Chinese authorities are reportedly requiring a growing number of teachers and public sector employees to hand in their passports and giving local officials the power to decide who can travel abroad.
The move coincides with President Xi Jinping’s bid to increase state control, combat official corruption and bolster national security, reports the Financial Times.
Facing international travel restrictions are people working in schools, universities, local governments and state-owned enterprises.
How to apply for international travel
According to a primary schoolteacher in Sichuan province, all teachers and public sector employees in their city have been instructed to hand in their passports. Applications for international travel must be submitted to the city education bureau.
Similar restrictions have been reported by teachers in Yichang (Hubei province) and another city in Anhui province.
Educators in Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Henan provinces also expressed concern on social media platforms about having to hand in their travel documents.
A teacher, an English major, mourned on social media that a lifelong dream to visit an English-speaking country now seemed about to be shattered.
The passport collection drive can be traced back to 2003 national regulations restricting officials’ travels and allowing local authorities to set rules for state employees’ trips abroad.
Concern about teachers’ political education
The ruling Communist party, keen to ensure loyalty to the state among students, has always been concerned about teachers’ political education. Teachers have to toe the line. Pre-travel instructions for teachers in Wenzhou, for instance, explicitly prohibit contact with the banned Falun Gong movement and other “hostile foreign forces.”
The Wenzhou Ouhai district education bureau requires all public preschool, primary school, and secondary school teachers to submit their passports and register their names with the public security bureau’s border control unit. International travel applications must be filed through their schools. Foreign trips are generally restricted to once a year for less than 20 days.
Teachers who fail to comply with the regulations face “criticism and education”. They may also be referred to China’s anti-corruption authority and not allowed to travel for two to five years.
The employees of state-owned enterprises staff are also subject to travel restrictions as part of an effort to curb espionage. A former salesperson at a state-owned bank in Nanjing recounted being required to hand in her passport upon joining the company and facing a six-month “de-secrecy process” to retrieve it after quitting.
Retirees also face travel restrictions
Retirees also face travel restrictions. A 76-year-old former employee of a state-owned aircraft manufacturer revealed that his former employer reclaimed his passport this year for “security reasons,” preventing him from visiting family abroad.
China’s foreign ministry denied any knowledge of the situation and referred inquiries to relevant authorities. However, education bureaus in the affected provinces have not responded to requests for comment, says the Financial Times.
Radio Free Asia reported travel restrictions earlier on July 19.
It said Chinese authorities were extending travel restrictions to teachers, schoolchildren and bank employees ahead of the summer vacation by requiring them to hand over their passports or ask permission before leaving the country.
According to Radio Free Asia, travel restrictions increased during the zero-COVID policy, when there was a surge in online searches about how to emigrate to another country.
But, despite the curbs,“hundreds of thousands of people have managed to leave China since the end of pandemic restrictions in late 2022,” it said.