At the US London embassy the ticket-based queueing system

"The Communist Party thinks that any kind of concession they make might upset their authority," says Mooney. "I don't think many people realize how precarious this situation is. The Communist party is incredibly ruthless; I don't expect it to collapse or fall but things are going to get much, much worse." High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. Am I coming to the US to engage in prostitution? Do I belong to a clan or tribe? Do I have tuberculosis or infectious leprosy?I have just renewed my five-year US visitor's visa China Crew Visa application after truthfully answering "no" to the above and many other questions.

At the US London embassy the ticket-based queueing system was well organised, there was free coffee, the consular staff who interviewed me were good-humoured and my passport was returned with a fresh visa just three days later.But as I filled in the application form before my embassy appointment, I wondered what the point was of asking "Do you seek to engage in terrorist activities while in the United States?" when those who plan to do so will surely click "no".Why are some of the questions so imprecise? For example, on the form I had to fill in as a journalist, I require a particular type of visa, I was asked if I had ever been responsible as a government official for "particularly severe violations of religious freedom". What does particularly severe mean? Are mild violations of religious freedom acceptable?

Or take an example from the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation form that visitors with a US visa waiver complete this includes tourists from many European and some other countries: "Have you ever been arrested or convicted for an offence or crime involving moral turpitude?"What is a crime involving moral turpitude? Does agreeing to accept someone else's speeding points count as moral turpitude when an opinion poll by the AA motoring organisation suggested 300,000 people in the UK had done that?And, finally,China Business Visa application how did US visa application forms come to be such a curious agglomeration of questions?My first query – whether miscreants are likely to answer incriminating questions truthfully – is one nearly every visa applicant asks. "Clients constantly say: 'Are you kidding? Does anyone answer 'yes'?'" says Kehrela Hodkinson, a London-based US immigration lawyer.