Chinese Migrants Smuggle into the US

Chinese migrants trying to communicate with border patrol

Reaching the United States has always been the goal of many Chinese and after China lifted all Covid-19 restrictions, its residents are fleeing by the droves.

The constant lockdowns during the pandemic caused them to think of their escape plans, with many looking for ways to get out.

In 2023 over 6,500 were apprehended

While the uber rich have their consultants to help them move their money out and themselves, it's the middle class folks who also want to make a go of it in the US.

Some are doing it the official way by applying for a visa to the US Consulate in their respective cities, while others have found another, more arduous way to get into America.

Several media reports including this Reuters report has found that these Chinese people buy a ticket to Ecuador -- because they can enter visa-free -- and from there pay smugglers up to US$50,000 to get them across to Fronton, Texas, the US-Mexico border city.

Through doing their research online, these migrants discover they cannot bring any belongings with them, only the basic necessities -- many bring battery power packs -- and footwear like Crocs and hiking boots.

How many are making the trek?

In the six months since October 22, there have been 6,500 Chinese apprehended by border patrol, the highest on record, a more than 15-fold increase from a year ago, according to US Customs and Border Protection data.

Once these migrants get to the border at Fronton, they are instructed to find the cemetery where the border patrol is based. Many of them seek asylum because they fear persecution at home for example on religious grounds. Asylum seekers from China won in US immigration court 58 percent of the time. If they are successful, then they can apply for work permits and then start working legally in 180 days. It is not clear what happens to the other 42 percent who don't get asylum. 

The migrants are mostly men, some with young families

Of those who make the perilous journey, are they happier on the other side? Too early to tell, but many bring their young children with them on these long journeys.

No matter how much the Chinese government is promoting its economy as booming post-Covid, its people are leaving the country. 

China may have the second biggest economy in the world, but other nationalities are not trying to smuggle themselves into the Middle Kingdom...

Shanghai Lockdown Nightmares Persist

Shanghai was shutdown for weeks early in the pandemic

This evening I met a man in his 30s who recently moved out of Shanghai to Vancouver and is pondering what to do next, either go to Hong Kong or Taiwan.

He has an interesting background, born and raised in Taiwan with a Taiwanese mother and father who is from China and Hong Kong. When he was six years old the family moved to Vancouver and after he graduated from university he moved to Shanghai and went into the advertising industry for almost 10 years.

The last three years of his life have been a blur, with non-stop lockdowns in the coastal city, but says he had it better than most. Migrant workers and lower middle-class families had a tough time during the pandemic, many having lost their jobs, unable to pay rent, mortgages and car payments.

A ration of vegetables, cooking oil and noodles

I asked if he had enough to eat and he said it was so hard to have enough room in the fridge to store all the food. He said when the lockdown began, it was supposed to be four days -- which was suddenly extended to 10 -- and that's when people began to panic.

Not only did people not have enough to eat, but many people didn't have enough medicine to treat their conditions or cancer patients couldn't go to treatments. As a result many people died not getting the medicine or treatments they needed.

He added after that experience, many families bought second refrigerators, worried lockdowns could happen again.

Just before the pandemic, he was planning to launch his own brand of high-protein juices, but with the lockdowns, everything was put on hold, delayed and then eventually he gave up even trying to release the product in China. I suggested Hong Kong because the consumers there are open to trying anything and willing buy an expensive product even if they think it's good.

Being here in Vancouver he is still adjusting -- he says in Shanghai the regulations would change on a daily basis on what people could and couldn't do. But here life just goes on and he has to remind himself that he's in Canada, not China. He joked about having PTSD, but it really is a trauma that he went through, being confined for so long and restricted from freely moving around.

Dabai or "big whites" harassed people

He doesn't have adverse feelings towards China, but probably wants a break from it and wants to move onto something else. One thing he can't get out of his mind is seeing videos of the dabai or the men in white hazmat suits beating up people, which he found shocking and inhumane. 

It was things like this that made him think hard about why he was continuing to live in the country, and decided he had to get out.

He's not sure what's net yet, but having a Chinese background, fluent in English and well traveled, he will surely land on his feet in another career very soon.

Xi's Loyal Lineup

The men who will be in charge of China were revealed today

A day after former president Hu Jintao unceremoniously left before the end of the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, Chinese leader Xi Jinping revealed his Politburo Standing Committee which left China experts' tongues wagging.

Looking at the lineup, it's not about competence or a diversity of opinion, but fierce loyalty to Xi that trumps all.

The biggest shocker is that Premier Li Keqiang will be replaced by Li Qiang, 63, who was the Party Secretary of Shanghai. 

Xi chose those most loyal to him in Politburo

He bungled the Covid-19 outbreak in Shanghai, which resulted in the city being locked down for more than two months and people complained of not having enough food to eat. 

Surprisingly Li was not sacked because of his close relationship with Xi, and his influence as Party Secretary of Shanghai.

The two go way back to 2004 when Li was Xi's chief secretary in Zhejiang province, and Xi promoted him to governor of the province when Xi became President in 2013.

It's quite concerning that Li will be in charge of the country's economy, but with zero-Covid still in force, perhaps he won't be expected to meet unrealistic targets.

Others in the lineup: Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, and Li Xi.

Zhao is head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, reporting on several officials for corruption over the years. When he was 42 years old, he was the youngest provincial governor when he was governor of Qinghai.

Shanghai's lockdown was chaotic and shocking

Wang has an academic background, and was the brains behind many Communist Party concepts, such as the Three Represents of Jiang Zemin, the Scientific Outlook on Development of Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping Thought. It is believed the Belt and Road project was also Wang's idea.

Cai is currently Mayor of Beijing, and his success of hosting the Winter Olympics earlier this year in a closed loop earned him brownie points. But in 2017 in a bid to reduce the capital city's population, he kicked out many migrant workers who were living in the outskirts of the city.

Ding is a trained engineer and one of Xi's closest confidants. He has worked as Xi's secretary since 2007, and seven years later became head of the presidential office, similar to chief-of-staff.

Li is Party Secretary of Guangdong Province where he pushed for the development of the tech industry and economic reforms. 

Should we be surprised there are no women in this powerful policy-making body? For a country that claims "women hold up half the sky", it doesn't seem to trust or believe women are capable of doing the job...

China's Zero-Covid Price

Empty street in Sanya, Hainan after it was locked down

How much has Covid-19 and the zero-Covid policy damaged China's economy?

Home sales have plunged 28.6 percent, property investment 12.3 percent. 

Crude steel output is down 6.4 percent.

Meanwhile retail sales edged slightly at 2.7 percent, and industrial output at 3.8 percent.

Youth unemployment is at a record high

The worst number of all is youth unemployment jumping to a record 19.9 percent. That means one in every five young person is unemployed.

This is not what any government wants to see, let alone Beijing. There are fewer job prospects for young people because the economy is not moving, because of China's zero-Covid policy, which has resulted in erratic lockdowns.

Over 150,000 people were locked down in Sanya, Hainan, forced to stay in their hotel room for weeks, and being tested constantly. After seeing that, who would want to travel anywhere in China?

And then there was a viral video of people being locked up in an Ikea store in Shanghai because a close contact of an infected person was in there. People were at the exit pushing the door open while security guards on the other side were trying to keep it closed but to no avail -- they pushed their way through and hoofed it out of there. Who wants to go shopping anymore if they could be locked in a store at any time?

Scenes of people pushing their way out of Ikea

Covid-19 has also caused supply disruptions in China's construction industry, but mostly it's banking issues, with developers running out of cash and buyers are now squatting in half finished apartments with no running water and electricity.

Meanwhile everywhere else in the world, people are traveling freely -- Paris and London seem to be the most popular destinations this summer -- and people are out and about shopping and dining. The economy is hampered by retail and hospitality sectors being short staffed, but other than that, life is almost back to normal.

Why is this all happening? Because Beijing wants zero-Covid. It is desperate to show the world that its draconian measures are the way forward in defeating the virus.

Except China.

Most worrying is the almost 20 percent unemployment rate for young people.

Buyers squat in empty, half-finished flats 

They are going to put the blame squarely on Xi Jinping for them not being able to find jobs, and many of them need to work to support families, especially if their parents are retired. 

If Xi Dada wants to garner an image of a supportive and endearing father figure, then he needs to create a lot of jobs very fast to dispel resentment, or worse -- rebellion -- among the next generation.