China’s State Council has announced that citizens who violate regulations governing technology imports and exports could face restrictions on leaving the country.
Under the new rules, individuals involved in illegal activities abroad may be barred from leaving China for between six months and three years following their return, according to the State Council.
The measures come as China and the United States remain engaged in an intensifying technology competition. Both countries have in recent months accused each other of attempting to obtain the capabilities of domestically developed artificial intelligence (AI) models.
The regulations, initially issued in July and effective from Tuesday, were introduced to protect China’s national sovereignty, security and development interests, the State Council said.
However, analysts have raised concerns over the broad scope of the new travel restrictions. Chong Ja Ian of the National University of Singapore said terms related to security and criminal activity could be interpreted broadly and modified depending on circumstances.
He said the practical application of the rules would become clearer only after authorities begin enforcing them in specific cases.
Chong also referred to reports involving exit restrictions imposed on foreign nationals, including the recent case of US citizen Min Zin.
The US government said the political analyst was taken into custody in China’s Yunnan province on June 3 and was being held improperly. Chinese authorities rejected the allegation in August, saying Min Zin was suspected of violating Chinese law.
Chong said the case highlighted concerns that China could potentially apply exit restrictions to a broad range of individuals in ways that may appear arbitrary.
Dylan Loh, an associate professor at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said the restrictions appeared intended to signal that Beijing would take measures to prevent the leakage of information involving national security and sensitive national interests.
