China

Beijing Bars U.S. Company Exec From Leaving Mainland China

GOING NOWHERE

Michael Chan hasn’t been able to leave the mainland since July.

A surveillance camera points at a terrace of a shopping mall overlooking the skyline of the Central Business District on a polluted day in Beijing, China, November 5, 2021.
Thomas Peter/Reuters

Authorities in China have blocked a senior executive at an American risk advisory firm from leaving the Chinese mainland, according to a report. Hong Kong passport holder Michael Chan, a managing director at Kroll, traveled to the mainland in July and subsequently informed his employer that he was not allowed to leave. Sources familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal that Hong Kong-based Chan is assisting an investigation about a case dating back several years, though neither Chan nor Kroll are the subject of the inquiry. Chinese authorities have imposed exit bans—which can last for years—on the workers of several foreign companies in recent years, with both foreign nationals and Chinese citizens alike subjected to the restrictions.

Read it at The Wall Street Journal