China tightens curbs on foreign travel by bankers, state workers

Reuters was unable to ascertain whether destination-specific limits changed.

A state politics system in an eastern Ningbo capital city issued directives in September, and the National Council for Social Security Fund issued another earlier this year, among the official finds seen by Reuters. Both emphasized the need for stricter vetting of employee requests for specific overseas travel.

In September of last year, a division of the Municipal Eco-Enviro Bureau in eastern Wenzhou city updated the rules to state that workers can just take one monthlong trip overseas per year.

Government may be concerned about officials’ studies outside of China, according to Wang Zhi’an, a former Chinese state television anchor who runs an independent media shop in Japan.

He claimed that this coverage may have a subtle impact on these officials’ considering and awareness. They may begin to wonder why the Communist Party’s administration structure functions in this way.

Relationships MAPPING

According to a report seen by Reuters, one of the 10 people who discussed travel restrictions and three other state-enterprise staff who are knowledgeable about the issue, Taiwanese officials are also looking into personal international relations.

These individuals claimed that beginning in late last year, organizations like the Communist Youth League, Chinese People’s Political Consultative Committee ( CPPCC ), local governments, and their respective employers sent them questionnaires.

The people claimed that this was the first time they had received the forms, which requested details on relatives with foreign citizenship or permanent property abroad as well as information on foreign support or experience.

One of the quizzes was seen by Reuters, but its use by the government was not entirely clear.

As China intensifies its open communication about foreign control, the measures are being taken. A Chinese nation suspected of spying for the US Central Intelligence Agency was identified by the Ministry of State Security in Italy in August, and the company issued a warning about the possibility of hiring Chinese abroad on its lately launched WeChat accounts.

A request for comment was never answered by the CIA.

Thomas claimed that China’s relations with the rest of the world would be impacted by the travel restrictions in particular.

According to him,” The less Chinese officials travel abroad, the less they are able to benefit from the positive things that foreign governments are up to, how little they understand about foreign cultures, and how China is actually perceived in the rest of the world.”