The Challenge of Mass Migration in China
The Chinese International Migration published the 2012 Annual Report, which indicated that China was dealing with the challenge of mass migration of its Citizens, the top destination being the United States. Approximately, 90,000 Chinese immigrants were offered permanent United States residency in 2011 alone (Kivisto and Thomas 2). This paper will investigate several potential causes of immigration in China, critically assessing conditions or forces of immigration back at home that forces individuals to migrate to the United States.
1. Education
The United States has had for a long time constant debates or discussions regarding education crisis, particularly, within public education with the aim of seeking quality improvement strategies (Kivisto and Thomas 2). In this regard, it is worth to note that several years before, Americans have endured the challenge of lagging behind during global reading, international tests of science and in mathematics. However, based on a recent study conducted by the Economist Intelligent Unit and Pearson, the United States was categorized in the 17th position as far as literacy, test scores, as well as graduation rates, were concerned (Kivisto and Thomas 2) This position was behind Asian countries such as South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong; nevertheless, while China is renowned for its academic prowess, students from Shanghai were ranked at the top position during 2011 international exams (Kivisto and Thomas 2).
Most Chinese parents regard the education system to be unnecessary or undesirable for their children and the curriculum implemented by almost all public schools in China places more emphasis on education courses such as test-taking, patriotic education as well as rote learning, which seemed to provide some form of sanitized version of history approved by the Communist Party (Ocepek and Joel 5). Strongly competitive as a standard rule, most Chinese educational institutions are slanting toward a single break or make college admission examination, which is provided at the end of high school such as popularly known "gaokao” (Ocepek and Joel 5). Such exams are extremely competitive and instill intense pressure on Chinese students that forces some students to hook themselves in intravenous drip bags that are filled with amino acids for the purposes of getting an edge for more than nine hours (Ocepek and Joel 5). Therefore, the intense nature of China’s education system has been a major causal agent for migration for most students opting to migrate to the United States, where the education system is less rigorous as evidenced by the number of few high school students who compete for University slots each year (Bruni 12). Essentially, China’s education system is in dire need of complete system overhaul or reform implementation.
2. Economic Hardships
Economic hardships in China have contributed considerably too high rates of immigration in China. Therefore, reflecting on patterns of income it is worth to note that most immigrants are exclusively from the peasant population (Bruni 15). Essentially, they are forced to undertake agricultural activities for the purposes of supporting their families back at home, which is not usually reliable as a result of expensive technology, processes as well as unreliable weather. Therefore, the income levels of such individuals are often little to take care of their large families consisting of nuclear and extended family members. Even if farm harvest records a significantly high level, it is usually barely to support their basic needs and wants.
As aforementioned above, drought is common in some parts of China such as in Southern provinces that forces many peasant farmers to suffer from crop failure especially during winter (Strauss 7). More important to note is the fact that financial capabilities vary between different individuals within the peasant population, where peasants characterized by extreme poverty conditions such as having no land for farming are forced to labor in lands owned by other peasants, causing extreme misery due to lack of finances for basic needs such as food (Strauss 7). As a result of economic conditions such as these, many Chinese citizens are forced to migrate to the United States with the hope of finding jobs either skilled or unskilled for the purposes of taking care of their families back at home.
Conclusion
In this context, the main forces of immigration were cited to be educated and affluent that saw about 45 million Chinese citizens opting to live abroad from 2010, which was the highest recorded figure in Modern Chinese history. In addition, about 150,000 Chinese citizens applied and were able to obtain for permanent citizenship in other international countries by 2011. According to a research study conducted by Hurun Report, there are about 47% of China citizens who are currently considering migrating while the country is continually undergoing brain drain and potential investment opportunities.
Works Cited
Bruni, Michele. "China between Economic Growth and Mass Immigration." China " World Economy, vol. 21, no. 2, 2013, pp. 56-77.
Kivisto, Peter, and Thomas Faist. "Beyond a Border: The Causes and Consequences of Contemporary Immigration." 2014.
Ocepek, Melissa G., and Joel S. Fetzer. "The Causes of Pro-Immigration Voting in the United States Supreme Court1." International Migration Review, vol. 44, no. 3, 2017, pp. 659-696.
Strauss, Claudia. "Discourses About Immigration Causes and Contexts." Making Sense of Public Opinion, pp. 190-200.
