They went to the best universities in China and in the West. They lived middle-class lives in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen and worked for technology companies at the center of China’s tech rivalry with the United States.
Now they are living and working in North America, Europe, Japan, Australia — and just about any developed country.
Chinese — from young people to entrepreneurs — are voting with their feet to escape political oppression, bleak economic prospects and often grueling work cultures. Increasingly, the exodus includes tech professionals and other well-educated middle-class Chinese.
“I left China because I didn’t like the social and political environment,” said Chen Liangshi, 36, who worked on artificial intelligence projects at Baidu and Alibaba, two of China’s biggest tech companies, before leaving the country in early 2020. He made the decision after China abolished the term limit for the presidency in 2018, a move that allowed its top leader, Xi Jinping, to stay in power indefinitely.
“I will not return to China until it becomes democratic,” he said, “and the people can live without fear.” He now works for Meta in London.
The point as written in their comment is that we can’t use smart Chinese immigrants at all. Quote “Chinese expats are a security risk.” No nuance.
Anyone can be vulnerable to blackmail. People with gambling debts, people with credit card debt, business entanglements, money problems of any kind, cheaters, people who request to stay in a Russian suite once visited by Obama just to have prostitutes pee on the bed. Could be anyone.
In positions where blackmail is a concern, we have vetting procedures. So we can do better than just blanket saying Chinese people can’t be trusted.
Anyone with family in China is a security risk.
I do get your point, but everyone is right here. The difference between “Chinese expats” and “people with family in China” is really splitting hairs. And it IS going to lead to xenophobia, especially in tech.