Mass Exodus? ---Under Xi Jinping, the number of Chinese seeking asylum abroad has nearly reached 1.16 million
大逃亡？习近平任内中国寻求海外庇护人数直逼116万人
By Huang Liling (黄丽玲)
Photo: A group of migrants from China seeking asylum, walking along a barrier near Jacumba, California (加利福尼亚贾昆巴) after crossing the U.S.–Mexico border (2023, October 24).
【Editor’s Note： Since Xi Jinping’s rise to power in 2012, over 1.16 million Chinese nationals have sought asylum abroad, according to a report by Safeguard Defenders citing UNHCR data. This surge reflects escalating repression, with last year alone seeing 176,239 asylum seekers—a record high. One such individual, Wang Shoufeng, a construction entrepreneur from Henan, fled to Germany after facing persecution for his democratic advocacy. He recounted financial ruin following government accusations and asset freeze linked to charity efforts for human rights lawyers. Wang’s story exemplifies a broader exodus driven by disillusionment with the Chinese Dream, redefined under Xi’s rule. Popular asylum destinations include the U.S., Australia, and European countries. Human rights advocates warn that strict border controls obscure the true scale of departures. Cross-border crackdowns and policies targeting entrepreneurs have further deepened mistrust, prompting many to seek safety from what they describe as a corrupt and authoritarian regime.】
Taipei (台北)International human rights organization Safeguard Defenders (保护卫士) released a report on Friday (January 10), citing statistics from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) (联合国难民署). The report reveals that since Xi Jinping (习近平) assumed power in 2012, the number of Chinese exiles and asylum seekers has surged year after year, now approaching 1.16 million in total. Among these individuals is Wang Shoufeng (王守峰), a private entrepreneur who fled to Germany late last year. In a statement to Voice of America (美国之音), he attributed his flight and the shattering of his “Chinese Dream” (中国梦) chiefly to the persecution by Chinese authorities against business owners and human rights defenders.
From Building Contractor to Exile: The Story of Wang Shoufeng
Originally from Anyang County in Henan Province (河南省安阳县), Wang Shoufeng escaped China late last year and is now seeking political asylum in Germany. He recounted to Voice of America that for nearly two decades, he managed Shou Feng Construction Labor Co., Ltd. (首峰建筑劳务有限公司) in Anyang as a contractor overseeing several dozen construction workers. He recalled that during the boom years of China’s real estate market, every privately contracted project under his care was valued at several million yuan. Even as the housing market languished in recent years, he shifted his focus to public infrastructure projects for local electric and water authorities—a change that, while less profitable, allowed him to get by.
Yet his democratic ideals and close communications with human rights lawyers ultimately placed him in serious jeopardy. He explained that he was one of the principal initiators of the Henan New Citizens Movement (河南新公民运动) and maintained close ties with national organizers, including the now-incarcerated human rights lawyer Xu Zhiyong (许志勇). Regularly voicing his support for democracy online, he became subject to relentless surveillance by the police and state security.
In May 2023, Henan authorities charged him with violating charity law after he organized a fundraising drive for the critically ill wife of a Beijing-based human rights lawyer, freezing his company’s accounts and thereby obstructing engineering payments totaling as much as 1.5 million yuan. In May of the previous year, following a similar donation drive for the medical expenses of the critically ill wife of Beijing human rights lawyer Zhou Shifeng (周世峰), he again faced charges for violating charity law and saw his company’s accounts frozen—a move that left 1.5 million yuan in engineering fees uncollected. Ultimately, he was forced to dip into years of savings to advance wages to his workers—driven partly by his conscience over their hardships and partly by the fear that delay might provoke legal action or even imprisonment.
Wang further revealed that despite his heavy losses on both fronts, the authorities continued to devise ways to apprehend him. Fortunately, a police officer—with democratic leanings and inspired by his stance—alerted him, a tip that left him no choice but to embark immediately on his overseas flight. “Last year, a police officer … warned me that I had to flee; otherwise, state security would fabricate charges against me and subject me to a severe sentence. I received that warning so suddenly that I fled without a moment’s deliberation,” he recalled.
In his haste, Wang first purchased a ticket to Beijing before catching a connecting flight to Germany—arriving safely on September 24 of last year. He is now in the midst of applying for political asylum, hopeful that in the future, he will live in a free nation.
Wang lambasted what he characterized as Xi Jinping’s dictatorial fantasy—a vision of subjugating 1.4 billion Chinese citizens as his personal slaves—a perversion of the Chinese Dream that ordinary people do not share. “My Chinese Dream is that China should transform into a democratic society with a government like that of the United States or Germany. My Chinese Dream envisions 1.4 billion people, each armed with a single vote, electing our government and leading our nation into civilization,” he declared.
Though his prospects in Germany remain uncertain, Wang vowed to leverage his personal experiences in Chinese commerce and expose the rampant corruption among local officials so that the truth of the Chinese Communist Party’s (中共) authoritarian rule might be known to a wider audience.
China’s Mass Exodus: Data Unveils the Scale
Escaping across borders and taking perilous routes, individuals like Wang Shoufeng are no longer isolated cases but have become emblematic of a prevailing trend under Xi Jinping’s rule. Citing the latest UNHCR (联合国难民署) statistics, Safeguard Defenders (保护卫士) released a report titled “China’s Mass Exodus” (中国大逃亡), revealing that between 2012 and 2024—the span of Xi Jinping’s administration—over 1.158 million Chinese have sought asylum abroad.
Among these, UNHCR estimates that last year alone, at least 176,239 Chinese fled—a historic high marking a 169% increase compared to 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic—and representing a fourteenfold surge over 2012, the first year of Xi Jinping’s tenure. The report further notes that in 2022, the total number of exiles reached 116,338, dwarfing the cumulative figures recorded during Hu Jintao’s (胡锦涛) entire decade in power. A review of annual data over the past 12 years yields an average growth rate of roughly 24% annually. Notably, however, COVID-19 lockdown measures contributed to a slight 1.8% decline in 2022 compared with 2021—the only year in this period to record negative growth.
But where are these Chinese fleeing to? According to the report, primary destinations include the United States, Canada, Australia, and several European countries. In 2021 alone, over 88,000 Chinese settled in the United States—accounting for as much as 75% of all exiles—followed by Australia, Canada, Brazil, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. That same year, Europe saw 900, 379, and 248 Chinese seeking refuge in Spain, Germany, and France, respectively, while virtually no Chinese applied for asylum in other European, Asian, or African nations.
Laura Harth (劳拉·哈思), Director of Communications for Safeguard Defenders, told Voice of America (美国之音) via email that the United Nations figures are likely conservative, noting, “The Chinese authorities (中共当局) have tightened border controls on certain groups, effectively preventing many from even leaving the country.”
Cross-Border Repression and the Chinese Communist Party’s (中共) Draconian Rule
Harth remarked, “This wave of mass exodus is consistent with the trend we observe—Beijing is becoming increasingly brazen in its cross-border repression.” She further asserted that since Xi Jinping assumed power, the narrative repeatedly advanced by the Chinese Communist Party has proven baseless; the Chinese people can no longer tolerate sacrificing their freedom and human rights for the sake of economic prosperity. “More and more, even before China’s economic downturn, many chose to escape Xi Jinping’s (习近平) progressively repressive rule,” she observed.
Another Chinese entrepreneur, speaking on condition of anonymity due to concerns for personal safety, fled to Thailand on December 4 last year. However, given that Thailand has signed an extradition treaty with China—a pact that enables the Chinese Communist Party to execute extraterritorial jurisdiction and cross-border repression—he admitted that he does not feel secure there and is already planning his escape to a third country. Until he reaches a place of genuine safety, he must live in anonymity and maintain a low profile.
Through a secure messaging app, he confided to Voice of America (美国之音), “What has happened to me is the stark embodiment of the Chinese Dream (中国梦). After 24 years, when I awoke from that dream, I found myself shattered—my family destroyed, my life in ruins.”
The entrepreneur revealed that since 2000, he had embarked on several successful ventures, only to have his enterprises repeatedly usurped by local power brokers. Even the private residence in his hometown was forcibly requisitioned under the guise of “shantytown redevelopment” (棚户区改造). In the years preceding its demolition, his family had exhausted every avenue of petitioning the authorities—only to be intercepted either at train stations in Beijing or harassed at home by thugs charged with “stability maintenance” (维稳). He further disclosed that these enforcers had haphazardly added extra levels to the roof of his family home—so rudimentary that they lacked a staircase—whose sole aim was to harass. Yet what shocked him, even more, was that these same individuals later used receipts from those illicit additions to claim a roughly 60-square-meter apartment or secure monetary compensation under the designation of “public premises” (公本房) during the demolition process. He lamented, “The extent of corruption among local authorities is utterly unimaginable—only those who have suffered it firsthand can truly comprehend it.”
This translation is authorized by the original author and undertaken by the China Thought Express editorial team. The original text can be found here:
https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-mass-exodus-the-number-of-asylum-seekers-surpasses-one-million/7932829.html
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