In a travel agency in Taizhou, in Jiangsu province (China), February 9, 2023. CFOTO/SIPA No more going abroad for a few days on a whim. A growing number of Chinese can no longer hold their own passport, which must be given to their work unit. Each of them is then asked to make a request to their superiors if they intend to travel outside the borders. This policy has long concerned officials of the Communist Party (CCP), particularly those responsible for administration and state-owned enterprises, but today affects more and more employees in the public sector, down to simple teachers. Its extension raises questions among the population, who ask themselves practical questions – is it really possible to get their passport back? Within what time frame? For what duration of travel? – but also wonders why such deprivation is imposed. After the PCC executives and local political leaders, most civil servants, even at the lowest levels of the hierarchy, had to surrender their travel documents, as did the employees of public companies. Bank employees – since they are publicly owned –, teachers down to lower grades, as well as doctors in hospitals, have gradually been affected since 2018. “I am not a civil servant, I do not have access to absolutely no state secrets. Why do I have to surrender my passport? », asks Ms. Wang, a doctor in a public hospital in Inner Mongolia, to Le Monde. When she was informed of this measure by the establishment a few days ago, no explanation was given to her. “I doubt that simply telling my supervisor that I want to travel will be enough to convince him,” she says. “Many people are concerned” If the motivations for this policy have not been explained to the population, the threat to national security due to the risk of infiltration by foreign hostile forces is regularly highlighted. The Communist Party under Xi Jinping, fearing that the liberalization of minds which accompanied economic opening would lead to political collapse, wants to regain control over society. Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers In China, Xi Jinping places national security above all else Add to your selections The president has promoted the concept of a “holistic approach to national security” since 2014. The environment is increasingly regulated, including for Chinese who are perfectly loyal to the single party. Since opening an account on the WeChat platform in the summer of 2023, the Ministry of State Security has regularly published examples of threats, including that of being recruited by enemy intelligence services during a ordinary stay outside China. You have 64.05% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
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