China asks teachers to hand over their passports

Chinese authorities are expanding a campaign that requires a growing number of teachers and public sector workers to hand over their passports as part of tighter controls on foreign travel. This measure is part of the so-called “management of personal trips abroad”, which allows the local government to monitor and regulate the travel of public servants, deciding who can leave the country, how often and to which destinations.

The movement occurs while the president Xi Jinping strengthens state control over society and represses corruption in the public sector. Interviews with more than a dozen public servants and teachers reveal that, in several provinces, these workers were told to hand over their passports to authorities, making international travel difficult or, in some cases, impossible.

“All teachers and public sector employees have been instructed to hand over their passports,” said a primary school teacher in a large city in the western province of Sichuan.

“If we want to travel abroad, we have to make an application to the city’s education department and I don’t think it will be approved,” said the teacher, asking that he and his city not be identified.

The regulation of personal travel by public servants is based on 2003 rules, which originally restricted the movement of mid- and high-ranking officials. However, the rules have been expanded to include a larger number of employees, including teachers and workers at state-owned companies. Teachers in various provinces such as Sichuan, Hubei, Anhui and Henanreported having been forced to hand over their documents and facing a series of bureaucratic obstacles to obtain permission for international travel.

Additionally, public servants traveling abroad are instructed to avoid contact with groups such as the spiritual movement Falun Gong or other “hostile foreign forces,” as disclosed in instructions from the Wenzhou education department. Those who do not comply with these guidelines or travel without permission may face penalties, such as being unable to travel for up to five years.

The restrictions also affect retired employees. A 76-year-old man reported that his former employer, a state-owned aircraft manufacturer, confiscated his passport this year, preventing him from visiting his family abroad. “I do not have access to sensitive information and I am a patriot,” he said.

O Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the Financial Times that it does not have detailed knowledge of the situation and directed questions to the competent authorities.