- Over a million Chinese students are studying abroad, with most in the US, UK and Australia\
- Economic, political and cultural conditions in China have driven students in ‘same direction’, professor says
After witnessing China’s three years of isolation under its zero-Covid policy, many Chinese students studying abroad are thinking twice about returning home after graduation.
Some said they were disheartened by Beijing’s draconian pandemic controls and their less-than-rosy employment prospects in the country.
One Chinese student studying at the University of Southern California, who asked to be identified as Zoe Qiu, said she was “fearful” about returning home after graduation because of the months of lockdowns experienced by Shanghai residents early last year.
“My motivation to live abroad has changed from being enthusiastic about Western culture to fear about living in China,” she said.
She said she had been terrified by tales of Shanghai residents appealing for food when the city was put under lockdown last spring.
“The extreme conditions pushed humanity to the worst,” she said. “Even basic rights of life are under threat and that is really scary.”
She said she had wanted to live abroad since she was young, and the pandemic had doubled her resolve.
Stephanie Li, who recently graduated from the University of Melbourne, said many local governments in China had “used various ways, like lockdowns, for their political goals”.
She said she was now eager to stay in Australia, which had a less political environment.
Widespread online discussion about leaving China has even given rise to a new term among Chinese internet users: runxue, which basically means the philosophy of running away from the country.
Since Chinese students may seek temporary employment in most countries after graduation, studying abroad has always been seen as a stepping stone to emigration and the pandemic has made graduates more eager to explore that option.
“During the Shanghai lockdown, people realised it’s no longer a Covid policy but a political decision, and people’s voices and concerns did not matter,” said Xiang Biao, a director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Germany who studies migration in China.
Harrowing tales of zero-Covid hardships back home had prompted many Chinese students in cities across Asia, Europe and North America to rally on campuses or at Chinese embassies to support family and friends, he added.