By
He Qinglian on November 8, 2011
Translated
from: http://voachineseblog.com/heqinglian/2011/11/immigration/
While
Russia has in formality completed a round of “democratization”,
China still insists to stick
with what the CCP refers to as the “Socialist path”. There is one
thing these two countries have in common in the last two years: their
citizens would try everything possible means to emigrate if they meet
the necessary financial requirements.
Let's
first talk about the Chinese emigrants. In the past two years, topics
relating to the Chinese emigrants are on the increase. There were
serious studies of these topics, such as the HSBC's study in 2010 which stated that:
of the wealthy group in mainland China who make more than 12,000 RMB
each month or have above 500 thousand in liquidity, 60% are planning
to emigrate within the next decade; and the survey jointly conducted
by the Bank of China and Hurun Report which findings were published
in late October revealed that more than half of those who have ten
million or more in assets intend to emigrate.
There was also
information that was hard to verify, like the alleged advertisement
of an emigration company that has been circulating on Weibo: “If
you own ten million and do not emigrate, you fail your entire
family.”
As said, emigration has become the greeting words when
friends gather together: “Are you planning to emigrate?” It is
also said that friends or co-workers with good relationship would plan to
emigrate together, and if possible, buy flats in the same or adjacent
districts in the new country so that they could take care of each
other...
And
there was a kuso advertisement drawing that one cannot laugh at: in
the lower right there was a picture of Jet Li smiling, and the words
above the picture was: “Those who have power and influence
emigrate, those who lack both resort to smuggling. Is this a country
or a prison? Would a country be like this? No, it surely is a prison.
Otherwise, how come people would want to flee from here whether they
have money or not? Ever heard of American illegal immigrants?”
Regarding
the cause of this wave of emigration, China's media pretend to be
calm in their analysis. They said the majority of those who emigrate
were for the sake of their child's education and growth. While these
people personally obtained foreign nationalities, their assets remain
in China because they are accustomed to the business environment in
China, and they have social connection here, something that they cannot
part from.
But, many revealed privately that they are increasingly
worried about the social problems of China: the one-child policy,
food safety, pollution, corruption, poor education quality and the
weak legal system. Recently, Li Daokui, a member of the China central
bank's monetary policy committee, told the truth during an interview.
He thought the social environment for the wealth generators need to
be improved, so as to keep their hearts in the country.
And
now let's look at why elites of Russia, the country that had served
as the mentor of the Chinese Communist Revolution and completed one
step ahead of China in political democratization, want to emigrate.
According
to the latest statistics from the Institute of World Economy and
International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences, in the past
three years 1.2 million Russians moved overseas. The latest poll
by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VtsIOM)
showed that 22% of Russian citizens want to leave Russia and settle
overseas. Back in 1991 when the U.S.S.R. just disintegrated, there
was only 5% of the country's population who wanted to settle
overseas.
This wave of emigration has in addition the following
characteristics: the Russians planning to emigrate have become
“high-endified” and “eliticized” in terms of social status;
most of them had received higher education and are talents with
professional specialties; they are members of the middle class with high net worth. What these people take away from Russia are
high-technologies and funds that the country desperately needs for
development.
Many
of the reasons for the Russians to emigrate are similar to that of
the Chinese, such as for their children and for their study. And
since the Russians enjoy what the Chinese do not have: freedom of
speech, they give reasons that the Chinese are unwilling to state
explicitly—
The entrepreneurs are worried about insecurity. It takes massive money and energy to found a company in Russia, yet there is no protection for property. There are in London many Russian business persons like this: when they themselves or their political benefactors are not welcome by the government, they would have to instantly board a British Airway flight to come to Britain.
The channels for people to move up the social ladder are blocked. The middle class in general think that, the mature state capitalism of Russia cuts off the ways the young people who received good education to move upward.
Poor quality of life. Whether it is the elite or the middle class, both think that the Russian education system is on the brink of collapse. From enrollment quota to university certificate, all can purchased with money. They think they have the obligation to provide with their children the choice of living and working overseas.
There
are only two differences in the reasons the Chinese and Russians who
intend to emigrate. The Russians raised a significant political
factor: they hate Vladimir Putin's dictatorship and the public
opinion control by the government. Some Russians who had received
good education think that the government-controlled TV news, movies,
and even popular music are making them out of touch with the
international community. These government-controlled TV news never
criticize Vladimir Putin or Dmitry Medvedev, day after day they
repeat the message that Western countries are enemies of Russia.
The elite and
the middle class do not see the possibility of Russia being liberated
from the new dictatorship of Vladimir Putin in the short run.
The
criticism of the political system and media control were not
mentioned in the emigration-related poll in China. One cannot tell
whether this was the result of the poll conductors deliberately
sidestepping the issues, or the emigrants having no hatred of the
autocratic system. But the Chinese did mention the dreadful
environmental pollution in China, a problem that the Russians have no
apprehension about. That's to say, the reasons for the Chinese people
to emigrate are mainly about aspects of life, and the Russians in
comparison have a stronger sense of rights awareness.
This is similar
to the impetuses that drove both countries to reform respectively in
earlier years: the Russians needed freedom of speech and the Chinese
wanted to be well-fed. The former sought to satisfy the social
function of the mouth; the latter, its physiological function.
Among
the people surveyed, those who intend to leave made up 62.5% of the
Russian respondents and nearly 60% of the Chinese counterparts.
As
a Chinese intellectual that had lived under dictatorship, I fully
understand the emigration move the Chinese and the Russians have
taken to flee from the fatalistic spell of Socialism. However, the
countries around the world cannot take in unlimited immigrants. With
a small population, Russia may not cause problems because of its
emigrants; yet China, with its huge population, would definitely prompt
countries to close the door of immigration that is narrowing down if
the wave of exodus from the country starts.
