Potential spies Spotlight on Chinese returnees in the job market

SHENZHEN – A prominent Chinese business leader and lawmaker has stirred controversy by saying that her company will not groom foreign-educated talent for fear of spies in their midst.

The comment and ensuing uproar point to the mixed attitudes confronting some Chinese who have returned home after spending time abroad, amid rising geopolitical tensions and growing attention to national security.

Ms Dong Mingzhu, the chairwoman of appliance maker Gree Electric, told a meeting of shareholders on April 22 that the company would “absolutely not use any overseas returnees” when cultivating talent.

“There are spies among overseas returnees, and I don’t know who is and who isn’t,” she added, to laughter and applause.

“Without the ability to distinguish spies, I can only be conservative and choose to train our own talent from local universities,” she said in closed-door remarks that were captured on video and quickly went viral on social media.

The sweeping statements by Ms Dong, an outspoken 70-year-old who has been a member of China’s Parliament for over two decades, are not representative of the approach that most firms in China are likely to take, analysts say.

“The majority of businesses and non-sensitive departments are unlikely to discriminate against overseas returnees,” labour economist Liu Erduo of Renmin University in Beijing told The Straits Times.

But even so, these individuals – known in China as haigui, and who were once prized for their credentials – have seen their cachet fall amid mounting nationalism and sharpening geopolitical tensions, observers note.

Some employers are now also said to be more hesitant about recruiting people who have studied abroad – a view echoed by 25-year-old Gwen, who declined to give her full name for fear of retaliation.

After graduating from a top Australian university with a master’s in business administration in October, she