BEIJING — Following barely three weeks of heightened rhetoric and a few police raids of bars, it seems China’s latest wave of government-sparked anti-foreigner sentiment might be blowing over.
After fanning the flames of potential xenophobia, state-run media now report that Chinese public security officials are considering allowing foreigners to visit the country on three-day periods with no visa. This development comes at a time when it seems particularly challenging to enter the country. Agents at several visa and tourism companies have noted delays with visa applications over the past several weeks. China’s public security bureau does not release visa numbers, so it’s impossible to document a trend.
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The three-day waiver would allow tourists to visit the country without the paperwork hassles normally required. It’s not clear how popular the visa would be, since China is difficult to see as a tourist in three days and not a major airline stopover hub. There are some limited visa-free transit waivers in place, but they don’t appear to be widely used. Public security officials have not disclosed whether or when the program might move forward. Lin Song of the visa administration bureau in Beijing told the China Daily newspaper that the country expects to attract more foreign tourists with the waiver.
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The proposed three-day waiver wouldn’t solve the problem of business visa delays, however, as it would only apply to tourists. A few events have reportedly been canceled in the past month over visa delays, although businesspeople remain hesitant to speak openly on the issue. Several people contacted said they were concerned that China’s latest clampdown might put a damper on business, but they hadn’t personally experienced problems and were hopeful the storm has passed. Unlike the last anti-foreigner typhoon in China, one said, this appears short-lived.
The American Chamber of Commerce in China has said that a lack of general transparency in the process makes China’s visa procedures difficult and could damage business.
“AmCham China urges the Chinese government to make visa application requirements and procedures uniform and transparent nationwide,” the organization said in its 2012 report on business conditions in China, issued in late April. “Publishing them and providing a period for public notice and comment before they become effective would facilitate compliance with the law and enable companies to better plan hiring and travel decisions.”
In late March, two videos of foreign men in China — one apparently sexually assaulting a Chinese woman and the other mocking and insulting a Chinese woman on a train — went viral after being posted online. The Internet exploded with commentary about non-Chinese citizens who work and live here, and police in several cities unleashed campaigns to root out “illegal” foreigners.
The population of foreigners in China has grown steadily in the last decade, as demand and opportunity have increased. Beijing now has about 120,000 foreign residents, and there are an estimated 500,000 foreigners living across China. Still, for a country of 1.4 billion people, that number is small.
Officially, the 100-day crackdown focuses on foreigners living or working in China illegally. Since visa authorities here require rigorous work permit and visa documentation; it remains quite difficult to enter or stay in the country without valid paperwork.
Responding to concerns over xenophobia, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a recent news conference that China is not aiming to keep out those who follow the law.
“The Chinese government welcomes foreigners from all walks of life to come to China, and will offer various conveniences for their living and working, and protect their legitimate rights and interests,” Hong Lei said.
“Meanwhile, we ask foreigners in China to abide by Chinese laws and regulations, and respect the culture and customs of Chinese,” he said.
While anti-foreigner rhetoric grew louder on the Web, ordinary people in China didn’t seem to take much notice.
“I haven’t see a problem with foreigners, so I’m not clear about what is going on,” said Li Taining, a 32-year-old clothing store clerk who works in an upscale Beijing mall.
China last took after foreigners leading up to the Beijing Olympics, when riots in Tibet protesting Chinese rule turned the country’s global torch run into a public-relations nightmare. Rather than opening its doors to the world, China limited tickets and access to the Olympics and slowed the number of visas it granted to tourists and others.
The latest wave of anti-foreigner sentiment began, as typically happens, in the midst of internal turmoil in China. A political scandal at the very top grabbed major headlines, when Chongqing Communist Party boss Bo Xilai was expelled from the party and his wife arrested on suspicion of murdering a British associate. Bo had made a very public bid to join the country’s ruling panel of nine, but his fall came just months ahead of the Party Congress that will outline China’s upcoming power transition and pave the way for a new president.
Foreign journalists are grappling with an especially challenging landscape at the moment.
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China has published surveys over the past two years indicating that more journalists are waiting longer for their visas, sometimes more than a year. In its most recent poll, the FCCC said a number of correspondents said colleagues had been refused visiting journalist visas and the visa situation had affected their ability to report on China.