Nomura executive’s travel ban raises concerns for foreign companies in China

“When democratic countries do business in un-democratic countries, it exposes their staff, executives, and their investors to authoritarian systems that operate with impunity, and this puts them at significant risk,” says Radha Stirling, founder and CEO of Due Process International, while discussing the recent travel ban imposed on Charles Wang Zhonghe, the chairman of investment banking for China at Nomura, by Chinese authorities. “Integrating anti-democratic regimes into the global economy was supposed to help open those countries up to political reform, but countries like China, and the Gulf States, have learned that they can reap the economic benefits of integration while remaining authoritarian; foreign professionals and investors in these countries are in a very vulnerable position, as we see in the case of Mr. Wang.”

Wang's situation is just one example of the growing trend of executives disappearing or being banned from travel in China, which is a concerning development for the rule of law and due process in the country, Stirling says.

This situation is particularly alarming, she explains, because Wang has been told that he can move freely within mainland China but not leave. This travel freeze is the most high-profile incident involving a foreign bank in China, and it raises serious questions about the safety and security of foreign professionals working in the country.