Article 3 The People’s Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality for any Chinese national.
Beijing has warned of its zero tolerance for dual nationality. Now some foreign citizens who held on to their Chinese identity documents fear the consequences of returning, according to South China Morning Post
On 11, Feb 2018, The Chinese Embassy in London posted the following
Recently, the Chinese Embassy in the United Kingdom found in its work that some applicants who have joined foreign nationalities and hold Chinese visas are suspected of fraudulently obtaining Chinese passports. The Embassy has followed the relevant Chinese laws and policies.
Article 3 of the Nationality Law of the People’s Republic of China stipulates that “the People’s Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality.” Article 9 stipulates that “Chinese citizens residing abroad who voluntarily join or acquire foreign nationality shall automatically lose their Chinese nationality.”
For those who illegally obtained Chinese passports in violation of the above provisions, the Chinese embassy and consulates in the United Kingdom will cancel or declare the relevant documents to be invalidated and the relevant personnel will be refused or will be denied entry.
Chinese media reported that from 2013 to June 2014, the Ministry of Public Security cancelled the household registration documents of more than a million people who were picked up for having multiple ID cards or dual citizenship. Chinese media report that from 2013 to June 2014, the Ministry of Public Security cancelled the household registration documents of more than a million people who were picked up for having multiple ID cards or dual citizenship, said SCMP.
“It doesn’t matter if you have changed your passport because if you were a Chinese [national], they regard you as still a Chinese national,” said Kenneth Leung, an opposition member of Hong Kong’s legislative council, according to Financial Times.
According to The Beijinger, If you or your family recently switched from Chinese citizenship, there’s one last bureaucratic hurdle to cross before you start travelling outside China. A government policy to be formally implemented next week will temporarily ban foreign passport holders from leaving the country if they have not cancelled their registered Chinese permanent residence. Besides having to face undetermined penalties, violators will be forced to return to their original place of residence to cancel their household register with the relevant authorities before being allowed to leave China.
What happens when Chinese acquire foreign citizenship?
According to StackExchange,
In theory, Chinese dual citizenship is impossible (for adults who were only Chinese citizens at birth), since you automatically lose Chinese citizenship if you voluntarily receive another country’s citizenship (Nationality law, Article 9).
In practice, though, if they don’t know you have dual citizenship, they can’t take it away either. This does complicate entering and exiting China considerably though, since if they bother to inspect it, a Chinese passport with no foreign visas will be a dead giveaway that you’re up to no good, and in particular your visa status is checked if renewing a Chinese passport overseas. In the last year and half, there has been a bit of crackdown on this, and over 1 million dual nationals have apparently been busted and asked to give up their hukou.
The usual dodge is to enter/exit China using your Chinese passport via a third state, eg. Hong Kong, so you get your stamps, and only then switch to your second passport. Alternatively, you can use your non-Chinese passport to apply for a Chinese visa and enter/exit China, hoping they can’t match up your two identities. But neither method is bulletproof.
