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“In the 12 months to September 30, more than 24,000 Chinese nationals have made the arduous and sometimes dangerous overland journey through South and Central America to cross the border from Mexico and apply for political asylum in the United States.”
“It’s known in China as the “run” movement. A buzzword that uses a Chinese character that sounds similar to the English word “run,” it describes how large numbers of people are leaving, …
.. or researching the best way to get out of China, with the aim of settling in a more developed country with greater freedoms.”
“U.S. Customs figures show that Chinese asylum seekers numbered in the dozens or hundreds throughout 2022, when the COVID-19 travel ban was still in effect, rising quickly into the thousands through most of this year as people started to put their plans into action.”
“A 50-something asylum-seeker from the northern Chinese city of Xi’an, who identified himself with the pseudonym Zhang Jun for fear of reprisal, recently crossed the U.S. border and made his way to New York.”
“Why do so many people want to leave? Because there’s no way to survive there,” said Zhang, a laid-off former state-owned enterprise worker who once enjoyed the benefits of an “iron rice-bowl” job with healthcare, housing and pension.”Why do so many people want to leave? Because there’s no way to survive there,” said Zhang, a laid-off former state-owned enterprise worker who once enjoyed the benefits of an “iron rice-bowl” job with healthcare, housing and pension.
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In the decade before #COVID, fewer than 300 #Chinese attempted to travel to the US through the Darien Gap, a roadless jungle between Colombia and Panama where governments, drug cartels and rebels compete for control. But this year, more than 15,000 have followed this path.
Xiaoqing Li braved the Darien Gap and a dangerous trek through Mexico with her husband and young son to settle down in Monterey, which has for decades been a starting line for immigrants from China who arrive with limited English and a few hundred dollars in their pocket
But their American dream remains unfulfilled, as they cannot be together. Her husband worked at a marijuana farm two hours to the east of Monterey Park, while she had to send her son away to work in an unassuming warehouse
Xiaoqing described Mexico as “hell mode.” While trying to head north from the state of Chiapas, the family was stopped twice by Mexican authorities and forced off their bus. They bribed the police to avoid detention.
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Vincent Ni China affairs correspondent
Wed 20 Jul 2022 05.12 BST
When Wendy Luo*, a 29-year-old Chinese woman, handed over her passport to a border control officer in Shanghai airport last month, her heart began to beat fast. “I felt like my fate would be determined at that moment. Leave or stay, all at the officer’s mercy.”
After enduring months of lockdowns and weeks of food shortages, Luo had begun to look for an exit strategy from China. She was lucky, she said, because she quickly managed to find a job in Paris, having spent six years studying and working in France and being in possession of a resident visa.
“The border control officer in Shanghai asked many questions,” Luo said. “They included why I was leaving China, what did I do in Shanghai in the last couple of years, and what I was going to do in France. Most importantly, whether I plan to return to China any time soon. I pretended to be calm when giving my answers, but I was actually extremely nervous.”
Until last year, China’s zero-Covid policy had won much support from its citizens. When western countries such as the US and the UK recorded hundreds of thousands of deaths and millions of infections, the ruling Communist partyused the opportunity to emphasise the virtues of its system of government.
Yet when strict lockdowns began to be enforced across many cities in China, including Shanghai, from the start of 2022, doubts and criticisms began to rise. China’s economy was hit hard, and young graduates complained about not being able to find work. The economy showed signs of rebound in June, but since the more transmissible Omicron subvariant, BA.5, was discovered this month, many have begun to speculate again whether renewed lockdowns in cities such as Shanghai are on the way.
Many disillusioned urban Chinese citizens have started planning to leave the country. Online, “run philosophy”, or “run xue” – a coded way of talking about emigrating – has become a buzzword. On Zhihu, a post explaining the phenomenon has been read more than 9m times since January.
Elsewhere on Chinese language social media, forums have been set up to exchange tips about how to maximise the chances of being admitted to overseas academic programmes. Immigration agencies reported the number of business inquiries had shot up too over the past few months.
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