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Applying for a PU Letter to Visit China
Foreign travel to China has been discouraged at this time specifically to prevent the spread of any imported covid strains entering the country while the authorities race to develop new vaccines and build a safe social environment.
Chinas immigration rules during the COVID-19 pandemic have been strictly enforced. A population of 1.4 billion, coupled with increased urbanization over the past twenty years have made the specter of mass transmission a real possibility, hence the protocols. Foreign travel to China has been discouraged at this time specifically to prevent the spread of any imported covid strains entering the country while the authorities race to develop new vaccines and build a safe social environment.
China Entry Visa Protocols During COVID-19
That said, they are available protocols to go through should foreign nationals need to visit China during the current China travel restrictions. A China travel ban effective from March 28. 2020 stated that:
In view of the rapid spread of COVID-19 across the world, China has decided to temporarily suspend the entry into China by foreign nationals holding visas or residence permits still valid to the time of this announcement, effective from midnight, 28 March 2020. Entry by foreign nationals with APEC Business Travel Cards are also suspended. Policies including port visas, 24/72/144-hour visa-free transit policy, the Hainan 30-day visa-free policy, the 15-day visa-free policy specified for foreign cruise-group-tour through Shanghai Port, the Guangdong 144-hour visa-free policy specified for foreign tour groups from Hong Kong or Macao SAR, and the Guangxi 15-day visa-free policy specified for foreign tour groups of ASEAN countries are also temporarily suspended. Entry with diplomatic, service, courtesy or C visas will not be affected. Foreign nationals coming to China for necessary economic, trade, scientific or technological activities or emergency humanitarian needs may apply for visas at Chinese embassies or consulates. Entry by foreign nationals with visas issued after this announcement will not be affected.
There is a special visa application channel open for the invitee to deal with necessary economic, trade, scientific or technological activities, or out of emergency humanitarian needs. These require additional special visa application procedures, including the need for an invitation letter (PU, TE, or Invitation Verification Notice) issued by the Chinese government. Among the three type invitation letters, the PU letter is the one used for M-visa, Z-visa, or Q1/Q2-visa.
The PU Invitation Letter
The PU letter should be applied via a China based entity. The standard procedures are as follows:
The Chinese entity (company) must liaise with the Foreign Affairs Office of the district where company is registered for the PU letter application
The Foreign Affairs Office of the district will send a list of required documents to the company
The company prepares the required documents and submits these to the Foreign Affairs Office of the relevant district for a first round review
The Foreign Affairs District Office submits the application documents to the Foreign Affairs Office of the local Municipal Government (Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing etc.) for PU letter approval
The Foreign Affairs Office of the Municipal Government issues the PU letter for the foreign invitation.
Example of a PU Invitation Letter
Foreigners with Valid Residence Permits
On September 23, 2020, the MOFA released the Announcement on Entry by Foreign Nationals Holding Valid Chinese Residence Permits of Three Categories, announcing that foreigners with valid residence permits for work, personal matters, and reunion, would be allowed to enter the country without needing to re-apply for new visas starting from 0 a.m., September 28, 2020.
Under the policy, if the above residence permits had expired after March 28, 2020 the holders could re-apply for relevant visas by presenting the expired residence permits and relevant materials to the Chinese embassies or consulates. But no invitation letter would be required. The re-application had to be on the condition that the purpose of the holders visit to China remained unchanged.
This policy doesnt apply to foreign nationals from the UK, France, Italy, Belgium, Russia, Ukraine, Philippines, Bangladesh, India, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Uzbekistan, and South Africa, after several Chinese embassies released the Notice on the Temporary Suspension of Entry into China by Non-Chinese Nationals in the (Country) Holding Valid Chinese Visas or Residence Permits in early November 2020.
Foreigners Inoculated with Chinese Vaccines
There are also protocols for foreign nationals and their family members inoculated with Chinese vaccines.In early March 2021, several Chinese embassies released the Notice on Providing Facilitation for Visa Applicants Inoculated with COVID-19 Vaccines Produced in China, announcing that travelers who have received Chinese COVID-19 vaccines and obtained the vaccination certificate will enjoy facilitation for visa applications starting from March 15, 2021. The Notice stipulates:
For Foreign visa applicants who have been inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines produced in China and possess vaccination certificates, they and their family members visiting China for resuming work can apply for a visa with the normal documents that were required before the COVID-19 pandemic. The Invitation Letter (PU), Invitation Letter (TE) or Invitation Verification Notice issued by the foreign affairs offices or the departments of commerce of the provincial governments will not be required.
This means that if foreigners were inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines produced in China and have vaccination certificates, then there is no need to apply for an invitation letter. Rather, they only need to provide the documents required before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bear in mind that it may be required to have a China-attested translation of the vaccine certificate if the China vaccine inoculations took place overseas.
Qualifying Criteria
As mentioned above, the issuance of such special business visa is based on the humanitarian requirement, for the invitee to deal with necessary economic, trade, scientific or technological activities. To determine suitability from the outset, applicants should ask themselves:
Does your company have a legal entity in China?
Does the proposed employee have a work permit/residence permit with any legal entity in China?
Whether there are pressing and urgent issues to handle in China. These require complete details to show your visit to China is urgent and irreplaceable.
China Travel Application Services
Dezan Shira and Associates can assist with PU letter applications. Typically, our services will be divided into two stages:
Stage 1: General Advisory
Introduction of special business visa application process and requirement
Required document list preparation
Initial consultation with the local authorities
One round review of prepared documents
Stage 2: Implementation of the special visa application
Communication with all involved local authorities on behalf of the invitee and inviter
Preparation and submission of all required documents
Obtaining the special invitation letter
These are non-refundable chargeable services payable at the commencement of each stage. Readers should also note we take these applications on a case-by-case basis, and we cannot guarantee success. Accordingly, we obtain an opinion from the local Foreign Affair Office in Stage 1 to determine the possibility of success prior to submitting applications in Stage 2.
Use of Proxy
Should the need to visit China be pressing, but PU or other invitations prove insurmountable, it may be possible to arrange for one of our staff in China to represent you by proxy. This could involve, for example, financial reviews, legal matters, or contract negotiations. Our professional services staff are fluent in Chinese and English with many possessing other linguistic skills in Italian, German, French, Spanish, Japanese and so on. Our firm has 13 offices throughout China and can assist in most locations.
Please ask for assistance by emailing us at [email protected] or visit us at www.dezshira.com
How to apply for a PU Letter to Visit China
Mansoor Adayfi
The words "9/11" have been frequently appearing again in news reports recently, jogging memories of the cataclysmic event 20 years ago. 20 years is a long time, memories might have faded for some people of the changes, large and small, that have occurred on US soil and around the world since the attacks.
But for the innocent people who were once held by the US at the infamous Guantnamo prison, they cannot and do not want to forget the terrible things that happened to them over the past two decades, as the US waged its war under the guise of fighting terrorism.
The US' war in Afghanistan is over, but the US still holds prisoners from that war at the military prison at its Guantnamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.
As a prison built to lock up those designated by the US as "terrorists," Guantnamo has held some 780 detainees since the first batch of 20 prisoners arrived in 2002, according to an article published by The Independent in July. Hundreds have been released without charge since then, it said.
Photo: VCG
Outside the law
Mansoor Adayfi from Yemen is one of the detainees to have been released. He said he was kidnapped and sent to the prison in 2001 at the age of 18 when traveling in Afghanistan. Adayfi recalled that he was kidnapped by Afghan warlords, who sold him to the CIA for money.
"The warlords told me to say that I was al-Qaeda or the Americans would kill me. The Americans told me they knew I was an Egyptian al-Qaeda leader and all I had to do was admit it, but none of it was true," Adayfi told the Global Times.
According to The Guardian, 86 percent of the Guantnamo detainees were captured under the lure of huge bounties offered by the US government for "suspicious people" in Afghanistan and Pakistan, many of whom were turned over by local rival farmers. Only 8 percent of the prisoners were eventually thought to be al-Qaida fighters.
Adayfi was originally held by the US military in Afghanistan. Then he became "Detainee 441" and was kept in Guantnamo for 14 years until being released in 2016. According to his new memoir Don't Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantnamo, he suffered a lot of physical and mental torture there, including being punished for practicing his religion, forced to live in solitary confinement and even being experimented on.
"Guantnamo prison is completely outside the law. There is no legal basis at all and it should not exist in the first place," Adayfi said.
Adayfi was considered one of the most dangerous prisoners at Guantnamo, not because of his sympathy for terrorism, he said, but because he was a leader among the prisoners for trying to create chaos in the prison when his cellmates were being abused. He also started a hunger strike for better rights.
"When we were on hunger strike against their abuse, they would tie us to a chair and force unlubricated, hard tubes up our noses for gavage, sometimes once a day, sometimes twice a day," he recalled.
When telling the Global Times about his experience, Adayfi put on an orange scarf, which has a similar color to the jumpsuit in Guantnamo. Adayfi said even now he's been released, he still lives in the shadow of that terrible experience.
The Miami Herald compared a series of Guantnamo prisoner files released by WikiLeaks beginning in 2008 with those released by US intelligence agencies in recent years, in which the profile of Adayfi changed from "al-Qaeda commander, 9/11 insider" to "unclear if he actually joined al-Qaeda."
Now it has been arranged for Adayfi to live in Serbia by the Guantnamo detainee relocation department. But he is unable to get a job there, or drive or leave the country, as he is still considered "a threat to the United States," he said. "Guantnamo still haunts me, and I still live every minute of my life with the stigma of being a Guantnamo detainee."
But Adayfi was pleased that his book, written while in prison, was successfully published.
In 2010, when Adayfi was transferred for the first time to communal living, he started to document the bits and pieces from the prison and sent them to his lawyer in the form of letters, despite obstruction by the prison guards.
"We didn't have clocks or watches for years, so the first drafts of 'Moments from Guantnamo' were unanchored in time. But even though we had lost track of time and our connections to the outside world, we remembered what happened to us." He hopes that by completing this book and sharing it with the world, he can let people begin to understand who the prisoners at Guantnamo Bay really are.
"We knew not to see America through the filter of Guantnamo, even though most guards still saw us through the filter of 9/11," he writes in his book.
'War of terror'
On the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Adayfi hopes the US government will reflect on the war in Afghanistan to achieve peace and hopes Guantnamo will never go to work again.
"What happened in the past is not 'war on terror' but 'war of terror.' It has been used as an excuse for US dominance and expansion, to invade other countries, to take lives, to target minorities for promoting their own agendas," Adayfi said.
Adayfi said the Afghan people had also suffered so much during the war and now he was happy to see them in charge of their own future.
"I know five Taliban ministers because we were together in Guantnamo. Currently they need help, they need friends and allies, they need to build their own country. I believe they will," he added.
Adayfi said his next best hope is to see Guantnamo closed so he can ultimately move on with his own life.
Guantnamo remains open with 39 detainees today, although former US President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close Guantnamo Bay in 2009, according to US media reports.
A tribunal is reportedly going to hear the case of five of the 30 men accused of being involved in the 9/11 incident very soon. However, "much of the evidence is tainted by torture," NPR said on Tuesday.
"I hope President Joe Biden makes good on his promise to close that hell on earth, at least, please don't forget us and the people at Guantnamo," he said.
Former Guantnamo detainee denounces US 'war on terror'
The individual, who works in Tokai Hotel, was quarantined for medical observation as the close contact of the asymptomatic case. Previous nucleic acid testing results on September 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 came out all negative. On September 10, the case tested positive. After that, the case was transferred to Guangzhou Eighth People's Hospital and was diagnosed as an asymptomatic case.
At present, no new close contacts or secondary close contacts have been reported. Experts judge that the risk of community transmission is very low. \n
Guangzhou reports 1 asymptomatic case- previous tested negative
The iPhone 13 hasn't even been officially unveiled yet that's (likely) coming at next week's Apple event and we're already seeing leaks of next year's phone.
A new video posted by Apple leaker Jon Prosser provides some sleek new images of what's purported to be the iPhone 14, Apple's 2022 iPhone release.
In order to protect the identity of his source, Prosser had 3D artist Ian Zelbo create realistic renders based on the iPhone 14 images that were leaked to him.
The biggest news from these leaked images is what the iPhone 14 won't have when compared to previous models: The camera bump and the notch.
According to the renders, Apple may be removing the camera bump on the back of the iPhone. That bump houses the camera lenses, and has seemingly grown year after year. If the leaks are to be believed, the back of the iPhone 14 will no longer have a protrusion thanks to a thicker overall body design.
What's more, an earlier report by JP Morgan Chase, which claimed that the iPhone 14 body will likely be made of titanium as opposed to the usual aluminum and stainless steel, has been corroborated by Prosser's video, too.
Apple may also (finally) get rid of the iPhone's front-facing notch in favor of a tiny hole-punch design reminiscent of the one on Samsung's Galaxy S21. Some iPhone users have found the notch to be quite annoying, as it denies the iPhone of a true edge-to-edge screen. However, Apple's deemed the notch necessary in order to account for sensors which make its Face ID tech possible.
The removal of the notch has been rumored for some months now. Prominent Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in April that Apple is planning to release an under-display Face ID system. Kuo also had some other interesting iPhone 14 specs to share at the time, such as a 48-megapixel camera sensor.
Though this latest leak from Prosser is exciting for Apple fans, it's important to remember that the iPhone 14 is more than an entire year away from being released. Designs are always subject to change. However, it's clear that Apple is looking to reinvent its smartphone with some pretty significant changes, which in turn will make the eventual iPhone 14 release more thrilling than it's been in recent years.
Resource: mashable.com
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New iPhone 14 leaks show no notch and no camera bump
We knew they were coming, but now we know what they look like, too.
Images of Facebook and Ray-Ban's smart glasses, scheduled to launch on Sept. 9, were posted on Twitter by leaker Evan Blass. Judging by the pics and there are a lot the smart glasses are coming in at least two basic designs and in several colors.
The design is fairly standard Ray-Ban fare; one model would probably be indistinguishable from Ray-Ban's Wayfarers unless you looked closely. Two things give the "smart" nature of these glasses away: the cameras tucked into the upper corners of the front of the frame, and slightly thicker arms, which probably host chips, speakers, mics and the like.
In one of the leaked photos, you can see the accessories you probably get with the glasses, and they include a charging cable, a case, and a carrying bag.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in July that the smart glasses are coming soon. He also said that they'll let users do some "pretty neat things," though he didn't elaborate on what those things are. And a few days ago, Ray-Ban posted a teaser for the launch, which is scheduled to happen later today. Finally, Zuckerberg recently posted a few first-person videos which may have been taken with the smart glasses.
Other than that, and beside the obvious (cameras!), we don't know the specs for the upcoming smart glasses. But at least we won't have to wait too long to find out.
Resource: mashable.com
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Photos of Facebook's Ray-Ban smart glasses leak ahead of launch
The Huangpu district government in Guangzhou, capital city of South China's Guangdong Province, is recruiting global talent regardless of nationality for 14 positions with annual salaries as high as 2 million yuan ($309,643), to serve the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).
Since the recruitment drive opened on Monday, more than 100 elite professionals from regions of the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as European and African countries, have submitted applications, the Global Times learned from Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Huangpu district in Guangzhou on Wednesday.
It said that the open selection of special government employees will deal with the talent shortage in the government and provide a strong boost to regional development.
Those 14 positions are from seven units, including the Huangpu district Party committee office, and are related to smart city construction, urban planning, construction engineering and the promotion of science and education.
Chinese citizenship is not a requirement. Previously, a foreigner was hired to help boost the district's investment drive, the Global Times learned from the human resources department of Huangpu.
Open selection for elite professionals from around the globe to serve the development of Huangpu district, which is the most densely populated manufacturing town and high-tech enterprise cluster area of the GBA, began in 2018.
Applicants for these special government posts must have about eight years of experience in senior posts of companies or governments, or be well-known experts in their fields.
These special employees will serve in senior posts representing the district when they carry out daily work such as chief economist of the district, chief human resources specialist and chief urban planning special adviser.
They will be in charge of key projects or will assist the district leaders to finish projects. They will also be allowed to participate in Party group meetings or bureau-level meetings and offer suggestions to leading officials of the district, the Global Times learned from the Huangpu District of Human Resources and Social Security.
The annual financial allocation for each special employee is between 500,000 yuan and 2 million yuan ($77,410-$309,643) and the annual salary for top performers can exceed 2 million yuan.
A staff member surnamed Huang from the Guangzhou high-tech zone high-quality development research institute, which is seeking one chief researcher in economics and one in international cooperative development, told the Global Times that the number of applications showed that the two posts are popular. Recruitment will be open until September 25.
To aid regional development, the district is also recruiting 10 doctoral degree holders for the development of regional industries, smart municipal administration, smart transportation and artificial intelligence, as well as bio-medicines.
Huangpu district organized a live-streaming event on Wednesday afternoon to promote the recruitment drive for the convenience of applicants from other countries and districts.
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China recruits global talent with $300K annual salary
China's National Radio and Television Administration issued a notice on Thursday that put a lid on idol training shows - competitive reality shows that pit potential stars against each other, with the winners going on to become China's newest idols - by prohibiting TV and streaming platforms from airing them.
Dampening the fever
The ban against idol training shows, such as the hugely popular Idol Producer and the Produce 101, is part of the government's recent move to calm down fervent fandoms and an industry that preys on people's love for glamour and fame.
Recent high profile incidents include rampant disputes between fan clubs and fans spending exorbitant money to pamper their favorite idols with extravagant gifts. It is also an effort to bring some transparency and honest to the fan industry, as manipulation of social media searches and fan polls and hiring professional online trolls to publish purposefully inflammatory posts aimed at inciting discord between fans of various idols.
Some insiders say that the chaos of the fan industry was inevitable in the social media age as some young idols today have only been able to stay in the limelight by relying on fan support, such as encouraging fans to vote for them in various polls, instead of depending on actual talent.
"It is not just us who carries out promotions, every fan club does. We have different jobs within the fan club; some people are in charge of raising money to buy gifts for our idol's special occasions. Some others, including me do publicity work, posting content about him on Sina Weibo, Douban and so on," Jasmine Ma, a fan of an Idol Producer star, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
However, while fans show their love for their idols may seem like harmlessly fun, behind this idol craze is "a dark chain in the entertainment industry made up of agencies, so-called 'fan clubs' and platforms," said Zhang Yiwu, a professor of cultural studies at Peking University, adding that these forces can pressure young people to take things too far.
Yi Yun, a netizen, told the Global Times on Wednesday that many fans she knows online are only around 13 or 14 years old, they have a lot of pocket money to use to help launch their idols to the top on influential "star" lists on social media platforms.
Da Qi (pseudonym), a netizen, told the Global Times on Wednesday that she once got actively involved in fan activities during the airing of Chinese variety show Youth With You Season 3, which was ultimately cancelled mid-season after a marketing scheme urged fan clubs to purchase boxes of milk with special QR codes inside the caps to show support for their favorite contestants. In their desperate rush to get these caps, fans bought a lot of boxes of milk, to the point that many of these boxes went to waste.
"I once purchased a box of milk to support my favorite trainee, but I didn't know they would pour the milk into the sewers as we normal fans were just in charge of raising funds and the leader of the fan club is responsible for handling voting," said Da Qi.
The September notice is not the only measure that has been introduced to try and curb out-of-control fans.
In August, the Cyberspace Administration of China also announced that online platforms should crack down on bots, which are often used to fabricate likes and comments online, and artificially inflate online traffic numbers.
Historical issue
Back in 2006, China's pioneering singing idol show Super Girls was stopped after its fan voting system was determined to have negative impacts such as "overly hyping fan culture" and manipulating people to spend money to support their idols.
The show was seen as very innovative compared to other reality shows of that time because it made fans almost a part of the competition itself.
Over the past 15 years, while such shows have gone from pushing a single new star to entire boy or girl bands, and from a focus on talent and good performances to an emphasize on looks, the core foundation - getting fans excited - has not changed.
To this end, entertainment agencies have focused on "packaging" a perfect image for their stars, spending huge amounts to market their idols on social media platforms. Meanwhile, some fan clubs and promotional accounts began deliberately posting controversial topics to further push online debate to a climax in order to increase a star's exposure and turn a profit.
China's "idol competition" programs were based on the South Korean model, and that with their introduction many Chinese stars who had made a star journey in South Korea re-oriented their career toward China, like Kris Wu, a former member of K-pop band EXO. Zhang, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
However, the reason why China gradually formed such a chaotic fan industry compared to South Korea's may come down to the huge differences in the two countries' population and market size.
"China has 1.4 billion people while South Korea only has 52 million people, which means the number of teen fans in China is much bigger than that of South Korea. Therefore China needs to have a larger entertainment market to serve its netizens," said Zhang.
Banning idol competition programs is just a way to readjust a distorted system, Zhang noted, adding that the chaos of China's entertainment industry will only be solved by implementing scientific and standardized systems to regulate it.
