From the Readers
Rethink over foreigners needed
(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-31 07:51
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Comment on "Foreigner communities" (China Daily, Aug 25)
I doubt that there were 20,000 "green cards" holders, that is, foreigners granted permanent residence permit in China, by 2004. Official figures for 2009 show a total of 311 "green card" holders in Beijing. Figures for Shanghai are most probably similar, but could be a bit higher. As a matter of fact, China has almost stopped issuing "green cards". Applications are accepted but permission rarely granted.
A consequence of the near non-existence of such card holders is the weird experience of using it. Most airport security officers ignore its existence and ask people to produce their passports. The lack of training on the part of security officers and others makes "green card" holders a discriminated rather than a privileged lot.
Some Chinese people's worry over the impact of foreigners on China and their call for a new "immigration law" to limit the influx of foreigners would only paint a bad image of China.
Reliable figures on foreigners in China are not available. Beijing is said to have more than 110,000 long-term foreign residents. Figures for Shanghai may be higher. The latest official figures (2007) show 538,892 foreigners have been living in China for more than six months. I believe the real figure is much higher, considering foreign students and many unaccounted for foreigners. Even if we assume a total of 1.5 million foreign residents in China, that is a drop in the ocean compared to the Chinese population of more than 1.3 billion.
If China wants to be an open and international society and part of the world community, some of our Chinese friends have to rethink their attitude toward foreigners.
Gilbert Van Kerckhove, via e-mail
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(China Daily 08/31/2010 page9)