Oct

Expat Daily: China & Facebook, Expat Health Screening Korea

admin Expat Career, Expat community, Facebook, expat health Add you comment

China Blocks Facebook

Perhaps you have just relocated to China or have been an expat there for a long time. One day you hop online and to your dismay are unable to access Facebook. You are not alone. China’s Facebook users are disappearing in droves as more and more internet companies are complying with Chinese government rules to block Facebook. “It’s no secret among people in the Internet business in China that Facebook was interested in the world’s largest Internet user population. But apparently — according to various parties that met with a delegation of Facebook officials some time in the last few years — they came, they saw, and they left Chinese social networking Web sites like Renren.com (formerly known as Xiaonei), Kaixin001 and 51.com to fight amongst themselves for the market. Then, to the chagrin of both expatriate and Chinese users (the number of which appeared for a time to be growing), China’s censors blocked Facebook. Blocks of overseas Web sites such as YouTube.com are a fact of life here, barely acknowledged and never explained by the government. (Many of these sites actually matter very little to Chinese Internet users who have their own favorite Web sites to watch videos on.)”

Expats in Korea Face Mandatory Health Screenings

All E-2 Visa holders in South Korea are now subject to mandatory drug and HIV health screenings upon receiving and renewal of their visa. Two expat women are standing up to this law. They are asking the courts to answer if the new law violates international treaties and Korea’s own constitution. “…A year later, Vandom’s visa was up for renewal. She was in the process of applying to PhD programs in Korea when the Korean Immigration Service asked her for her AIDS and drug test documents, which she did not have. They granted her a 30-day extension and threatened her with deportation if the paperwork was not received. Vandom felt like the actions against her were illogical and discriminatory…”