Originally Posted by
moondog
Perhaps I shouldn't have drawn on 2008 as an example because my recollection of the details is not crystal clear, and I'd also like to redact "well publicized" as this sort of misses the mark.
Rather, allow me to introduce a more recent data point that illustrates the types of measures the government has at its disposal to affect policy without changing it. On October 1, all airports and sea ports in Beijing and Hebei were officially closed for ~3 hours in the morning, and effectively closed for much of the day. During this time, there were almost no entries or exits. Sure, this is an isolated example, and didn't exactly shake up the order of the universe, but my point is that administrative tools are often available.
I will admit that the Turkey thing continues to perplex me though, as it contradicts much of what I've learned about Chinese legal institutions both during the course of my studies with some of the "foreign experts" who were brought in to shore them up starting in 1978, and in the field subsequently.
Here is another reason posted by someone on my cruise. The full story can be read at the link below.
https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/26/th...ay-from-china/
The reason, as it was explained to me, was that in 2015 I had broken Chinese law when I failed to present myself to authorities in Beijing when I had visited and stayed at an Airbnb residence on two different trips. Unbeknownst to me at the time — and something that was not communicated by Airbnb — foreigners are required to register at a local police station, but in most cases the hotels where they stay handle this.
Therefore anyone using Airbnb, or staying with friends, must voluntarily visit the city’s police station and register. As anyone who has ever spent time in China and doesn’t speak the language will know, that’s challenging. But it is the law."