exit bans,” a legal tool the authorities there use to bar a person from leaving the country.

 

Edited January 4, 2019 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Allon]

In that post is a link to the US STEP program. Whether US or Chinese citizen, it might be a good idea to register a traveler in case of any detention or problem while in China, or really any other country. That way, the DOS can help (as if they really could in China) if there is a detention for some reason. At least it serves to notify the rest of the family of problems while traveling or notify DOS as well. A lot of helpful information on that site.

 

https://step.state.gov/step/

[amberjack1234]

The last time that I went for 30 days I did not register but you can bet your last dollar that I would register now. That has been 10 years ago when things were good.