Recently, multiple interviewees from mainland China disclosed that the Chinese Communist Party has fully implemented a system for confiscating passports of personnel at the department level and above, covering groups such as government officials, teachers, and employees of state-owned enterprises. Those who wish to travel abroad must go through layers of approval. Interviewees believe that this reflects an obvious escalation in the authorities’ control over the outbound travels of personnel within the system and work units.
In recent times, a Epoch Times reporter discovered from contacts with many mainland Chinese people that government officials, corporate entities, and supervisors in state-owned enterprises from cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Guangxi, and Shaanxi have generally been required to hand over their passports, Hong Kong and Macau travel permits, etc., to their units for “centralized storage.” Even grassroots department-level government officials are not allowed to privately hold their exit and entry documents.
One interviewee mentioned that the comprehensive implementation of the passport confiscation system by the authorities began in June of this year or even earlier. Mr. Guo, a retired government official based in Beijing (former level of bureau director), told reporters on July 28 that his colleagues disclosed that many department heads and deputy department heads have been asked to hand over their passports and Hong Kong and Macau travel permits. “They said it was for centralized passport storage. If you want to go abroad, you must first submit a written application to the unit, have it signed by leaders at departmental levels or above, and finally submit it to the human resources department for approval.”
Mr. Liu, a grassroots department supervisor in a central enterprise who had just returned from overseas travel, also informed reporters that one must submit an application one month in advance before traveling abroad, detailing reasons for travel, accompanying persons, destination, etc. “Even for family visits, another form needs to be filled out. Several years ago, there were no such procedures at all.”
Adding to this, Mr. Liu said, “Now it’s not just government officials; even teachers at the university where my wife works have been asked to surrender their passports. When she took the children to Malaysia during the Chinese New Year and applied to travel abroad again during summer vacation, her request was rejected by the unit citing ‘only one trip abroad per year’ as the reason. The leadership even asked her in person if she had considered emigrating.”
Interviewee Xiao Liao from Guangzhou expressed that even elementary school teachers face travel restrictions nowadays. “A classmate of mine teaches at a primary school, and even her passport was confiscated by the unit. She has to rely on connections to even go to Hong Kong. It’s lamentable; the concept of ‘just take off and travel’ simply does not exist for us anymore. To travel freely, one must leave the system behind.”
Ms. Sun, a loan department supervisor at a state-owned bank in Guangdong, mentioned that their system has been restricting the processing and use of exit and entry documents since 2013. “I had a multiple-entry Hong Kong and Macau travel permit that was valid for more than a year in 2008, but after 2013, they no longer issued those, only allowing two trips per year, each requiring leadership approval. Later, they just took away all passports and travel permits; now there’s a rule that you can only travel abroad once a year, twice in special circumstances, with prior approval, and itinerary changes cannot be made last minute.”
She shared that due to too many restrictions, after her planned participation in a Xinjiang tour was cancelled, her vacation couldn’t be altered. “I had to change to go to Chengdu instead; this is just too troublesome.”
Passport restrictions are not limited to active personnel; retired individuals have not been exempt. Mr. Guo, a retired government official (former bureau director), mentioned that a retired government official employed in a small county in Guangxi, who had obtained permanent residency abroad, was asked by the former unit to hand over his passport upon returning to visit. “Although he applied to travel abroad again upon returning, the unit only approved it for half a year. If he doesn’t come back in time, his domestic pension will be suspended, which is not in line with national regulations.”
Scholar Mr. Zhao believes that the authorities may be acting out of the concern for system personnel engaging in “taking money and fleeing” or “leaking secrets.” He told reporters, “There are more corrupt officials nowadays, as well as officials implicated in fundraising scams. Some people escape with stolen funds, with officials backing them. Hence, various departments are implementing strict controls, fearing the escape of corrupt officials will lead to shared liability.”
Observers point out that since 2018, China has implemented a “passport confiscation + application for use” system in certain sensitive positions. During epidemic lockdowns, this was widely promoted under the pretext of “not traveling unless necessary.” Now, instead of relaxing, the restrictions have become institutionalized.
Mr. Zhao criticized, “This so-called ‘standardization,’ essentially turns the freedom to travel abroad into an approval system, with the goal of closing the country’s borders.”
Shanghai lawyer Jane Zhu (pseudonym) also mentioned that she heard government officials need unit approval to reclaim their passports after returning from abroad and questioned this policy: “Passports are the international travel documents granted by the state to citizens and are not distributed by units. However, restricting citizens’ freedom to travel abroad in the name of the unit is not legal or reasonable. Under an authoritarian system, returning passports to employees has become a form of ‘reward,’ a way to incentivize loyalty within the system. But placing restrictions on non-system individuals violates basic human rights.”