中國收緊對銀行家和國家工作人員出國旅行的限制 (2/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

China tightens curbs on foreign travel by bankers, state workers (2/2)

Tue, October 17, 2023 at 10:02 a.m. GMT+8

By Engen Tham and Julie Zhu

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NEW LIMITS

Restrictions on personal foreign travel have long applied to senior government officials and state executives with access to confidential information. Reuters found these limits are now filtering down the ranks of China's civil servants - who numbered 7 million, according to the most recent data from 2015 - and 70 million state-enterprise workers.

Lower-level workers at China Construction Bank in Beijing and Shanghai can travel abroad for personal reasons just once a year and for only up to 12 days, according to two bankers, one with almost two decades of service.

Both discovered the constraints, which they said were unprecedented, when applying for time off in early 2023.

Some public school teachers also face new curbs on overseas trips, according to a teacher in southeastern Zhejiang province and a person with knowledge of new regulations introduced in a Shanghai district this year.

At one large branch of state policy lender China Development Bank, overseas trips have been banned this year, according to a person who works there, while an employee of a state-connected mutual fund said travel restrictions were extended recently to new hires in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Reuters could not determine whether restrictions varied by destination.

Among the official notices seen by Reuters were directives by a government affairs unit in a district of eastern Ningbo city in September and another by the National Council for Social Security Fund earlier this year. Both emphasized tougher vetting of employees' requests for personal trips overseas.

In eastern Wenzhou city, a branch of the Municipal Eco-Environment Bureau published revised rules on an official website in September last year, stating that employees can travel abroad only once a year and for no longer than a month.

Wang Zhi'an, a former Chinese state-television anchor who runs an independent media outlet in Japan, said authorities may be worried about officials' observations outside China.

"This exposure might subtly influence the thinking and awareness of these officials," he said. "They might start to question the Communist Party's management system and wonder why it's like this."

MAPPING CONNECTIONS

Chinese authorities are also scrutinizing personal foreign ties, according to a document seen by Reuters, one of the 10 people who discussed travel curbs and three other state-enterprise workers with knowledge of the matter.

Starting around late last year, these people said they received questionnaires from bodies such as the Communist Youth League, Chinese People's Political Consultative Committee (CPPCC), local authorities, and their respective employers.

The forms asked for information on relatives with foreign nationality or overseas permanent residence, and details of foreign assistance or experience, the people said, adding that it was the first time they had received the requests.

Reuters saw one of the questionnaires but could not fully establish how authorities used the data.

The measures come as China steps up public messaging about foreign influence. In August, the Ministry of State Security said on its recently launched WeChat account that it had identified a Chinese national in Italy suspected of spying for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, and warned of the potential for Chinese to be recruited abroad.

The CIA did not respond to a request for comment.

Thomas said the travel curbs in particular would have implications for China's interactions with the world.

"The less Chinese officials go abroad, the less they're able to learn from good things that foreign governments are doing, the less they are familiar with foreign societies, and the less they understand how China is truly perceived in the world," he said.

(Reporting by Engen Tham, Julie Zhu, Kane Wu, Xie Yu, Martin Quin Pollard and Shanghai newsroom. Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom. Editing by David Crawshaw and Vidya Ranganathan.)

Translation

（繼續）

新限制

長期以來，對個人出國旅行的限制一直適用於有權接觸機密資訊的高級政府官員和國家行政人員。 路透社發現，這些限制正在滲透到中國公務員隊伍中（根據 2015 年的最新數據，中國公務員人數為 700 萬人）和 7,000 萬名國企員工。

兩位銀行人士, 其中一位擁有近二十年工作經驗的均表示，北京和上海的中國建設銀行的低級員工每年只能因個人原因出國一次，每次出國時間最多 12 天。

兩人在 2023 年初申請休假時都發現了這些限制，他們說這是前所未有的。

根據在東南部的浙江省的一名教師和一位了解上海某地區今年出台的新規定的人士透露，一些公立學校教師也面臨出國旅行的新限制。

據一位在國家政策性貸款機構 - 國家開發銀行的一家大型分行工作的人士透露，今年該分行已禁止出國旅行，而一家與國家有聯繫的共同基金的一名員工表示，最近將旅行限制擴大到了香港和新加坡的新入職員工。

路透社無法確定限制是否因目的地而異。

路透社看到的官方通知包括寧波市東部一個區的一個政府事務部門9月發布的指令,以及今年稍早全國社會保障基金理事會發布的另一份指令。 兩指令都強調對員工的個人海外旅行請求進行更嚴格的審查。

在溫州東部，市生態環境局的一個分局去年9月在官方網站上發布了修訂後的規定，定出員工每年只能出國旅遊一次，且不得超過一個月。

前中國國家電視台主播、在日本經營獨立媒體的 Wang Zhi'an 表示，當局可能擔心官員在中國境外的所見所聞。

他說: 「這種體驗可能會潛移默化地影響這些官員的思維和意識」; 「他們可能會開始質疑共產黨的管理體制，並想知道為什麼會是這樣」。

勾画出關係

根據路透社看到的一份文件顯示，及曾討論旅行限制的 10 名人士的其中一人, 和另外三名了解此事的國營員工, 感到中國當局也在審查個人的對外連係。

這些人表示，從去年底左右開始，他們收到了來自共青團、政協、地方當局以及各自雇主等機構的問卷。

知情人士稱，這些表格要求提供有關外籍或海外永久居留親屬的信息，以及受外部援助及經驗的詳細信息，並補充說，這是他們第一次收到此類請求。

路透社看到了其中一份問卷，但無法完全確定當局如何使用這些數據。

這些措施出台之際，中國加大了有關外國影響力的公開宣傳。 8月，國家安全部在最近推出的微信帳戶上表示，已發現一名在義大利的中國公民涉嫌為美國中央情報局從事間諜活動，並警告中國人可能在海外被招募。

中央情報局沒有回應置評請求。

Thomas表示，旅行限制尤其會對中國與世界的互動產生影響。

他說: 「中國官員出國越少，他們就越無法從外國政府所做的好事中學到東西，他們對外國社會就越不熟悉，他們就越不了解中國在世界上的真實形象」。

              So, Chinese civil servants and employees of state-linked enterprises are facing tighter constraints on private travel abroad and scrutiny of their foreign connections. This action reflects President Xi Jinping's new focus on national security amid tightening relations with the West. Beijing is increasingly paranoid about the threat of espionage by Western countries. China is fast changing its policy focus in these days.