Beijing Today (July 14, 2006)

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BEIJING TODAY FRIDAY JULY 14 2006 NO. 267 CN11-0120 HTTP://BJTODAY.YNET.COM

CHIEF EDITOR: JIAN RONG NEWS EDITOR: HOU MINGXIN DESIGNER: ZHAO YAN

Buddha’s Warriors – the monks of Shaolin come to the northern capital. Page 12

Traditional treasures – the architecture of She County. Page 20

Shopping goes hell for leather. Page 18

300 million in land compensation Page 3 stolen by corrupt officials Return of the tall ships The Gothenburg makes port in China after three centuries Page 7

Sailors hoist the Chinese flag as the Gothenburg enters China’s territorial waters yesterday. Photo provided by Alice Jian

Crackdown on illegal foreign workers By Chen Shasha / Annie Wei Shanghai authorities this week launched a month-long crackdown on foreign nationals who have entered China, and stayed and worked in Shanghai illegally. The campaign will be run in cooperation with the Shanghai police. Recent Hong Kong press reports noted a similar campaign by police in Shenzhen. A recent survey by Shanghai Municipal Labor and Social Security Bureau found the number of ex-pats working in Shanghai passed 92,000 at the end of June. “The increasing number puts pressure on the public security” said Zhang Yuan, spokes-

person for the bureau. However, sheer numbers are not the only reason for the campaign. Last year, some one in four labor disputes between ex-pats and Chinese employers could not be dealt with by the courts because the foreigners had no work permit, said Zhang, meaning the ex-pats rights were not protected. Zhang said there would be spotchecks on companies. If they were found to have hired ex-pats illegally, they could be fined up to 5,000 yuan. Ex-pats working without a permit, including part-time work, could be punished or even deported. Ji Wei, from Beijing PSB’s Exit

and Entry section, said that rooting out foreigners who stay in China illegally has always been part of their remit. Between April 1 to July 10 this year, Beijing police detained and investigated 103 foreigners living in China illegally, most from Africa or other Asian countries. During the same period, 609 foreigners were fined because of problems with their visas. Ji said checks on companies that hire foreigners was one way that foreigners working illegally were identified, but that most were reported by Beijing residents. Illegal entry includes those foreigners who have come to China

without proper certificates, or not via a designated entry port, or without a border check. These are the rarest cases. Illegal working is the most common problem. The Ministry of Public Security says some 63,000 ex-pats have been deported over the past decade. The relevant regulations, jointly issued by several agencies in 1996, state that foreigners seeking employment in China should have with valid passport or other international travel document. People in China under study or interim programs, and the families of holders of employment visas, should not work whilst here.

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