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The Door Behind the Bamboo Curtain – Chinese Law and Policy on Refugee Status

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The Door Behind the Bamboo Curtain – Chinese Law and Policy on Refugee Status THE DOOR BEHIND THE BAMBOO CURTAIN – CHINESE LAW AND POLICY ON REFUGEE STATUS BY LILI SONG A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Victoria University of Wellington (2014) ABSTRACT This thesis systematically considers the law and policy on refugee status in the People’s Republic of China. It considers relevant Chinese legal provisions, applicable bilateral and multinational treaties, as well as China’s refugee policy and practice. It also presents and analyses first-hand information collected through interviews with refugees and aid workers. China is an emerging destination of refugees and other displaced foreigners. Although China is a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, Chinese law contains no provisions governing the definition of a refugee or the determination of refugee status. Further, there is a gap between the criteria for asylum in the 1982 Chinese Constitution and the criteria for refugee status in the 1951 Convention. In practice, although the Chinese government has generally allowed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to process individual applications for refugee status, the Chinese government has practically performed the function of refugee status determination in large-scale influx situations through policy decisions. In these situations, the security, political, and strategic interests of China have often overshadowed China’s commitment under the 1951 Convention. China has been cautious about recognising refugees on its territory. However, the Chinese government has clearly demonstrated a growing interest in addressing the issue of refugee recognition within a more formalised framework. In conclusion, this thesis recommends that China adopt a legal refugee definition in line with the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and develop a predictable and fair national RSD mechanism. Preface I believe this thesis is incomplete without mentioning my trip to North Korea seven years ago. In 2007, I applied for my very first passport at the Shanghai Exit-Entry Administration Bureau in order to travel abroad for the first time in my life. The destination was North Korea. I spent four days in North Korea. On my last day in North Korea, there was a power cut in Pyongyang. It happened just after dinner, when I was still in the restaurant at my hotel. As the hotel had only a few torches for guests, I had to walk to my room on the 10th floor in the dark. I could have used my cell phone to light my way, if foreigners were allowed to travel with cell phones in North Korea. But it was not the case. As I walked up the stairs, a North Korean man came down from upstairs with a lighter in his hand. We passed each other silently. I had learned quickly in North Korea that initiating a conversation with ordinary North Koreans may cause them trouble later. I continued walking, and then noticed that the man had stopped. He was standing at where we just passed each other, holding his lighter. I realised that he wanted to share the light from his lighter with me for a longer while. I still remember vividly that tiny, steady light in the darkness of Pyongyang. I left Pyongyang at midnight on a slow train to China. I looked through the darkness outside the window of the train and thought of the North Korean escapees whom I read about in Chinese newspapers. Many of them might have made their way to the Chinese border in the same intimidating darkness in the hope of finding a better world on the other side of the border. Most of them ended up illegally hiding in China or being returned to North Korea, as North Korean escapees have been regarded as illegal economic migrants by China. I could not help comparing them to the Indochinese who fled to my native Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in South China in the late 1970s and the early 1980s. The Indochinese were recognised as refugees and stayed to build a new life in China. The huge difference between their fates made me wonder: who is a refugee in China? I knew there would be no easy answer to this question, but I was sure that it was a question that I did not want to leave unanswered. This thesis is my humble effort to do something in return for the man who shared the tiny, steady light in the darkness, and for all the ordinary North Koreans I met, who inspired me to never give up hope, love for life, and belief. 1 Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 8 Chapter I Refugees and Other Displaced Foreigners in China .................................................................. 14 I Historical Background: Pre-1949 .................................................................................................... 14 II Refugees and Other Displaced Foreigners in China: 1949-1982 ................................................... 15 III Refugees and Other Displaced Foreigners in China: 1983-2013 ................................................. 21 A UNHCR Refugees ....................................................................................................................... 21 B Refugees and Other Displaced Foreigners Dealt with by the Chinese Government ................... 24 IV Refugees and Other Displaced Foreigners and Chinese Civil Society .......................................... 28 V Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 32 Chapter II The Refugee Concept under International law ...................................................................... 34 I Refugeehood and Refugee Status ..................................................................................................... 34 II The Definition of a Refugee under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol ........................................................................................................................................ 37 A The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol ......................... 37 1 Status of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol ........ 37 2 Rights of Refugees ................................................................................................................... 38 3 Limitations of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol 39 B The Definition of a Refugee under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol ............................................................................................................................... 39 C Interpretation and Application of the Convention Refugee Definition ....................................... 40 1 General Principles .................................................................................................................. 40 2 Application of the Convention Refugee Definition in Mass Influx Situations .......................... 42 3 People Fleeing Armed Conflict and the Situation of Displaced Ethnic Kokangs and Kachins from Myanmar ............................................................................................................................... 46 4 Refugee sur Place and the Situation of North Korean Escapees ............................................. 49 5 Dual Nationality and the Situation of North Korean Escapees ............................................... 51 D China’s Accession to the Convention and Protocol ................................................................... 56 III Refugees for the Purposes of the United Nations ......................................................................... 57 A United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ..................................................................... 57 B Refugees for the Purposes of the United Nations and Expansion of UNHCR Mandates ........... 58 C China and UNHCR .................................................................................................................... 59 III Regional Developments ................................................................................................................. 60 A Africa, Latin America, and Europe ............................................................................................. 60 B Asia ............................................................................................................................................. 62 2 1 The Bangkok Principles by the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization .................... 63 2 The Asia-Pacific Consultations and the Bali Process ............................................................ 64 C China’s Involvement at Regional Level ...................................................................................... 64 IV Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 66 Chapter III Legal Context of Refugee Status in China .............................................................................. 67 I China’s Legal System ....................................................................................................................... 67 II Immigration Control ......................................................................................................................
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