China requires Party members, gov’t workers as surety for overseas Tibetan visa applicants’ good behaviour

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Chinese VISA

(TibetanReview.net, Oct31’19) – China has impose further, highly onerous restrictions on oversea Tibetans intending to visit Tibet or any other part of the People’s Republic of China, requiring them to be hosted by Party members or at least state workers, reported the Tibetan Service of rga.org Oct 30. The existing rule was that family members could apply to host a visit and thereby guarantee the guest’s good behaviour.

Now the requirement is that the guarantee must be given by a government worker or a Party member. The penalty for any failure or breach of the guarantee includes loss of job or demotion.

The requirement for submitting the guarantee application form, which is a year old and is in both Tibetan and Chinese, requires the guarantor-host to ensure that his guest “abides by the laws and regulations of the People’s Republic of China” and not spread “rumours” or take part in political rallies or protests.

The application form, addressed to a government desk in Lhasa, is said to continue, concerning the visitor, “He or she will not leave the place of their intended visit or loiter around, and will depart for his or her country of origin on the due date and will not overstay [their visit].”

Even after giving such a guarantee, there is no certainty, however, that a visa will be granted.

A Tibetan applicant for visa at a Chinese embassy faces highly intimidating scrutiny and requires clearance by Chinese government departments at various levels.

“It is a long and difficult process,” a Tibetan living in the US who recently returned from Tibet was quoted as saying, adding that Tibetan applicants for visas were being routinely singled out at the Chinese embassy for questioning in separate rooms and were required to provide documents unrelated to the granting of a visa, such as a short biography of the applicant, old passports, and birth certificates.

He has said that after arriving in Tibet, his relatives were also called in for questioning on a variety of issues.

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