Protection of stateless persons in China: a human rights perspective

• Author: LU Haina, HAO Wanyuan
• Pages: 404-428

FRONTIERS OF LAW IN CHINA

VOL. 12 SEPTEMBER 2017 NO. 3

DOI 10.3868/s050-006-017-0023-0

ARTICLE

PROTECTION OF STATELESS PERSONS IN CHINA: A HUMAN RIGHTS

PERSPECTIVE

LU Haina∗, HAO Wanyuan∗∗

Abstract Statelessness is an old and continuous problem existing in many countries

around the world. Statelessness is caused by various reasons such as the conflicts of the

nationality laws of different countries and international marriages. This article analyzes

the legal framework and practices concerning nationality issues in China from the

perspectives of China’s international obligations to protect the rights of stateless persons,

especially women and children. This article also analyzes several stateless cases, in

particular the de facto stateless situation of the “Vietnam brides” and their children in

China. At last, the article gives recommendations in the light of international law and

practices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the reduction of

statelessness in China.

Keywords nationality issues, Vietnam brides, reduction of statelessness

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 405

I. CHINESE LAW REGARDING THE ACQUISITION OF THE CHINESE NATI ON AL IT Y ....... 407

A. The Constitution ................................................................................................407

B. The Nationality Law.......................................................................................... 407

1. Legal Provisions That Recognize the Newborns as Chinese Nationals .........408

2. Legal Provisions That Do Not Recognize the Newborns as Chinese

Nationals ....................................................................................................... 409

3. Legal Basis for Foreigners and Stateless Persons to Acquire the Chinese

Nationality .................................................................................................... 410

C. Exit and Entry Administration Law................................................................... 413

1. Residence Registration for the Foreign Child Born in China ........................ 413

2. Residence Permits for Asylum Seekers......................................................... 413

∗ (陆海娜) LU Haina, Ph.D. in law, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Associate Professor,

School of Law, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China. Contact: luhaina123@sina.cn

∗∗ (郝万媛) HAO Wanyuan, J.M., School of Law, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China; Research

Assistant, Human Right Center, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China. Contact:

yuan2009vip@163.com

This article is based on the project sponsored by the UNHCR China office in 2016. The authors would

like to thank Mr. Francis Teoh, Ms. LI Sangu and Ms. ZHOU Yu for their helpful comments and feedbacks on

the draft reports of the project, which result into this article.

2017] PROTECTION OF STATELESS PERSONS IN CHINA: A HUMAN RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE 405

3. Foreigners’ Permanent Residence Permit ...................................................... 413

D. Other Laws concerning Statelessness............................................................... 415

1. Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China........................................ 416

2. Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China ............................... 416

3. Administrative Litigation Law of the People’s Republic of China ................ 417

E. The Possibility of Amending the Chinese Nationality Law and Other Relevant

Regulations concerning Statelessness............................................................... 417

F. Concluding Remarks ..........................................................................................418

II. THE CASES OF STATELESSNESS IN CHINA .............................................................. 418

A. “Vietnamese Brides” in China.......................................................................... 418

B. Stateless Persons at the Border of Yunnan Province......................................... 421

C. Stateless Persons with Russian Origin.............................................................. 422

D. Other Situations That May Cause Statelessness in China ................................ 422

III. ANALYZING CHINESE LAW AND PRACTICE ON STATELESSNESS IN THE LIGHT OF

INTERNATIONAL LAW ............................................................................................ 423

A. Protecting Newborns and Children from Statelessness..................................... 425

B. Providing Identity Papers for Stateless Persons, Especially Children.............. 426

C. Guaranteeing the Right to Education of the Stateless Children........................ 426

D. Tackling the Statelessness of “Vietnamese Brides” ..........................................427

CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................ 427

INTRODUCTION

Statelessness is an old and continuous problem in history. There are many ways

leading to statelessness, but it is mainly caused by “the conflicts of nationality laws and

the power wielded by States to deny or deprive people of nationality.”1 Statelessness can

be traced back to early 1900’s or even before. It was then considered as a legal technical

problem that international law should deal with. In other words, statelessness was seen as

the “business” of nation-states rather than an issue concerning a right of individuals. The

earliest international legal efforts to tackle the issue might be the 1930 Hague Convention

on Certain Questions relating to the Conflict of Nationality Laws, with a separate

Protocol relating to a Certain Case of Statelessness adopted at the same time.2

After World War II, along with the emergence of the modern human rights system,

statelessness has become a human rights issue. Article 15 of the 1948 Universal

Declaration of Human Rights provides that, “everyone has the right to a nationality” and

that, “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality.” This change of approaches to

deal with statelessness is of great significance because it “marked a shift from a

state-centric perspective on the problem to one that positioned the individual at the centre

1 Laura Van Waas, Are We There Yet? The Emergence of Statelessness on the International Human Rights

Agenda, 32(4) Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, 342–346 (2014).

2 Id.