Christians in eastern China who wish to travel abroad for various reasons including emigration and studies are facing hard times as authorities have denied them passports, citing travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Christians from several families in Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces said immigration officials questioned the purpose of their passport applications and later rejected the applications after they discovered their religious adherence, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on May 26.
In Zhejiang’s Wenzhou city, which has a significant concentration of Protestant Christians, authorities have reportedly rejected the passport applications of many students seeking over-seas education, an education consultant said.
The scenario is similar in Jiangsu province as well.
“A bunch of students from Wenzhou with a church back-ground had been planning to go and study at overseas universities, but the government has refused to give them passports,” said Zhu, a Christian from Xu-zhou city in Jiangsu who would be identified only by his surname.