Entry denied: the identity crisis facing China’s covert dual passport holders
Beijing has warned of its zero tolerance for dual nationality. Now some foreign citizens who held on to their Chinese identity documents fear the consequences of returning
The message was short but for one man in the southeast United States, it was chilling.
Just before the Lunar New Year holiday, China’s embassy in London posted a “special reminder” on its website warning that China did not recognise dual nationality.
“The embassy will invalidate the related documents of anybody who violates Chinese law and deny Chinese visas and entry to that person,” the notice said.
When “Ryan”, a thirty-something dentist and US citizen still holding a Chinese passport, read the message, he had a vision of his life falling apart.
Ryan was born in China and still makes regular trips back to see family, but he said he feared he would be stripped of his Chinese citizenship if he returned.
“My Chinese passport will expire within the next two years, and right now I really don’t know how to deal with my parents’ property,” he said. “I had hoped that one day I could send my child to a Chinese public school.”
