The risk of not being allowed out of China is adding to the list of concerns for foreign business people operating in the country.
Passengers check in at Jiangbei International Airport in Chongqing, September 13, 2023. Credit: Costfoto/NurPhoto via AP Images
At a meeting on Monday with Xi Jinping in Beijing, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer told the Chinese president that “the United States cannot sit idly by, and that we must address…intimidation of U.S. businesses operating in China,” according to a readout. After the meeting, Schumer, who was traveling with a bipartisan delegation of senators, boarded a plane to continue his Asia tour.
For some foreign business people, it’s not quite so easy to leave China these days. Instead they are stuck in the country under so-called ‘exit bans’, one form of the intimidation to which Schumer was referring. A string of high-profile bans imposed in recent months — including against executives at U.S. due diligence firm Mintz Group, U.S. risk advisory firm Kroll, and the Japanese bank Nomura – has shaken the already weak confidence among the foreign business community in China.
If the Chinese government is serious about winning back the trust of foreign businesses, it n
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