Don’t Forget Your Passport
Brits living in China should always keep their passports on them.
This is the advice given to Brits by their embassy in response to spot checks carried out by police after a raid on Sanlitun in Beijing. I received this E-mail yesterday.
Sanlitun round-up
The diplomatic community has been picking up rumours recently that the regulation requiring all foreigners to carry photographic ID with them at all times is now being enforced much more stringently. An incident this weekend at a bar in Sanlitun, in which several foreigners, including Britons, were detained for up to several hours, appears to bear this out. This is the first hard evidence we have that rules governing foreigners living and working in China are currently in the process of being applied with greater vigour.
It is entirely possible that stricter enforcement may be security-related in the run-up to the Olympics, but the Chinese authorities have issued no advice on this topic. Indeed, they are unlikely to do so. The regulation already exists, viz ‘Article 25 - Aliens … who reside or stay in China shall carry with them their residence certificates or passports for possible examination by police in charge of foreign affairs’. It is simply being implemented.
Please bear this in mind and, with immediate effect, ensure that you, your family and visiting friends/relatives, carry with you at all times the ID papers stipulated in the Article. It is in your interests to do so, and may help avoid unpleasant and sometimes frightening situations.
When I first arrived in Shanghai four years ago, I used to carry my passport as a photocopy although it’s easy to get complacent when the only time you are ever asked to show this document is when you book a hotel room or board a plane. It seems to be one of these enforcement drives that obsesses local officials from time to time. One week it’s counterfeit goods. Then it’s moped licenses and now it’s the turn of passports and illegal satellite dishes.
In addition to carrying my Ipod, cellphone, camera, keys, wallet and book, I now need to remember to carry my passport. I am aware that it is unlikely I will ever be stopped by a policeman to show this ID, but my wife likes to say that sometimes they kill a chicken to show the monkeys. Let’s hope that I am a monkey and not a chicken.
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Tags: Shanghai