China: The party is over

New rules for expats in China


In little more than 100 days, this city will open its arms to an unprecedented deluge of foreigners, many of whom will be pleasantly surprised by the dizzying array of designer boutiques, painfully hip martini bars and libertine pastimes not readily associated with an authoritarian, communist country.


But just as Beijing is promising to welcome 1.5 million visitors to the Olympic Games with newfound openness, public security officials are seeking to tighten controls over daily life, including new visa restrictions that are causing mounting anxiety among the 250,000 foreign citizens who have settled in the capital in recent years. The rules, which were introduced last week with no warning and little explanation, limit new visas to 30 days, making it difficult, if not impossible, for long-term residents to hold down jobs and maintain uncomplicated lives. The restrictions are also infuriating business leaders in Hong Kong who have become used to crossing the border with ease.


"I can't begin to explain how serious this is going to be," said Richard Vuylsteke, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. "A barrier like this is going to have a real ripple effect on business."


Some of the recent measures are not entirely surprising, given security concerns and the government's desire to stage a blemish-free Olympics. They include efforts to clear away street beggars and close down shops selling pirated DVDs and also a stepped-up drive to force migrant workers back to the countryside.


Then there are the attempts to get a handle on lawlessness. Over the past month the police have raided several bars and clubs suspected of harboring drug dealers, although an operation two weeks ago that netted a group of French teenagers has provoked charges of heavy-handed police tactics.


Other restrictions can seem random, like a decision Wednesday that forced the cancellation of a popular music festival a week before its start. Organizers of the eight-year-old Midi Festival said officials told them they were concerned about security during the event, which was to include more than 80 bands, many of them from abroad. They hoped to reschedule it for after the Olympics.


Then there is the unbridled speculation: One rumor making the rounds has expat parents worried that their Chinese nannies, many of whom who are in the capital illegally, will be forced to return to their rural homes during July and August.


But most of the fear and consternation has been prompted by the new visa rules, which have thousands of foreign residents scrambling for black market documents - or contemplating leaving. Residents who in the past could easily extend yearlong tourist or business visas have been instructed to reapply at Chinese embassies in their home countries; even if their applications are approved, officials are only giving out 30-day visas.


One such person, Desmond McGarry, a jazz musician who has lived here since 2002, said he would probably return to Canada, although it would mean abandoning his apartment and friends. "It's been very comfortable until now, even if we existed in a gray zone," he said. "Maybe I'll leave and try to come back in the fall when things calm down."


The new visa rules come at a time of heightened tensions in Beijing and other cities, where public anger has been directed at Western governments and overseas news organizations seen as sympathetic to Tibetan independence. Over the past week, that discontent has fueled demonstrations at the French Embassy in Beijing and at outlets of Carrefour, a French supermarket whose executives have been accused of aligning themselves with the Dalai Lama. Some foreign residents are nervously awaiting May 1, the first day of a planned Carrefour boycott.


Although the majority of foreigners say they have seen no change in the behavior of their Chinese neighbors and co-workers, some French residents complain that nationalist ire is seeping into their daily lives. One businessman who plays tennis at a Chinese sports club said acquaintances refused to join him on the court last weekend.


More ominously, the owner of a popular French restaurant here said he was denied a visa extension on Wednesday by an official who simply told him, "It's because you're French." The man, who asked that his name and business not be printed for fear of antagonizing the authorities, said he was in a panic. "My whole life is here," he said.


In the past few years China has had a fairly lax attitude toward foreign residents, many of whom live and hold down jobs without proper work visas.


Most Westerners readily acknowledge that they enjoy privileged lives, including unspoken immunity from the tangle of rules that can complicate the lives of ordinary Chinese.


That may be about to change. Last week English-language signs began appearing directing foreigners not staying in hotels to register with the police. The regulations, which are not new but are rarely enforced, promise steep fines for those who do not comply.


Because the government has not issued formal guidelines about the new visa rules, rumors and uncertainty have been rife, and travel agents say that a handful of tourists have been denied visas without evident rationale.


Cloris Yip, the manager of Smiley Travel in Hong Kong, cited the recent example of two tourists, a Swiss and a German; the Swiss citizen received a 30-day visa while his German companion was given one for five days. The men, she said, canceled their trip.


"Maybe the Chinese government is not so happy with the Germans right now," Yip said. "Maybe they think some foreigners want to protest Tibet during the Games. Either way, you cannot argue or negotiate."


Businessmen are also feeling powerless. Hong Kong executives accustomed to visiting mainland factories or construction projects every few days are now spending one day each week waiting for new visas that are only good for a single or double visit.


Asked about the restrictions, Jiang Yu, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, insisted that there had been no change in visa rules. "The Chinese people will welcome foreign friends in a warm, enthusiastic and open-minded way," she said at a news conference Tuesday.


Whether or not these are just temporary measures, those who depend on foreign expertise for their businesses say the impact has been real. Collin Crowell, the managing editor of City Weekend, an English-language entertainment guide in Beijing, said the new requirements were causing panic among the magazine's freelance writers. And Raluca Riquet, an event planner who is organizing art shows for the summer, said she has been struggling to find curators with valid visas.


"We'll find a solution, but it's not so easy," said Riquet, who holds dual French and Romanian citizenship. "The government really wants to control everything and everybody before the Olympics. For us foreigners, it's a really big change."


The change has been especially bracing for those who have come to enjoy the freedoms of a place once notorious for its strait-laced, authoritarian ways. In recent years, the image of Beijing as the bastion of Mao-suited cadres and impoverished students has been supplanted by a nightlife scene that rivals the world's great cities: The city is awash in dance clubs, libidinous "lady bars" and a growing recreational drug culture.


Alarmed by the hedonistic excess, the authorities have begun cracking down. One high-profile raid took place two weeks ago in the bar district of Sanlitun, where officers with automatic weapons detained a group of French youths, who spent the night in handcuffs.


"For so long, foreigners thought this was El Dorado and that they could do things they can't do in their own country," said Axel Moreaux, the owner Le Petit Gourmand, a French café. "Not so anymore. The party is over."



http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/23/news/23expats.php