China: Reports of the manufacture, procurement, distribution and use of fraudulent documents (1993-2000)

Travel/Entry Documents

The term "fraudulent documents", as used in this Response, includes forged documents, authentic documents that have been illegally obtained, and altered documents. The use of fraudulent travel documents by illegal emigrants transported by organized crime groups (snakeheads) is extensively documented for the period 1993 to February 2000 (San Francisco Chronicle 3 Dec. 1993; Xinhua 14 Jan. 1995; Renmin Ribao 11 Jan. 1997; Zhongguo Xinwen She 28 May 1997; Movement Intelligence Notice Mar. 1998; ibid., Jan. 1998; Hong Kong Standard 10 Apr. 1998; China Daily 11 June 1998; Central News Agency 13 Sept. 1998; Central News Agency 4 Jan 2000; AFP 12 Jan. 2000).

One of the means by which fraudulent travel documents are obtained is through bribery and corruption: the Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA), citing a 1993 report in its Country Profile on China, states that "It is generally acknowledged that Fujian, amongst all provinces has one of the most active bribery/corruption problems involving passports" (1994).

According to a 1995 report "Most of the false documents traded on the black market in the Chinese mainland are forged or stolen", however, the report also acknowledged the complicity of corrupt officials in document fraud (Zhongguo Tongxun She 8 May 1995). The report stated that over 120,000 people holding forged or altered border passes had been intercepted in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in the previous year (ibid.).

Many cases reported the use of PRC passports that had been altered by the substitution of photographs (photo-substituted) (San Francisco Chronicle 3 Dec. 1993; Hong Kong Standard 10 Apr. 1998; Movement Intelligence Notice Mar. 1998; ibid., Jan. 1998; INS 10 Dec. 1998; Central News Agency 4 Jan 2000).

According to the Movement Intelligence Notice, a report of the Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, photo–substituted Taiwanese passports and fraudulently obtained but authentic PRC and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passports have also been used (March 1998).

There have also been reports regarding the counterfeiting of PRC passports (ibid.; Renmin Ribao 11 Jan. 1997; China Daily 11 June 1998) and of the Hong Kong Certificate of Identity (SCMP 23 Dec. 1995).

According to the section on Asian-based organized crime in the 1999 annual report of the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, in a discussion of the illegal emigration of persons from Fujian province, "There are a number of organized smuggling groups moving people from China to Toronto and on to New York using fraudulent documents."

Other documents

While passports and other travel and identity documents are used by illegal emigrants transported by organized crime groups (snakeheads) to facilitate illegal exit and entry, American and Australian authorities indicate that other types of documents are used to support asylum claims upon arrival, including purported Public Security Bureau (PSB) and State Family Planning Commission documents (INS 17 Feb. 2000; Guide to PRC Documentation September 1993).

According to a 17 January 1993 article in Asiaweek, bribery and the purchase and production of documents such as arrest warrants and abortion-related documents was "flourishing." Later media reports refer to the forgery of diverse documents to support human smuggling operations, including identification cards, salary certificates, university diplomas, birth and death certificates (Central News Agency 13 Sept. 1998), Japanese alien registration cards (Daily Yomiuri 21 Feb. 1997) and a case in which police discovered "1,741 copies of all sorts of forged documents and 311 chops [official seals]" (Renmin Ribao 11 Jan. 1997).

Fraudulent documentation purportedly related to China's family planning policy has also reportedly been submitted in support of asylum claims. In a 1998 submission to the Australian Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee Inquiry into the Operation of Australia's Refugee and Humanitarian Program, Dr. John Aird, a specialist on the population of China, stated:

In the case of Chinese asylum applicants, some skepticism is warranted. There is evidence of a lively industry in China of fabricating "official" documents including false sterilisation and abortion "certificates" for departing asylum seekers, and in some U.S. cities there are Chinese entrepreneurs who for $100 will supply an asylum applicant with an affidavit in English in which all of the answers are sheer invention (Sept. 1999).

An Intelligence Officer with the Immigration and Naturalization Service's (INS) New York Asylum Office provided the following information in a 17 February 2000 telephone interview with the Research Directorate. The INS Intelligence Officer stated that "immigration consultants" in New York frequently provide their clients with documents allegedly supporting the substantive basis of an asylum claim as part of an overall package that may also include appropriate forms and the services of an interpreter. The most commonly seen documents are: PSB notifications of arrest or detention, PSB notification of a fine, State Family Planning Commission "Certificates of Forced Abortion," and more recently documents alleging involvement in Falun Dafa (Falun Gong, Falungong) activities. The INS Intelligence Officer stated that the documents, many of which are suspect, are very difficult to test forensically.

For general information regarding illegal emigration from Fujian, please refer to CHN32869.EX of 22 September 1999, CHN32917.EX of 28 September 1999. For samples of suspect documentation, please consult the Australian Country Information service publication, Guide to PRC Documentation available at Regional Documentation Centres.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Agence France Presse (AFP) [Hong Kong, in English]. 12 January 2000. Cindy Sui. "Illegal Chinese Immigrants to US Growing." (FBIS-CHI-2000-0112 12 Jan. 2000/WNC)

Aird, John S. September 1999. "Human Rights, Asylum and China's Coercive Family Planning Program." (Submission to Australian Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee Inquiry into the Operation of Australia's Refugee and Humanitarian Program).

Asiaweek [Chinese edition]. 17 January 1993. "Article on Boat People." (Translated by Translation Service Centre, Canberra)

Central News Agency [Taipei]. 4 January 2000. Lillian Wu. "Man Arrested for Selling Forged Documents to Mainland Smuggling Ring." (NEXIS)

_____. [Internet, in English]. 13 September 1998. "International Human Smuggling Ring Cracked." (FBIS-CHI-98-256 13 Sept. 1998/WNC)

China Daily [Internet, in English]. 11 June 1996. Wan Lixin. "Passport Dealers Sentenced to Jail." [Accessed 4 Feb. 2000]

Country Information Service (CIS), Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, Canberra. September 1993. A Guide to PRC Documentation.

Criminal Intelligence Service Canada. 1999. "Asian-Based Organized Crime." [Accessed 4 Feb. 2000]

Daily Yomiuri. [Yomiuri]. 21 February 1997. "Three Chinese Arrested After Entering Japan Illegally." (NEXIS)

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia. 1994. China: Country Profile.

Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Australia. March 1998. Movement Intelligence Notice.

_____. January 1998. Movement Intelligence Notice.

Hong Kong Standard. 10 April 1998. Patsy Moy. "Passport Assurance Follows Airport Catch." (NEXIS)

Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), New York. 17 February 2000. Telephone interview with Intelligence Officer.

_____. 10 December 1998. Press release. [Accessed 4 Feb. 2000]

Renmin Ribao [Overseas edition, in Chinese]. 11 January 1997. Liu Xiaolin. "Guangzhou Cracks Passport Forgery Gang." (FBIS-CHI-97-020 11 Jan. 1997/WNC)

San Francisco Chronicle. 3 December 1993. Pamela Burdman. "Fearing Death, Emigrants Turn to Safer Smuggling Methods." (NEXIS)

South China Morning Post. 23 December 1995. "Emigration Scam Earns Jail Term." (NEXIS)

Xinhua [Beijing, in Chinese]. 14 January 1995. "Report on Efforts to Prevent Illegal Emigration." (FBIS-CHI-95-014 14 Jan. 1995/WNC)

Zhongguo Tongxun She. 8 May 1995. "Campaign Against Issue of False Travel Documents." (BBC/Reuters)