Chinese ex-pats: vulnerable strangers back home
Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 12:09AM 
Disturbing WSJ feature about a subject that has long intrigued me WRT my Chinese-born daughter, Vonne Mei. Whenever you hear about "foreign nationals" being arrested in China, it is almost invariably a China-born Chinese who later got citizenry elsewhere and then returned for work, only to suffer this jeopardy.
Frankly, it is why we readopted Vonne Mei in US Courts.
Bottom line: no matter your citizenry, if you're China-born Chinese and you're in-country, you can suddenly find yourself in a grey zone--but only so far as the Chinese government is concerned.
When things go well and there are opportunities to be grasped, the overseas Chinese, with their inside-track appreciation of the distinctive modus operandi in the People's Republic, ride high. When the complex nexus of national interest, party-family ties, local power brokers and influence peddlers is antagonized, however, these intuitive insiders, the commercial compradors with local knowledge, are particularly vulnerable. The protective sheath of foreign citizenship proves to be little more than a gossamer.
And yeah, I do find that notion a bit scary when considering any return visit with my daughter, not so much that she might get in trouble but that I could inadvertently do the same by antagonizing someone powerful. I think it's a rather far-fetched concern; it's just not something I'd have to worry about traveling anywhere else with her.
Why? Because, it's still the case that the Chinese government retains--in its mind--the prerogative to declare what is and isn't fair according to China's unique situation and national needs:
The Chinese authorities claim a monopoly right to define and interpret the nation's unique conditions. In reality, social change, evolving attitudes and widespread aspirations continue to challenge the status quo.
But the Party claims the right to decide, when it chooses, to declare what any Chinese, caught on its soil, owes the state--no matter the citizenship. The dynamic has a sort of mafia-like ring to it--as in, no matter how you may view your new situation, the Chinese government retains the right to pull you back into the family and to punish you at will.
How long can that version of Chinese exceptionalism last? Hopefully not much longer, because it represents the myopic selfishness of a scared state, and the Chinese people deserve something a helluva lot more mature.
Reader Comments (2)
Excellent point, but China's far from alone when it comes to these sort of "you cant get away" arbitrary decisions. The US has its own versions of exceptionalism - for instance our ex-pat taxation laws and enforcement are so overzealous, that it's nearly impossible for our citizens to get bank accounts in places like London - even if they live there. We're one of only a handful of countries (others are more like Libya and Zimbabwe - not OECD) whose tax laws demand a cut for income earned out-of-country.
Heck, the IRS believes its entitled to a cut of your income even after you've renounced your citizenship! For 10 years!
And, of course, one of the databases CBP's US VISIT is linked into? Treasury. Come back into the country, even as a foreign citizen, and they're still waiting for their pound of flesh.
"How long can that version of Chinese exceptionalism last?"
I've often asked myself this question as I, too, have Chinese-born daughters (Shannon FuMin and Shay SiMin). My middle-aged Chinese friends don't appear nearly as hard-core as the 'old guys'. Do you suppose that, as this older generation of officials passes on, the younger officials stepping in will be more global-minded when it comes to "exceptionalism"? If so, we could see a big change very soon.