International travel is being more strictly limited for Chinese government bureaucrats, public school teachers, and even some bankers. US News (Reuters) reports:
Lower-level workers at China Construction Bank in Beijing and Shanghai can travel abroad for personal reasons just once a year and for only up to 12 days….
Reuters also found eight public announcements over the past two years by eight government entities, including the national pension fund, that indicated they were strengthening rules around workers’ personal trips outside China, without detailing all the changes.
Engen Tham and Julie Zhu, “China Tightens Curbs on Foreign Travel by Bankers, State Workers”. Reuters. Oct 16, 2023.
Others have been prohibited from any travel abroad. Even new employees at a Chinese “state-connected mutual fund” in Singapore fell under the restrictions, demonstrating the long arms of CCP control.
As the article notes, the motivation for these restrictions is probably to keep employees away from ideas that run counter the official narrative, as well as from being exposed to Western intelligence agencies. The authors connect this tightening of travel rules to another security project that queried workers on their international connections:
The forms asked for information on relatives with foreign nationality or overseas permanent residence, and details of foreign assistance or experience, the people said, adding that it was the first time they had received the requests.
The increased paranoia of Beijing is surely driven by rising international tension, as many countries and their peoples are becoming increasingly aware of China’s aggression, and adjusting their stances accordingly. Or, in the vein of China’s extraordinary Covid lockdowns, which went on far longer than in other countries, it could just be the CCP’s control-freak nature (increased under President Xi) being made manifest. Another, more alarming interpretation that I would offer is that Beijing is actually preparing a major action, such as the invasion of Taiwan, rather than just threatening to do so.
