200 foreigners expelled from Beijing this year

Download

About 200 foreigners have been deported from Beijing this year, according to the city's General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection on Thursday.

Most of the foreigners were repatriated because they entered the country illegally, held illegal visas or had illegal jobs.

Some of the foreigners were detained in other provinces and sent to the capital to be deported from China, the authority said.

Li Zhongwei, an official from the station's repatriation department, told Beijing Evening News that most of the foreigners were from developing countries. They came to China for work or were traveling through China to illegally enter other countries, Li added.

Some foreigners were intercepted at airports after Chinese police discovered they were holding fake visas or passports. In some cases, they were using another person's identity card or information, Li said.

The authority said it is required to see the illegal foreigners off. Authorities do not leave the airport until the airplane's cabin doors are shut, he added.

Yang Liu, a publicity officer at the Beijing Exit-Entry Administration, said they regularly check on foreigners to see if their certificates are legal and have not expired.

According to current Chinese exit-entry rules, foreigners are not allowed to come to China within five years if they have been repatriated for unqualified or illegal certificates.

"For foreigners who disobey our administrative regulations, our police have the right to ask them to go back home," she said. "But for those who commit crimes or do illegal acts in our country, we'll send them back under a court verdict."

The question of when a foreign wrongdoer or criminal can return to China depends on the court judgments, she added.

Dai Peng, director of the criminal investigation department at the People's Public Security University of China, said some foreign criminals will be repatriated after serving their sentences in China.

He added that Chinese police will search out foreigners who are illegally staying, entering or working in China.

About the broadcaster:

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.