>The Commons public safety committee yesterday by unanimous vote agreed to probe apparent failures in security screening after a Chinese-Canadian intern at NATO headquarters was arrested on espionage charges. Canadians of Chinese ancestry were owed a thorough investigation of security breaches that are “dividing our communities,” said one MP: “We need to get to the bottom of the issue, determine what went wrong.”
Executive Summary:
Two important conferences on overseas Chinese affairs work in July signaled that the Party’s united front work is set to ramp up in the coming years, as Beijing aims to deepen political control over the 60 million citizens who live outside the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
On July 13, politburo standing committee member Wang Huning told the 400 assembled delegates from 140 countries and regions at 11th World Conference of Overseas Chinese Associations that they must promote national unification. Many of the delegates interviewed affirmed their plans to work to support this key Party priority upon returning to their respective countries of residence.
At the National Conference on Overseas Chinese Affairs Work—the first since 2017—United Front Work Department head Li Ganjie delivered Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s instructions on this “long-term and strategic task of the Party and the State.” These focused in particular on leveraging the talents and the commercial networks of overseas Chinese to support the domestic economic progress.
On Friday July 31, China passed a new regulation concerning exit (and entry) bans. As the State Council’s Press Release states, the regulation is set to take effect on September 15 and “aims to standardize exit and entry administration, protect the lawful rights and interests of exit and entry personnel, and safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests”.
Importantly, the regulation also “refines restrictive measures”, in other words: exit bans.
The new regulation follows an already massive uptick in the use of exit bans since 2023, when Safeguard Defenders’ major report **Trapped! drew attention to the growing use of exit bans.
While the announced objective of greater clarity in the implementation of the key Exit and Entry Administration Law would have been welcome given the widespread (ab-)use of exit bans outside established law, the new regulation leaves much to be desired and further codifies some of the worst aspects of the PRC’s use of exit bans.
Of particular concern are articles 4 and 5, which open the door even further on the PRC’s transnational repression efforts and increase the risks for foreign nationals (see analysis on what’s new below).