China tightens travel restrictions for citizens

Key Points:

• New Chinese travel regulations now allow authorities to bar citizens deemed to have harmed national security or violated import/export rules from leaving the country for up to three years after returning from abroad.
• The government states the rules aim to protect national sovereignty and prevent illegal activities, while critics argue they further restrict citizens' freedoms and enable political control over overseas activities.
• Individuals like Pipi, who participated in pro-democracy protests, report passport application rejections without formal explanation, highlighting concerns about lack of transparency and due process.
• The new rules require border officials to warn travelers against visiting "high-risk" countries, reinforcing existing informal restrictions on civil servants and employees of state-owned enterprises from traveling to sensitive destinations.
• Many Chinese citizens only discover travel restrictions when applying for passports or attempting to leave, as there is no public mechanism to check exit controls beforehand, and authorities often do not provide written reasons for refusals.