The Telegraph published a short interview with me about Chinese Green Cards:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/9615282/China-may-give-more-green-cards-to-foreigners.html
The Green Card issue as well as obtaining visas and work permits are rather complex issues. What the Chinese government declares and what it does in practice are very different things.
Overall, getting visas, work permits and green cards have all become more and more difficult – while China is lamenting the EU “makes visa and work permits difficult”. They ought to look also at what happens in their home turf.
Obtaining a green card remains virtually impossible. China claims you can get it according to a set of conditions but in fact they rarely agree to grant one. Beijing Municipality has given out a grand total of over 700 many went to returning overseas Chinese and some were probably given as prestige gifts to VIPs (if they do not reside here they lose their status quickly). Real “long noses” like me are a minority as far as I know.
It is so annoying that when I travel, I get often stopped at airport check-in by security, police, airline staff who never saw the document and have to call “the boss”. A bit humiliating.
Visas are now overall more tough to get, while it is true in the past it was rather too easy compared to other countries like USA and EU. The immigration services require many more (original or certified) documents and obtaining long-term visas is more difficult. As a result, business people often have a hard time. Not to even mention that some nationals have a hard time getting any visa (Philippines among others).
There are limitations on who can get a work permit: if you are “too young and no experience” it is nearly impossible. That makes that young people trying to get internships or training face many difficulties, and many end up working illegally. People over 60 are normally not able to get a work permit (according to the labor law – retirement in China is 60 for men and 55 for women). This does not make any sense as many expats with rich experience want to work in China and have a lot to contribute in sharing their experience. We had the case of a foreign dentist, a super specialist in dental implants who was offered a job in a Chinese dental clinic but was refused a work permit on the grounds he was over 60. Ridiculous. In my book “Toxic Capitalism” I mention the issue of retirement in China. Other grey areas: people who wish to retire in China or people who want to come here for medical treatment. I have officially discussed all those issues with the Ministry of Public Security.
Overall the feeling of expats here is now that foreigners are not so welcome anymore. Chinese have become anti-foreign, arrogant, even hostile. Foreigners are starting to leave. Hostile confrontations are becoming more common. “Foreigners out”. It does not make any sense. There are officially far less than 1 million foreigners in China in a population of 1.3 billion. Compare that to the amount of Chinese living in European countries!
We all understand immigration laws should be respected. But the way China is handling it now is against their own interest. Let’s hope one day they will understand.
LAJI Couture: a great event about sustainability
On Saturday 8 September Miranda Mullet organized the event that was strongly supported by several Rotaracters (while it was not an official Rotaract event), Ying Ying, Chrystal, Ian, David and many others. It was great, we started before lunch manning several booths, one was shared between Rotaract and myself (to promote my book Toxic Capitalism), others included The Library Project (with whom Rotary and Rotaract work together), the people from Shangrila Farms, Jane Goodall roots&shoots and many more. Later in the evening there were some presentations, by The Library Project, Vincent Rondia (from Belgium) and others, followed by a special fashion show with… improvised models, making it an exciting and unusual catwalk. See the pictures I took during the day and during the fashion show. It was held in Sanlitun Soho (Gongti Bei Lu, Beijing).
For more about the event: See: www.lajicouture.com
Miranda Mullet wrote:
Laji (meaning trash in Chinese) is a public event created to awaken minds and exchange ideas that challenge inefficiencies in manufacturing by promoting a natural cycle.
Laji Couture brings people together that believe in:
– Sustainable infrastructure
– Sustainable economic and cultural development
– Environmental responsibility
As the world develops and populations grow, more and more resources are being depleted. As consumers in the globalized market, we have the opportunity to change this course of action, by being conscious consumers. In communities across the world we are seeing sustainable fashion, art, food, and lifestyles on the rise. In the Beijing community, we are seeing similar trends as people become educated about environmental problems.
We are giving different organizations and individuals the chance to showcase their ideas and creations. At our daytime fair and evening gathering, our participants will use design and creativity to share their vision of sustainability and social responsibility.
“Laji Couture serves as a platform for socially responsible businesses, designers & artists.”
I was really proud of our Rotaracters!
Visit of Rotary International President to Beijing
On 14 September our Rotary Club of Beijing was honored to receive the visit of RI President Sakuji Tanaka and a group of Rotarians from District 3450 (Hong Kong, Macao and Mongolia) as well as the President of the Rotary Club of Shanghai.
We had a joint lunch in the Kempinski Hotel. As usual as was the back-up Sergeant-at-Arms. The President gave a speech and chatted with many of our members present. The President was also excited that I was a frequent guest in Japanese KTVs in Beijing (I was in one yesterday!), he is also a fan of singing. He was also impressed with my bike outfit when I was leaving and had to return to make a picture with him…
Pictured are some of the attendees and myself with our RCB President David van Meerendonk and the RI President. The delegation received a set of special mooncakes as a souvenir.
The EUCCC Position Paper is out
European Chamber Position Paper Launch Attended by Record Number of Media, Members in Beijing and Shanghai
On 6 Sept. 2012, the European Chamber launched the European Business in China Position Paper 2012/2013 to the largest numbers of media and member attendees ever in Beijing. In the morning session, over 130 journalists attended the launch event, which saw a vigorous question and answer session following President Davide Cucino’s presentation; I could not join unfortunately as I had another very important meeting. I joined in the afternoon and about 120 members and non-members of the European Chamber attended the speech by special guest Lord Peter Mandelson, the former European Commissioner for Trade, followed by President Cucino’s presentation, and a question and answer session. See my pics, click to enlarge:
European Chamber Position Paper Tour in Europe:
European Chamber board members and staff will present this year’s Position Paper to various audiences throughout Europe during September and October.
Confirmed events will occur in the following cities: Brussels, London, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Vienna, Milan and possibly others.
I will be part of the Brussels circuit as Chair of the Public Procurement Working Group, leaving for Brussels on 15 September; first time I join the circuit..
Beijing traffic and my report to the Mayor
I mentioned earlier the report that I delivered to the Beijing Mayor, report that was widely circulated in the Government. At first I thought none of the remarks were taken into account.
Well, maybe they did listen to people like me.
One of my main recommendations was to improve driving manners. See here the article of China Daily, and below the mentioned “bad habits”. Sounds familiar?
Driving manners target of five-year policy, 21 Feb 11, by Chen Xin (China Daily)
As others already pointed out, the new policies should not give us too much hope as enforcement will again be the weakest point. Who will fine bikes who fail to stop for the red light? What is being done about all the cars without a license plate?
Other new positive measures intend to improve parking lots in buildings and related. Too many parkings in buildings are either difficult to use or have simply been converted for other use (like a KTV…).
10 bad habits on the road:
1. forcibly overtaking another vehicle;
2. dangerously weaving between cars;
3. not giving way to pedestrians on a crosswalk;
4. using a cell phone when driving;
5. not wearing a seat belt while driving;
6. freely using the horn;
7. throwing garbage out of car windows;
8. not moving to the curb following a minor traffic accident;
9. running a red light on a bicycle or tricycle;
10. not using a crosswalk or following signals when crossing roads as a pedestrian.
They better hurry up and do something. In the past days we had again AQI levels between 400 and 500. Fortunately today the pollution was blown away and right now we can enjoy a real “blue sky day”.