More than 6,500 have registered since October 2022. Many come from Fujian and Zhejiang provinces seeking better economic opportunities and fleeing the regime’s repression. They arrive in Ecuador without a visa and continue their journey from there. Some, however, once they obtain visas, are recruited by the Party to act against other dissidents.
Beijing () – After the lockdown in Shanghai, more and more people have decided to leave China: in many cases they are activists and dissidents persecuted by the regime, but many times those who emigrate are people seeking better economic opportunities. But in the flow there are also those who end up establishing “police stations” abroad, monitoring and oppressing other asylum seekers.
Faced with a bleak job market, content that explains how to emigrate (even illegally) to the United States has become fashionable on Chinese TikTok, called Douyin. According to data from the US Customs and Border Protection, more than 6,500 Chinese citizens have arrived at the US-Mexico border since October 2022, a number 15 times higher than the same period last year.
The journey to the United States begins in Ecuador, where Chinese citizens do not need a visa. Migrants navigate the rainforest and through Central American countries to reach the US-Mexico border. Until recently, few Chinese citizens chose this more dangerous route to enter the United States illegally, because in addition to the harsh environment of the rainforest and disease, migrants are also threatened by mafia and criminal gangs, risking suffer robbery, extortion and sexual abuse.
Some migrants share their experiences entering the United States on Tiktok and Twitter, even charging a “consultation fee” when asked for travel advice. Once they set foot on US soil, they turn themselves in to the border patrol and immediately apply for asylum to avoid deportation.
China is one of the main countries of origin for immigrants arriving in North America and Europe. The migrants mainly come from the coastal areas of Fujian and Zhejiang for traditional and economic reasons, but today more and more Chinese citizens are seeking asylum abroad because of Xi Jinping’s control over society and the repression of social movements. and religious practices. In the three years of the covid-19 pandemic, despite travel restrictions, the number of Chinese asylum seekers worldwide increased, much more than the total registered in the decade of the government of former President Hu Jintao.
Jie Lijian (界立建), an activist who lives in Los Angeles and distributes blankets to Chinese newcomers over the weekend, told that this is a way of welcoming immigrants to the United States, with the hope that they will “abide by American law and uphold the values of freedom and democracy.”
There is a large Chinese community in Los Angeles because it is the first stop for illegal immigrants looking for work. Jie has experienced the impact of the increase in Chinese immigrants: “Last year it was very easy to find a job, but now wages are falling and many are out of work.”
Jie has hosted a number of asylum seekers who fled China, including activists, petitioners and persecuted Christians, though he admitted that most often they are economic migrants, because the Chinese authorities do not issue passports to dissidents precisely to ban them from traveling. abroad. “According to my observations, about 70% infiltrate the United States through the jungle for economic reasons. They have their own problems, such as business failure, bankruptcy, gambling, and loan sharks. Sometimes they pretend to support social movements and just take some photos during the protests as “evidence. After getting asylum, some return to supporting the Chinese Communist Party and persecuting other dissidents,” Jie explained. She gave as an example a group of migrants from Fujian province who, after obtaining permanent residency, set up “police stations” in the United States, effectively extending the persecution abroad. These nuclei persecute dissidents by monitoring and harassing the victims to force them to return to China. They operate under the cover of expatriate organizations in Fujian and Zhejiang, but are actually controlled by Chinese police.
In April, US police arrested two people linked to this type of transnational repression in New York, and the city’s Justice Department announced the indictment of 34 Chinese agents. “Chinese “police stations” have also been identified in major European countries: according to a Safeguard Defenders report, Italy would host 11, the highest number.
