China can now prevent citizens from leaving the country if authorities determine that their departure threatens national technological or industrial security.
New rules taking effect on September 15 allow exit restrictions in cases involving violations of China’s export-control and technology-security regime.
Depending on the circumstances, bans can last from six months to three years.
The rules do not amount to a general restriction on Chinese citizens travelling abroad.
They target individuals whose departure is judged to create risks involving controlled technologies, industrial capabilities or other sensitive knowledge.
Foreign nationals are covered differently. Those found to have made false statements in visa applications can face bans on entering China lasting between one and five years.
The exit restrictions add a different dimension to the escalating global contest over technology.
Governments have spent years controlling physical assets: advanced semiconductors, chipmaking equipment, software and other strategically important technologies.
China’s new rules recognise that some of the most valuable technology cannot be stopped at customs.
It exists inside people’s heads.
Engineers, scientists and technical specialists can carry expertise across borders without moving a single controlled machine.
That creates a genuine national-security problem for governments trying to prevent strategically important knowledge reaching competitors.
It also creates an uncomfortable question about where the state’s claim ends.
Export controls can establish ownership and restrictions over technology.
Knowledge acquired by an individual is harder to separate from the individual themselves.
China’s technology controls are moving from controlling what can leave the country to controlling, in some circumstances, who can leave it.
Source
Join the Dissenting Citizen Newsletter
Independent news and commentary delivered directly to your inbox.
Breaking stories, analysis and commentary throughout the day.
Follow @VoxDissent →
