Illustration: Liu Rui
Arguments regarding China's overseas travel issues recently stirred controversy online. The discussions initially focused on why it is hard for a Chinese mainland passport holder to apply for a foreign visa, but then the discussions turned into complaints that a Chinese mainland passport is a shameful thing to have because it doesn't grant the same rights as many of those less prominent countries and regions. Some people even ridiculed their passport by saying that even China's giant pandas can travel around the world more freely, adding that it is better to be a citizen of any country but China.
China's rapid development has filled its citizens' pockets with more cash, thus allowing them to travel more, study and do business abroad. In 2011, 70 million Chinese travelled internationally, and the number will keep increasing by a rate of 20 to 30 percent annually. While applying for a passport is easy for Chinese citizens since it is granted by their own government, the visa business is completely at the discretion of foreign governments, and the Chinese government cannot interfere with the process.
Yet problems often arise. Chinese citizens who hold a normal passport always encounter difficulties when applying for travel, study, or business activities. They must meet criteria set by foreign authorities. Otherwise, they will end up with two empty hands - no visa and no reason explaining their rejection. Several of my friends experienced just that when their children applied to study abroad. Some of them even had their tuition fees already paid but were still refused due to visa issues, thus causing them substantial financial losses as foreign colleges wouldn't refund their money or couldn't refund it completely.
Why is the process so hard for the Chinese? It is common sense that people want to live in a better place, and in this context, a better country - particularly when the environment, living conditions, and social welfare elsewhere are superior. But it is a huge burden for our chosen countries when we all want to go there. Thus, these countries have to take measurements to balance their citizens' interests and huge population inflow. This is the case with Western countries, where the immigration policy welcomes people useful to them, but is a brick wall to others. Although the Chinese are becoming richer, their country is still a developing state and its average income per GDP is merely $4,300. Thus, foreign governments set up a high threshold to block people they believe would stay illegally. In other words, obstacles that constantly annoy people from the Chinese mainland in applying for foreign visas are mainly due to our huge population and relatively poor development. And since this remains a huge problem, talking about visa exemption is really a dream.
Visa exemption is a privilege that allows a citizen of a foreign country to enter another country without a visa. At the moment, the privilege only exists between countries that have a close relationship, such as the EU countries, or countries that are close in terms of both their development level and social system. It can also be unilaterally granted for a particular purpose. For instance, China has given visa exemption to citizens of Japan, Singapore and Brunei to promote tourism. But so far no state in the world has formally granted Chinese citizens this privilege.
However, foreign countries, while concerned about illegal aliens, hope they can attract rich Chinese consumers and investors to boost their economy. Therefore, many countries have already simplified their visa application procedures for the convenience of Chinese citizens. Some of China's neighboring countries have even permitted limited visa exemptions. Thus, it is fair to say the situation has been improving, and it is primarily due to China's development. This also means we will need to stay calm concerning current obstacles.
This responsibility falls on all of us, and simply ridiculing Chinese passport won't amount to anything but self-humiliation.
The author is a visiting scholar of China Foreign Affairs University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn