In Western countries, citizen entitles a valid passport, which is the right of the citizen. ( just recall you Canadian citizen rights. ) The government can not take way this “right “ from a citizen., and this right is defined by the law (or the constitution). However, up to now, in China citizenship law is not the passport law. Issuing or renewing Chinese passport have to follow the Chinese passport law, not the Chinese citizenship law. You are Chinese citizen, but may not qualify for getting a valid passport. ( The Chinese citizenship law never mentions that Chinese citizen has the "RIGHT" to have a valid passport.). Like it or not , that is current “law”. Mr. Chen as “legal professional” is using “wrong” law to defense his case .. Will Mr. Chen win his case? If you really follow the Chinese law to do the case: you should know the outcome now. But if you use the case to talk about politics, that is a another story. There is no “law” for politics.