Reflections from Pastor John Cao is a series of poetry and writings from the recently released Chinese Christian prisoner of conscience exclusively published by ChinaAid. The piece below was written on March 9, 2024 and has been minimally edited for clarity.
The innate right possessed by 1.4 billion Chinese people is harder for me to obtain than reaching the sky: I still don’t have an ID card.
I was released on March 4, 2024, after serving my seven-year sentence. Upon release, the prison guards informed me that I should go to the local police station within fifteen days to restore my household registration and obtain my ID card.
Today is already March 16, 2024, but I am still completely clueless and making no progress in obtaining my ID card.
The process of applying for an ID card is actually very simple: first, restore the household registration, and then apply for the ID card with the household registration booklet. If everything goes smoothly, it can be done within three days. Even if there is any hiccup, it shouldn’t take more than a week.
I don’t have a household registration because the Changsha Municipal Public Security Bureau hasn’t restored my household registration to date. Without a household registration, I cannot apply for an ID card.
According to Chinese law, every individual must undergo household registration. Article 2 of the “Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Household Registration” states, “All citizens of the People’s Republic of China shall perform household registration in accordance with the provisions hereof.”
After completing household registration, citizens use their household registration booklets to apply for ID card. The basis for this is Article 2 of the “Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Identity Card of Residents”, which states, ” Any Chinese citizens who are 16 years old or older, and who reside within the People’s Republic of China shall apply for the ID card.”
This means that it is illegal for a citizen not to apply for an ID card. My lack of an ID card is a result of being forced to break the law. And it is the law enforcement authorities, specifically the public security bureau, that are compelling me to commit this illegal act.
The reason why the Changsha Municipal Public Security Bureau refuses to process my ID card application is that they require a certification from the “Changsha Overseas Chinese Affairs Office.” The “Overseas Chinese Affairs Office” is the abbreviated name for the Municipal Government Overseas Chinese Affairs Office. Why does the “Overseas Chinese Affairs Office” interfere with my household registration restoration? The “Overseas Chinese Affairs Office” is neither a legislative nor law enforcement agency; it is a United Front organization that provides services for overseas Chinese returning to China, similar to organizations like the Football Association and Writers’ Association. Now, this organization is interfering with my citizenship rights. Instead of providing any assistance, it deprives me of my citizenship rights, turning me into a second-class citizen and leaving me without a burial ground in our great motherland.
The “Overseas Chinese Affairs Office” claims that Chinese citizens cannot possess foreign residence rights; otherwise, they will automatically lose their Chinese citizenship. Since I hold foreign residence rights, I cannot have a Chinese resident ID card, meaning I cannot be a full-fledged Chinese citizen anymore and have fallen into the status of a second-class citizen.
Having a residence permit from a foreign country has absolutely no connection with holding a resident ID card in one’s home country. For instance, currently, Thailand offers residence permits to foreigners over 55 years old with a stable source of income to attract retirees. Many Chinese citizens may hold Thai residence permits for retirement purposes. However, there’s no precedent of Chinese citizens losing their Chinese resident ID cards due to holding a Thai residence permit.
Today, China keeps pace with the times by issuing residence permits to foreign citizens living in the country, providing them with convenience for their life in China. Would the U.S. government strip an American citizen of their citizenship just because the Chinese government issued them a residence permit?
Once a Chinese citizen’s resident ID card is issued and recorded in the national database, it is practically impossible to erase. If someone loses their ID card and needs to take a high-speed train or a plane, they can simply provide their ID number, and the railway station or airport will immediately issue a temporary ID card, allowing them to travel by train or plane. Even if a Chinese citizen obtains a residence permit in a foreign country, their ID card and citizenship cannot be revoked. The only reason a Chinese citizen’s citizenship would be revoked is if they acquire citizenship in another country.
As for myself, I love China, I uphold the Chinese Constitution, and I have never acquired foreign citizenship.
We must understand that a foreign residence permit is simply a convenience provided by a country to a foreigner living within its borders, akin to a long-term visa, to avoid the need for repeated visa applications every so often. That’s all it is.
Now, this “Overseas Chinese Affairs Office” arbitrarily establishes rules that contradict the Constitution and national laws, without going through the National People’s Congress, turning me, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, into a second-class citizen. To me, this “Overseas Chinese Affairs Office” is simply a gang of bandits.
Now I cannot enjoy any right that senior citizens are entitled to. I cannot ride the bus or visit parks at the senior citizen’s rate, buy a mobile phone, or vote. Without a mobile phone, even dining out becomes impossible for me. My cost of living now far exceeds that of other senior citizens. And the institution that has deprived me of all my citizenship rights is this “Overseas Chinese Affairs Office.” To me, if this “Overseas Chinese Affairs Office” is not a gang of bandits, then what is it? If I am not a second-class citizen, then what am I?
Now I have no choice but to hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit in an attempt to regain the rights that all 1.4 billion Chinese people have. However, this process involves significant expenses. While an ordinary Chinese citizen only needs to pay a 40 yuan fee for applying for an ID card, I have to pay hundreds of times more in legal fees to hire a lawyer. I have to pay for bus tickets while other senior citizens ride for free. Although two yuan for a bus ticket may seem insignificant, for a senior citizen like me without a regular income, it is still a considerable expense. The “Overseas Chinese Affairs Office” demands numerous documents from me, all of which, in my view, have no legal basis and are completely absurd.
The “Overseas Chinese Affairs Office” requires me to provide proof of “stable income” before issuing me an ID card. However, without an ID card, I cannot find a job, so how can I possibly provide proof of “stable income”? The only job I can find without an ID card is to work in a house church, but that would risk being charged with “fraud.” The “Overseas Chinese Affairs Office” also demands proof of my residence in the past two years in the country where I lived. However, for the past two years, I have been living in the Kunming Prison of our great motherland, so it’s clear that I am not actually an overseas Chinese.
Currently, without a stable job or income, my only option is to travel to various house churches across the country to preach, which provides me with some income. However, since I cannot enjoy the rights and benefits of elderly people, I must budget carefully. Without an ID card, I cannot participate in the election of representatives of National People’s Congress. Therefore, it’s difficult to say whether those representatives currently in session can truly represent me.
