International Spies

Vague Rules of Law

From police states to liberal democracies, there are laws from governing immigration to home security and human rights that are well known, ignored, or quite vague.  Today, the point is being made that immigration is out of control, due to laws being ignored by foreign populations assuming their ignorant rights to cross international borders, and governments colluding with these people for political gain based on a fear that human rights could be ignored.

This begs the question;  Whose rights are more important, the citizen whose livelihood is being eroded  by uncontrolled immigration, or the immigrants who seek economic assistance to better their lives.  Today, a UK media story details government pensions to senior citizens being approximately 60% of social payments being given to so-called (officially undefined status) refugees.

There is another, related, example of vague laws;  international spies.  China has been arresting foreigners for years, usually for political reasons, but China is not alone in this matter, in fact, many countries play a game of ‘tit for tat’ with each other.  These actions become problematical when rules of law become so vague that when statements are made, for example, authorities in Beijing giving only vague details about detentions, saying that someone was "suspected of engaging in activities endangering national security" while insisting any arrests were lawful.  The present situation (The arrest and detention of two Canadians in apparent retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, resulting from a request from the United States for her extradition to face charges of fraud and violating international sanctions against Iran) needs expert clarification. 

Left unsaid are the many examples of arrested foreigners who, apparently, were ‘endangering national security’, and still remain, usually, unidentified.

Personally, having lived and worked in China, I am very aware of the vague regulations (based on laws) that may trap foreigners into difficult positions.  For example, foreigners over the age of 65 are not permitted to work in government institutions, i.e., universities.  Knowing this, as a young 65-year old, I left feeling annoyed.  There are other foreign teachers who stay, in collusion with the universities, who would eventually be arrested, deported, and banned from future visa issue.  This would be followed by useless TV interviews … and life goes on.  This applies equally to younger ex-pats who may be seen lounging outside various bars every evening, feeling quite nonchalant about their long-expired visas.

The moral of this comment is;  resist arrogant thought that regulations in other countries should not apply to foreigners … if you go around with your eyes closed, you will soon trip up.