I know this is more factual than opinion, but I thought it might go better here.
I am moving to China to teach at a school in Tianjin in August. The federal government(of the U.S.) is discouraging going to China. Can they flat out stop me?
I know there is a(IMHO relatively small) risk of SARS in my going, but it is my choice to go. If they want to test me for weeks when I come back, I’m fine with that.
I think the whole thing is overblown, but I keep hearing more and more about it. Does anyone know the truth about this kind of situation?
The government can’t stop you.
The below is an excerpt from a Department of State travel warning. Good luck in the middle kingdom.
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends U.S.
citizens defer elective or non-essential travel to areas with a large
number
of SARS cases, including Mainland China and Hong Kong. U.S. citizens
resident or traveling in these areas should closely monitor the website
of
the Center for Disease Control <http://www.cdc.gov> and Prevention at www.cdc.gov and the website of the World Health Organization
<http://www.who.int> at www.who.int for the latest information on SARS.
For further information on travel to Hong Kong, U.S. citizens should
also
consult the Department of State’s Consular Information Sheets for China
and
Hong Kong and the SARS Public Announcement at http://travel.state.gov.
There are travel warnings but the US government allows citizens free right of movement out of the country.
China will allow you entry assuming you have a valid visa.
The US embassy has taken the lead over the SARS thing. (I’m being sarcastic). Here’s a note from 22 April:
The following message was provided to employees of the
U.S. Embassy. Effective immediately, the U.S. Embassy
is limiting personal travel within China by American
employees of the mission and their family members to
only that which can be accomplished using a car or
other personal vehicle. The protection of mission
staff and the mission community at large from the SARS
infection remains a primary concern of the mission.
Travel by public conveyance on common carriers, such
as airplanes, trains and buses, unnecessarily
increases the risk of exposure to SARS, at least to
some degree. It is with this in mind that the U.S.
Embassy is taking this action.
Official travel within China continues to be limited
to only that which is considered mission essential.
During my stint teaching there a few years back, Chinese authorities were, with notable exceptions, much more willing to let foreigners do as they pleased. Actually, that’s probably an overstatement, but laowai (foreigners) often get cut a bit of slack on the small stuff. (Exceptions being obviously stupid things like protesting, talking about Tibet, violent crimes, etc).
The only travel restrictions I can recall were that military bases and some remote rural areas were off-limits and you had to get a visa-like thing to go to Tibet.
If you are forbidden to visit Shanghai, it would probably be because there is some massively huge problem in China, like riots in the streets or millions of deaths related to SARS.
Free advice: for spring break, visit Southwest China, like Yunnan Province. It’s a hell of a lot of fun and a beautiful place.
BTW, I would second the recommendation on visiting SW China or more specifically Yunnan province. I spent 3 years travelling around SW China in the 1980’s.
If you start talking about Tibet or Laogai in private, probably nothing will come of it. It’s a bit difficult discussing Tibet because trying to define a common starting point is well neigh impossible. Really, trying to discuss Tibet with someone that is convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that it’s been an integral part of China since the Tang Dynasty is a non-starter.
As for Laogai, you can discuss them. Reform through Labor. They are not supposed to be a nice place. They are not supposed to be a nice place and at least these days most inmates are not political prisoners. Again, different point of view, but good luck trying to find someone that thinks they are unneccesary or that prisoners should not have to work at hard labor. Heck, my wife’s uncle was in one for many years.
YMMV, and it depends on who and where you’re doing the talking. Few people know who Harry Wu is so that one is kind of a non-starter.
Be sensitive. Discussions in class with your students would not be a good idea. I’ve discussed these and other topics many a time in many a situation since 1985. Never ever had a problem, but I’m not pushing the envelope either.