A district police bureau in Beijing is the latest public sector employer to rule out any job applicants who have lived outside mainland China – including Hong Kong and Macau – for more than six months.
Time spent beyond mainland borders is under growing scrutiny for roles deemed sensitive, with similar restrictions imposed by other law enforcement agencies and the immigration department in recent years.
It comes as the ruling Communist Party’s national security drive gathers pace amid an intensifying rivalry with the United States, and following anti-government protests in Hong Kong in 2019.
The Pinggu branch of Beijing’s Public Security Bureau is currently advertising to recruit 40 auxiliary police officers. Its ad posted to social network WeChat on Monday states that anyone who has spent six months or more outside the mainland will not be eligible to apply. Neither will those involved in drugs, gambling or prostitution.
The ad says people who have studied, worked or lived outside mainland China for more than six months and whose “experience and political conduct during their time abroad is difficult to investigate” need not apply.
Describing the role, the ad says auxiliary police officers are responsible for maintaining public order, traffic management, preventing and stopping crime, handling cases and assisting the public.
It describes the ideal candidates as people with “a spirit of loyalty, dedication and hard work”. The monthly salary, including performance bonus and overtime allowances, is 4,600 yuan (US$635) once the officer has passed the probation period.
Auxiliary police officers in China are treated as government contractors and do not get the same benefits as public servants.
People who have spent half a year or more outside mainland China have also been excluded from applying for other roles in the public sector in recent years, with several examples in the past few months.
Anyone who has lived beyond the mainland borders for more than six months has also been ruled out for jobs at the Key Information Infrastructure Protection Centre, according to its recruitment ad in April. The centre is also under Beijing’s Public Security Bureau and provides technical support to protect the city’s critical information network.
In the southern province of Guangdong, a drug research centre under the provincial Public Security Department was advertising for PhD graduates in May. Anyone who has spent more than six months outside the mainland is disqualified from applying.
The centre’s recruitment ad said it had achieved “a series of original research results, developed a number of key technologies with independent intellectual property rights” and had a leading position in drug control technology.
The National Immigration Administration, which works closely with the police, also took a tough line when advertising for new staff in April – anyone who has spent more than six months beyond the mainland could not apply. Its police service support centre, an IT research institute and a service centre for immigration affairs were all advertising vacancies. The immigration agency also imposed this restriction last year and in 2022.
Beijing has been tightening national security legislation, with a revised anti-espionage law taking effect last year that broadens the definition of spying and an expanded state secrets law adopted in May.
The state secrets law covers information deemed sensitive in areas ranging from education, technology and internet use to military facilities. One of the new clauses stipulates that workers with access to classified information cannot travel overseas without approval, including for a period after they leave the job or retire.
