When you say apparent visa changes, you're absolutely correct. Said apparent visa changes can be changed without prior warning by the 'powers that be' sitting in an ivory tower in Beijing. They may well turn out to be opaque, as it suits local PSB's biassed, unfairly or not, against particular foreign visa applicants, to try to dupe foreigners in certain categories. But at the end of the day, the law is the law!

Whatever they do in the future re their visa regs, they must follow the minimum standards of rights re visas for foreigners with Chinese spouses, or else face a barrage of condemnation on the international stage. No doubt, their hand is forced to some extent re this visa category. That's the part of the regulations they must pay special attention to, even though they will dislike doing so. Their regulations re enforced medicals for foreigners with Chinese spouses will turn out to be the part they have no leeway on. They dare not drive out a foreigner on mainland soil with a Chinese spouse who refuses to take a medical. It seems that unco-operative foreigners like that will get a 1/2 year L visa still, maybe after a heated quarrel in public at the PSB office. That said, there are foreigners like that teaching here on spousal L's outwith the province of their spouses' hometowns, and I expect they will continue to do so. I, for one, won't condemn such foreigners. The silly and restrictive visa regulations have loopholes that are exploitable by wily foreigners. Good on 'em for taking the initiative!