Editor's note: The following article was translated and edited from an article that appeared on the China Huanqiu news website. It remarks on the first several days of the recently announced 100-day crackdown on illegal foreigners, specifically those falling under the much-publicised "three illegal" category, referring to illegal entry, illegal residence, and illegal employment. The article emphasises the strains put on administrative resources and the national job market, discusses the shortcomings of current systems in place for dealing with international visitors and advocates for their reform.
In recent days, police officials in Jilin province's Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture and other areas have already begun a high-profile 100-day crackdown on what has become known as the "three illegal" types of foreigners, referring to those who either enter China illegally, overstay their visas, or seek illegal employment. Since China's Reform and Opening policies of the 1980s, China has seen a consistent yearly rise in the number of international visitors, yet the appearance of "three illegal" foreigners in large numbers poses a serious challenge to authorities: how should China effectively deal with the "three illegal" issue against a background of increasing openness to the international community?
A blow to the national employment situation
"Following the rapid social and economic development of our country, foreigners continue to arrive in China in ever greater numbers, with more and more occupations and purposes for entering, their activities diverse, complex and constantly shifting," said Vice Minister of Public Security Yang Huanning.
According to statistics released from police officials, the year 1980 saw only 740,000 visits from citizens of other countries, a number that rose to 27,110,000 in 2011. In the past ten years, foreign entries to China have risen at a rate of about 10% annually.
"Following the increase of foreigners in China, issues with ‘three illegal' foreigners have risen constantly. Which doesn't just mean more paperwork for the administration; ‘three illegal' foreigners also include dangerous criminals," said Xiang Dang, professor of Foreign Affairs at the Chinese People's Public Security University.
According to a recent survey, illegal residence makes up approximately 80% of "three illegal" cases, with illegal enterers arriving mainly from neighbouring countries, and illegal workers centred mainly in the fields of foreign language education, performing arts, housekeeping and concentrated labour industries, most of them arriving on the premise of study abroad or tourism before seeking illegal employment. The survey also reveals the "three illegal" group even includes some who enter China with the specific intention of participating in illegal activities.
Reports indicate that in 1995 the National Public Security Bureau's Department of Entry and Exits handled over 10,000 cases of "three illegal" activity. In 2011, that number doubled.
"Three illegal" foreigners are not simply a challenge to border authorities and social order; they also negatively affect employment and resource distribution for the Chinese population. According to Ren Maodong, member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, improper management of incoming foreigners will damage the employment situation for Chinese citizens, disturb the human resource market, and take up other limited resources.
No specialised detainment facilities
Members of the Ministry of Public Security assert that the administrative problems associated with the "three illegal" issue are numerous, and the difficulty level is high. At present there are no dedicated facilities for the detainment, inspection and deportation of illegal aliens, with containment space and foreign language personnel at existing detention centres always in short supply.
One common situation involves women from bordering countries having illegitimate children with Chinese citizens, often returning again even after legal deportation. Some continue to reside illegally for long periods of time, becoming a problem for the next generation.
Another complication stems from the embassies and consulates of certain countries taking too long to verify the identities of foreign visitors, often very inefficiently. Waiting for the process to complete taxes the financial resources of the Chinese administration, and the situation can get out of control.
As this reporter has come to understand, administrative service for foreigners affects a wide variety of domains, functions and departments, creating the need for a coordination of policies and a better network for sharing information. Some departments have not yet established a system for dealing with foreigners, and those that have established systems have not yet developed fully capable communication networks.
Another huge issue is the sluggish pace of legislation. The current infrastructure for managing and serving foreigners in China was built in the 1980s and 90s; already it is not enough to meet the needs of the current situation.
Source: china.huanqiu.com
Related links
"Sweep Out the Foreign Trash": Is Anti-Foreigner Sentiment Trending in China?
Beijing Begins 100-Day Crackdown on Illegal Foreigners
Top 6 Misconceptions about Foreigners in China
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Keywords: Illegal foreigners China three illegal foreigners China how China handles illegal foreigners China crackdown on foreigners
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I have no issue with China cracking down on illegal immigrants. Like it or not, every country in the world has immigration laws, so there is really nothing unique here. If you're prepared to break immigration laws, then you should be prepared to accept deportation if you get caught.
Where I DO have an issue is random police checks, just because you have a foreign face. This is clearly a nuisance and an intimidation to the vast majority of foreigners who are visiting, living, or working in China legally. Imagine if America or UK started stopping random Chinese people in the street and demanding proof of legal immigration; the outcry would be tremendous.
A more effective and humane way to curtail illegal immigration would be to crack down on employers who hire foreigners without providing the proper visas. Impose some stiff fines, and that would force employers to stop under the table hiring.
Jun 04, 2012 07:41 Report Abuse
Ron, the moment you realise there are no students only clients is the moment you realise why the Chinese education system doesn't serve anyone bar those who pay their tuition up front.
Jun 03, 2012 18:11 Report Abuse
I agree with you. I recruit teachers for schools in China, Taiwan and Saudi Arabia, and many of the most devoted and experienced teachers are turned away because they are 55 and older. If it were up to me, I would be happy to hire teachers like yourself for any country.
Jun 04, 2012 05:10 Report Abuse
You are not hired because of ur age & I am not hired because I m not a white...Not a Caucasian! People here or even in middle east would hire on the base of skin color not on the level of experience & qualification one possesses!
Jun 05, 2012 08:25 Report Abuse
Monk, I would not entirely disagree with some of the observations you made but let's take a look at the big picture:
- There is the saying "You get what you pay for". Yes, many of these 'Anglo-American Teachers' are young, inexperienced and they do not have the best University degrees. They are also willing to work in China for sometimes just 1500 'Anglo-American dollars'.
This leads to a next point:
- Unless schools and students are willing to pay double, triple and 10X the salaries and fees then there is the idea:
"Something is better than nothing!". A struggling inexperienced Western economics teachers (with some flaws) might be better than having no western economic teachers at all.
Having said that, you want to mention any and all flaws you see with 'Anglo-American'. As opposed to what other ethnicity?
In school, we had an influx of Filipino Assistant teachers. Many were new, poorly trained and had difficulty. Some were over their heads.
In China, we saw a new 'African American' teacher desperately struggling and surely they were trained at a 'third rate University'. Though they were overcoming it through their own excellence.
There is no shortage of poor Chinese teachers either. Again, we cannot blame them for they themselves often have to settle for lesser education value in their own training.
In my 'Anglo-American School' we had several teachers from China. One was excellent (surely over-qualified for our public school) and another who was too busy flirting with other single teachers except to take time to give us some kind of liberal 'left-wing' propaganda lessons (often unrelated to the class).
At one time, there were a number of new immigrants here who registered as 'Teachers'. They were not deceiving us but it would become clear they had much different (and possibly much lower) standards than Canadians might expect. It was often suspected many (from Africa, Romania or India) they maybe even had a 'false claim'. Just claiming to be 'Teachers' as none could really verify their foreign documents in those days.
Of course, in China, most foreign teachers may be 'Anglo-American' so it would be true most poor foreign teachers are also Western Caucasian too. It must be 'proportionate' and I suggest it would be the same situation if we had (for example) just as many Indian or Pakistani foreign teachers. The same % would be poor and good.
Jun 09, 2012 09:32 Report Abuse
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