Masoud Khajeh-Sharafabadi (aka Sam Sharp)

Wang Weilan, Chen Zhongqun

SAM SHARP a Canadian English-language trainer, was deported by the Shenzhen police Sept. 13 for running an illegal business, ‘ the police announced yesterday.

Sharp obtained a business license from the Bao’an industrial and commercial administration bureau and opened a translation company in the district in April 1999. But the company was not successful.

He then rented a classroom and established a foreign-language training center in November 1999, without approval from the bureau, the police said in a news release.

Sharp had not obtained a work permit and had not applied for a change of business permit either, according to the police. However, more than 800 students had been trained by the center before he was deported.

Sharp never registered his residence with the police station as required by law.

Bao’an police imposed a fine of 1,500 yuan (US$187) on him July 21. The Exit-Entry Administration of the Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau canceled his visa Aug. 4, and demanded he leave China before Aug. 14.

Sharp refused to get his passport and a temporary visa from the administration, nor did he respond to the administration’s summons. The bureau then detained him Aug. 30 for “despising Chinese laws,” and “disturbing the normal order of exit and entry.” He was deported Sept. 13.

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