In the News

My parents forwarded me a newspaper article on China, wondering about our experience. As many of you know, the Olympics will take place in China this summer. This totalitarian government will open its arms to a deluge of foreigners in about 100 days, and so public security officials are tightening controls over daily life and putting in place all sorts of changes and regulations, most temporary and of the band-aid style. For instance, cars will be banned from the city center of Beijing and factories will temporarily stop work to provide blue skies for the few weeks surrounding the event.

New Restrictions Complicate Life for Foreigners Living in China

The visa rules, introduced last week with little explanation, restrict many visitors
to 30-day stays, replacing flexible, multiple-entry visas that had allowed
people to remain for up to a year. The new rules make it harder for foreigners
to live and work in Beijing without applying for residency permits, which can be
difficult to obtain.

Our family lives in China with residency permits, so the new visa restrictions have no impact upon us. They do affect many of Dave's co-workers, who live abroad but often come into China on meetings. With an annual multi-entry visa, someone living in Japan could come to meetings in China at their leisure, only needing a new visa once a year. Now, these same people must apply for a visa with every flight. It could also affect friends and family planning travel to visit us. The tourist visa you receive will only let you into the country once - no return trips in 9 months, and no hops to Hong Kong during your stay.

The new visa rules come at a time of heightened tension in Beijing and other
cities, where public anger has been directed at Western governments and overseas
news organizations seen as sympathetic to Tibetan indepenence.

My impression is that the public anger has been wildly overblown. Further, what would citizens have to be angry about? The restricted media gives only a mild impression of international problems, and describes the Dalai Lama as a terrorist figure.

Most Westerners readily acknowledge that they enjoy privileges 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 on Beijing streets and in high-end apartment buildings directing
foreigners not staying in hotels to register with police. The regulations, which
are not new but are rarely enforced, promise steep fines for those who do not
comply.

I readily acknowledge the privileged life - if I never felt rich before, I am well aware that Americans are richer than the rest of the world while living in China. Our housing is extravagant compared to typical Shanghainese dwellings. Our food cost is outrageous compared to Chinese restaurants and markets. We are surrounded with help, whom we pay above the average monthly salary. Our ayis rescue things from our garbage, to sell or to use themselves. We certainly live lives of luxury.

And we are also immune from many Chinese laws. We are able to have as many children as we live, and we need not worry for our safety if we quietly criticize the government. We may come and go as we please. I have heard about the new enforcement of the police registration law. This has been a law for years, and I understand that it is generally enforced in small towns and predominantly Chinese neighborhoods. That it may be enforced in luxury communities is a rumor going around - difficult, because we have no idea how to register. The police will certainly not speak English.

We've also heard that cable tv will no longer be restricted by the government (we don't get the same HBO as you, or the same ESPN) but that it will priced beyond the reach of most Chinese. Supposedly the government has been open to journalists for the past few months, but rumor has it that this new law allowing journalists access to all portions of the state is not enforced solidly either, and that no one has been allowed into Tibet or its surrounding provinces for quite some time.