A Chinese puzzle brought about by a lack of law: Hainan Island is no substitute for Hong Kong

in China the most recognized ID for Citizens is the identity card despite Chinese law stipulating that common passports can be used to check into hotels hostels bathing centers internet cafes and places that require ID in reality in most cases passports aren't accepted in the following video a Chinese man who knows the law is testing it out I made a reservation at the nantong Marriott Hotel today and I came to check in with my passport but you won't let me check in no it's like this Mr Wu we are communicating with the local Shanghai police station about your passport it's checking with the city police on this matter so you may have to wait a little longer according to the regulation of People's Republic of China Hotel Security Management Chinese residents staying in hotels need to have a valid ID ballot IDs include identity cards house registration books passports Hong Kong and Macau travel permits Etc I am telling you now that my passport is legal and valid ID you are breaking the law by not letting me check in I am now educating you about the law your local regulation has violated the national law we have to follow the local security regulation in order to do business right if we let your checking straight away without checking with the local police or finding a report and if your information fails to pass the police check our business will be suspended this is risky for the hotel that's why we've taken all this time to do this the local police have broken the law and you follow them to violate the law that is to say even though they have done something illegal your business will be suspended that only means that the local police station and the municipal public Security Bureau are knowingly violating the law if I appeal to the court I tell you this is the evidence it's not the first time I have encountered this situation it shouldn't be the first time for you as a hotel operator to have encountered this situation either you just mentioned that you have an ID right all Chinese citizens have an ID card but I also have a passport which is also a valid document and I asked to use it to check in now you are refusing to check me in you as the hotel and your local police station are in violation of the law the responsibility lies with your hotel because my passport is a valid document can you use a valid ID card can you listen to me first in fact you can just check in with your ID card what I want to know is whether my passport is a valid document I don't want to talk about ID cards right now all Chinese residents have ID cards you have one I have one I travel overseas frequently you could have checked in with your ID card but you demanded an extra 5 000 points you have already delayed my check-in for more than an hour I just asked to check in with my passport you have delayed me for more than an hour and it's affected my trip and my mood it has caused me a loss what could have been completed with a passport you chose not to it's not that we aren't serving you we are in the process of communicating how long has the communication been tell me how long has it been as of now it's 803 PM I arrived at the hotel at 7 20. 803 is when I first met you I arrived here at 7 20. you guys have to go from one level to another till again to you I don't care when you came to meet me according to the time I arrived at your hotel it has been two hours as it's now 9 10 pm you told me you were communicating and the way you communicate is so inefficient you have to ask your local police station and then they have to contact the Municipal Police Department and then do they need to talk to the Chinese Ministry of public security next we have to follow the procedure why don't you check the website of the ministry of public security and see if my case has reached there you just mentioned that we should write down the whole process and demand the hotel to compensate you for 5 000 points yes because what you did has affected my mood and trip causing me losses I'm not in the mood to stay here anymore I'll see you in court all the recordings and videos today are evidence okay I understand we can't meet your request because we have to strictly follow the local regulation of Shanghai police station or the public security regulation of the Nanton City the local regulation has violated the national law passed by the national people's Congress okay that's it for today there were some interesting overseas responses below this video one person wrote a Chinese face and a Chinese passport is the pass to the safest place just not a hotel the mockery originated from an interview by the director of the so-called patriotic film series warwolf his quote is almost as widespread as the movie warwolf itself China is strong China is rising a Chinese face and a Chinese passport is a pass to the safest place what do you call this the Chinese people are bull the most powerful some netizens have analyzed why Chinese passports can't be used for hotel check-ins it's likely that the Chinese government has different data jurisdictions for passports and ID cards the passports of local citizens are mainly used in the foreign context aligning with the international data system ID cards are used domestically for the control of citizens if Chinese people simply use passports to check in at hotels or other such places they would have indirectly bypassed government control for example for someone who's on The Blacklist of poor credit because he or she has suspended their mortgage as a result of a rotten tailed property or a political prisoner and the like who is deprived of access to public services when they use passports instead of ID cards then their access to public services will be automatically restored so although on the surface the CCP is in line with International standards and allows citizens to use passports to check in hotels in reality they don't allow it because of this one netizen commented the Chinese Constitution also says that Chinese citizens have the right to vote but do Chinese people vote so don't make it hard for the hotel under the CCP regime more and more common folks are finding it a struggle to talk about law in China especially under the current waves of unemployment young people who once had ideals and feelings for the party and the nation are beginning to realize that the reality is far different from what is described in textbooks okay let's talk about people who have found jobs I have a good friend with six years of work experience in the process of job hunting very few of the resumes sent out who got a response the responses that she did get were outrageous they treat two days off a week pension insurance medical insurance workers injury Insurance unemployment insurance maternity insurance and housing funds or as Company benefits I'm baffled and these insurances and housing funds stipulated in the labor law the whole country has become a play is beyond the law in 2023 regarding the lack of law in China let's extend it a bit in light of the country's current economic situation China's new premier Lee Chong is making a big move to try to stimulate the economy at the opening ceremony of the bow Isle Forum for Asia 2023 conference which lasted four days and concluded on March 31st Premier Lee Chong called for reform in opening up foreign in the next step we will continue to adhere to the principle of stability seek progress while maintaining stability consolidate and expand the momentum of economic recovery and promote the continuous overall Improvement of China's economic performance no matter what changes take place in the world we will always adhere to reform in opening up tiger cover at The Forum Lee Chong also mentioned the construction of Hainan free trade Port which is part of his major initiatives that is to create a second Hong Kong or even use Hainan island to replace Hong Kong as notified by the Hainan provincial information office during the Bow Wow forum for Asia the Hainan free trade Port has so far made Milestone progress and all the tasks to prepare for the island-wide Border seal operation it's scheduled to have it operational by the end of 2025. the total investment in the project is approximately 11.7 billion yuan or approximately U.S 1.7 billion the term custom seal is a customs term that means the whole island of Hainan becomes an in-country Customs area where inside Hainan island one can enjoy zero tariffs and other preferential policies on the evening of March 30th the topic of Hainan launched the preparation for the island-wide seal operation hit the top of weibo a Chinese social media platform according to Chinese media this is an attempt to turn Hainan into a combination of Hong Kong plus Florida Hainan Province located in the southernmost part of China covers an area of 35 000 square kilometers the size of more than 30 Hong Kongs with a resident population of less than 10 million its main industry is tourism officials from Hainan Province introduced at The Bow Wow new center that in the construction of a free trade Port Hainan has gradually established a free trade Port policy and Regulatory system over the past five years more than 180 policy documents have come into effect they include three lists of items with zero tariff a 15 income tax for Enterprises and individuals tariff exemptions for domestic sales of goods made for export and reduced list of things which foreign investment is excluded from the list of negative access for foreign investment has been reduced to 27 items which is the shortest list in the country the increase of new business entities in five years is more than the sum of the previous 30 years in Hainan the official in charge of propaganda also introduced that Hainan has launched a full-scale preparation for the island-wide custom seal operation mainly including 64 tasks 31 construction projects including poor construction Customs inspection equipment and 27 stress tests it's to ensure that the physical conditions for the custom seal be available this year its preparations be completed in 2024 in its operation be ready by the end of 2025. Chinese experts have explained to the public the concept of the custom seal in the media it's briefly described as the first line being opening up the second line being the management control part and zero tariffs for imported goods on the island the so-called first line refers to hainan's free trade Port being connected to the world in the opening up means a smoother connection with the world the second line refers to the domestic connection being managed and controlled mainly applying to Goods Commodities and means of Transport rather than people people will be managed in a user-friendly way with no sense of inconvenience the Chinese media also said that Hainan residents will find it more convenient to enter and leave the territory and easier to engage in economic and trade activities they will enjoy zero tariffs on Imports the lowest personal income tax in the nation and free and convenient cross-border Capital flows the first batch of policies have benefited are the eligible Enterprises in the young Economic Development Zone they will enjoy benefits such as simplification of the Declaration process and tariff free policy for domestic sales of products after value-added processing in reality since the 1980s all the CCP leaders have attempted to make Hainan a model for economic development for example the late CCP leader Deng Xiaoping once said that he wanted to make a few more Hong Kongs but in each case it was all Thunder and no rain in hainan's Economic Development has long laid behind that of other provinces and local residents rank behind most of the country in terms of income and benefits such as pensions the status of a financial center often has to do with certain historical opportunities before the 20th century Asia's First Financial Center was Shanghai and then it shifted to Hong Kong which later developed into one of the world's top three Financial Centers there were two opportunities that prompted the capital to move South to Hong Kong one was the war against Japan's invasion of China although Hong Kong was eventually taken over by the Japanese it was a few years later than Shanghai the other was when the CCP seized power in mainland China in 1949 and capitalists fled to Hong Kong taking large sums of capital with them now the CCP is desperate to replace Hong Kong with Hainan island because Hong Kong still has remnants of pro-democracy Demands that the CCP won't tolerate currently Shanghai the present Financial Center of China can't match the status of Hong Kong so the authorities want to use Hainan island to recreate a free economic zone to attract foreign investment however becoming a financial center requires more than just High economic growth in order to have the world want to invest it's necessary to have a transparent and a solid rule of law Hong Kong has a sound internationally recognized legal system it's also recognized in areas such as trade in comparison Hainan has none of those in 1997 when Hong Kong was returned to the CCP its free market economy and the rule of law were gradually destroyed some overseas Chinese Scholars have analyzed that there are at least three conditions to meet in order to turn Hainan into another Hong Kong first the currency must be free to exchange and the RMB can be converted to US dollars easily without restriction second the internet must be free which Hong Kong has but the CCP won't allow Hainan to open up the internet third there must be a sound legal system these three conditions are impossible for the CCP to provide in reality imagine Hong Kong is an International Financial Center IT issues its own currency and has free foreign exchange is it possible for Hainan to issue its own currency and have it exchanged freely Hong Kong residents have Visa free access to many places can residents of inan have visa-free access in the future as well not to mention at present it's Singapore and Tokyo that are competing with Hong Kong as Financial Centers regarding the issue of the rule of law the Hainan government has thoughtfully taken it into consideration on March 25th the Hainan provincial government issued measures to support the development of private economy introducing special preferential policies to create a fair and just rule of law environment and rectify cases of infringement of the legitimate rights and interests of private Enterprises and entrepreneurs among the 26 measures passed it's clearly stated that the private entrepreneurs involved in legal cases should not be arrested if possible should not be prosecuted if possible should not be convicted if possible and should be released timely if possible or change the imposed measures if possible this has a rather shown the public that indiscriminate arrests and prosecutions of private entrepreneurs have been so common over the years that the CCP is now making the correction of such practices as a special preferential policy it also shows that there is no rule of law in China and that the law only serves as a tool for the CCP to control Society the control can be loose or tight depending on the needs of the CCP as for the statement but the Hainan government about the rule of law internationalization openness transparency and predictability it is just impossible to happen under the premise of a one-party dictatorship and with the law serving the party perhaps this might cheer up some inexperienced entrepreneurs or entice investors who haven't suffered before to try it out the reality is it's just too risky for the CCP to really open up a so-called free market a free economy requires the rule of law that is destined to override the party's dictatorship and the party's will so with self-contradicting for the CCP it can be predicted that Hainan won't be a place in China that enjoys an impartial and independent Judiciary in the attempt to replace Hong Kong will only become another rotten tailed project since the establishment of Shanghai as a free trade zone in 2013 the Chinese government has launched more than 20 ftzs including the xiangon ftz which has been dubbed a Millennium Project and has become rotten tailed or unfinished today if you're interested you can check out our previous episode on the xiangon new area despite the hard work of the newly appointed Premier Lee Chong who wishes to turn Hainan into a financial center and a mega free trade port and who is a close associate of CCP leader Xi Jinping making him a slightly better candidate than the former Premier Lika Chong the flaw in the DNA of the CCP will prevent this dream from coming true [Music] thank you [Music]