Thousands of Chinese citizens are illegally entering the United States via the San Diego-Mexico border, seeking asylum like the citizens of impoverished Central African and war-torn West Asian nations, and pulling out a Chinese reality into the free world away from its glittering coastal cities. Experts suggest that this may be a reflection of the dire straits faced by some sections of the Chinese economy.

Data from the US Customs and Border Protection shows that this year, until August 2023, a total of 20,273 Chinese migrant encounters occurred at the US-Mexico border, up from 2,176 a year earlier, a whopping increase of 831 per cent.&nbsp;<img alt="Border Patrol agents hand out trash bags to the arriving migrants from China to use against rain and cold wind as they wait for transport to a processing center next to a cemetery in Fronton, Texas, U.S." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="14dc5204-c242-468c-871a-060bf8f2a407" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/WhatsApp%20Image%202023-10-03%20at%2013.07.32_0.jpeg" />

File photo of Border Patrol agents handing out trash bags to the arriving migrants from China to use against rain and cold wind as they wait for transport to a processing centre next to a cemetery in Fronton, Texas in April 2023&nbsp;| Reuters

The number is likely to increase even further after the end of 2023 when annual data on migrant encounters is released.&nbsp;

The extraordinary increase in the number of Chinese migrant encounters confirms two things that many China watchers have been saying for a long time.

"One, the glittering Chinese coastal cities or even the exceptional hinterland city like Chongqing are not a measure of the wealth of China," said Sridharan Subramanyam, a China Watcher at Chennai Centre for China Studies.

"The poverty in China's rural areas, due to various reasons, is real," he told WION.

This August, the city of Zhuozhou in China's Hebei province was devastated by the worst floods that hit northern China in living memory.

Less than 50 km from Beijing, thousands of homes were damaged in the wake of Typhoon Doksuri.

Several blog posts about the Zhouzhou floods, which accused the authorities of deliberately flooding certain Chinese towns to control the water levels in Beijing, were censored from the messaging platform WeChat.&nbsp;

"The attempt by government officials is to prevent the leakage of facts (on poverty as well), as we saw in the recent Beijing floods," Subramanyam added.&nbsp;

The second aspect, the expert said, is that China's economic situation in the last two years has been very dire.&nbsp;

<h2>Faltering economy&nbsp;behind rising illegal Chinese migration to the US?</h2>

To recover from the global economic consequences of the Covid pandemic, Chinese leader Xi Jinping introduced the 'dual circulation' policy to encourage domestic consumption after a fall in external demand for Chinese goods and services.&nbsp;

The policy has not paid off, Subramanyam pointed out.&nbsp;

"The Chinese do not have enough trust, at least in near terms, of their economy doing well and are saving even more than they already used to do so highly. The consumption rates as a result have been falling," he said.&nbsp;

<h2>What else is pushing China's poor into the US?</h2>

The draconian ‘zero-Covid’ policy, coupled with the trade war with the US and the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-china-chip-war-intensify-amid-calls-for-small-yard-high-fence-approach-to-contain-china-618392">latter’s ban on semiconductor technology</a>, are all adding to Xi Jinping's woes.&nbsp;

Moreover, Xi Jinping's flagship Belt and Road Initiative, a massive trade and infrastructure network that seeks to connect the country with the West in a model based on the ancient Silk Route, is "failing", Subramanyam said.

Also read |&nbsp;Gravitas: China's Xi Jinping snubbed as Italy dumps BRI

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An analysis of a dozen countries most indebted to China — including Pakistan, Kenya, Zambia, Laos and Mongolia — shows that paying back the debt "is consuming an ever-greater amount of the tax revenue…and draining foreign currency reserves", Associated Press reported.&nbsp;

Behind this, AP said, "is China’s reluctance to forgive debt and its extreme secrecy about how much money it has loaned and on what terms, which has kept other major lenders from stepping in to help."

"China has not only been unable to generate much return on (BRI) investments. It also is in danger of losing the capital in several countries in the last three years," Subramanyam added.

Meanwhile, the slow but relentless de-risking leading to the relocation of industries from China to other countries is continuing to expand distress in the world's second-largest economy, pushing thousands of blue-collar workers to look for greener pastures elsewhere in the world.

All these may be acting as the 'push factor' in the migration of Chinese to the US. It's an irony of history that, centuries ago, they were among the first Asians to migrate in search of better lives, escaping the poverty at home, which led to the ubiquitous China Towns in several US cities.

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Thousands of Chinese citizens are illegally entering the United States via the San Diego-Mexico border, seeking asylum like the citizens of impoverished Central African and war-torn West Asian nations, and pulling out a Chinese reality into the free world away from its glittering coastal cities.

Thousands of Chinese citizens are illegally entering the United States via the San Diego-Mexico border, seeking asylum like the citizens of impoverished Central African and war-torn West Asian nations, and pulling out a Chinese reality into the free world away from its glittering coastal cities. Experts suggest that this may be a reflection of the dire straits faced by some sections of the Chinese economy. Data from the US Customs and Border Protection shows that this year, until August 2023, a total of 20,273 Chinese migrant encounters occurred at the US-Mexico border, up from 2,176 a year earlier, a whopping increase of 831 per cent. File photo of Border Patrol agents handing out trash bags to the arriving migrants from China to use against rain and cold wind as they wait for transport to a processing centre next to a cemetery in Fronton, Texas in April 2023 | Reuters The number is likely to increase even further after the end of 2023 when annual data on migrant encounters is released. The extraordinary increase in the number of Chinese migrant encounters confirms two things that many China watchers have been saying for a long time. "One, the glittering Chinese coastal cities or even the exceptional hinterland city like Chongqing are not a measure of the wealth of China," said Sridharan Subramanyam, a China Watcher at Chennai Centre for China Studies. "The poverty in China's rural areas, due to various reasons, is real," he told WION. This August, the city of Zhuozhou in China's Hebei province was devastated by the worst floods that hit northern China in living memory. Less than 50 km from Beijing, thousands of homes were damaged in the wake of Typhoon Doksuri. Several blog posts about the Zhouzhou floods, which accused the authorities of deliberately flooding certain Chinese towns to control the water levels in Beijing, were censored from the messaging platform WeChat. "The attempt by government officials is to prevent the leakage of facts (on poverty as well), as we saw in the recent Beijing floods," Subramanyam added. The second aspect, the expert said, is that China's economic situation in the last two years has been very dire. Faltering economy behind rising illegal Chinese migration to the US? To recover from the global economic consequences of the Covid pandemic, Chinese leader Xi Jinping introduced the 'dual circulation' policy to encourage domestic consumption after a fall in external demand for Chinese goods and services. The policy has not paid off, Subramanyam pointed out. "The Chinese do not have enough trust, at least in near terms, of their economy doing well and are saving even more than they already used to do so highly. The consumption rates as a result have been falling," he said. What else is pushing China's poor into the US? The draconian ‘zero-Covid’ policy, coupled with the trade war with the US and the latter’s ban on semiconductor technology, are all adding to Xi Jinping's woes. Moreover, Xi Jinping's flagship Belt and Road Initiative, a massive trade and infrastructure network that seeks to connect the country with the West in a model based on the ancient Silk Route, is "failing", Subramanyam said. Also read | Gravitas: China's Xi Jinping snubbed as Italy dumps BRI × An analysis of a dozen countries most indebted to China — including Pakistan, Kenya, Zambia, Laos and Mongolia — shows that paying back the debt "is consuming an ever-greater amount of the tax revenue…and draining foreign currency reserves", Associated Press reported. Behind this, AP said, "is China’s reluctance to forgive debt and its extreme secrecy about how much money it has loaned and on what terms, which has kept other major lenders from stepping in to help." "China has not only been unable to generate much return on (BRI) investments. It also is in danger of losing the capital in several countries in the last three years," Subramanyam added. Meanwhile, the slow but relentless de-risking leading to the relocation of industries from China to other countries is continuing to expand distress in the world's second-largest economy, pushing thousands of blue-collar workers to look for greener pastures elsewhere in the world. All these may be acting as the 'push factor' in the migration of Chinese to the US. It's an irony of history that, centuries ago, they were among the first Asians to migrate in search of better lives, escaping the poverty at home, which led to the ubiquitous China Towns in several US cities. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

China's poverty is on display at the Mexico-US border in the form of thousands of Chinese migrants

An Australian think tank, on Friday,&nbsp; has accused China of illegally demolishing thousands of&nbsp;mosques in the Xinjiang province.

The area&nbsp;&nbsp;has come to light for its inhumane treatment in the migrant camps and the widespread defiance of the human rights.

The group claims that the Asian country has destroyed nearly 16,000 mosques in the province.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/us-senators-citing-uighurs-urge-netflix-to-drop-planned-chinese-sci-fi-series-330091">Also read|&nbsp;US senators, citing Uighurs, urge Netflix to drop planned Chinese sci-fi series</a>

The report has been released by the&nbsp;Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) who used satellite imagery to document the claim.

As per the report, majority of the destruction of these mosques has taken place in the last three years, during which nearly 8,500 mosques have been destroyed, especially&nbsp;outside the urban centres of Urumqi and Kashgar.

The area has reportedly more than a million&nbsp;Uighurs and other Muslim minorities trapped in the camps. These minority groups are forced to abandon their religious practices and traditions but he Chinese officials.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-publishes-white-paper-applauding-employment-generated-in-xinjiang-328090">Also read|&nbsp;China publishes white paper applauding employment generated in Xinjiang</a>

The report also adds that nearly 15,500 mosques survived the demolition. However, these religious sites&nbsp;had their&nbsp;domes and minarets removed.

If correct, it would be the lowest number of Muslim houses of worship in the region since the decade of national upheaval sparked by the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s.

As per the report, a third of the Islamic religious sites, such as shrines,&nbsp;cemeteries and pilgrimage routes have been completely destroyed.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-constructed-400-internment-camps-in-xinjiang-study-329842">Also read|&nbsp;China constructed 400 internment camps in Xinjiang: Study</a>

Interestingly, none of the Christian churches or the Buddhist temples in the area were destroyed during this time.

ASPI is not the only to make these claims. An AFP investigation, too, had revealed that dozens of cemeteries had been destroyed in the region, and the investgators had found human remains scattered across the land due to the destruction.

The Chinese government has, however, expectedly declined these accusations.&nbsp;China's foreign ministry has rubished the report as "anti-China report" that has&nbsp;"no academic credibility".

The&nbsp;Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin even claimed that there are nearly 24,000 mosques in the area.

"Xinjiang's total number of mosques is more than ten times the number in the US, and the average number of mosques per Muslim person is higher than in some Muslim countries," Wang told a regular press briefing.

An Australian think tank, on Friday, has accused China of illegally demolishing thousands of mosques in the Xinjiang province. The area has come to light for its inhumane treatment in the migrant camps and the widespread defiance of the human rights.

An Australian think tank, on Friday, has accused China of illegally demolishing thousands of mosques in the Xinjiang province. The area has come to light for its inhumane treatment in the migrant camps and the widespread defiance of the human rights. The group claims that the Asian country has destroyed nearly 16,000 mosques in the province. Also read| US senators, citing Uighurs, urge Netflix to drop planned Chinese sci-fi series The report has been released by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) who used satellite imagery to document the claim. As per the report, majority of the destruction of these mosques has taken place in the last three years, during which nearly 8,500 mosques have been destroyed, especially outside the urban centres of Urumqi and Kashgar. The area has reportedly more than a million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities trapped in the camps. These minority groups are forced to abandon their religious practices and traditions but he Chinese officials. Also read| China publishes white paper applauding employment generated in Xinjiang The report also adds that nearly 15,500 mosques survived the demolition. However, these religious sites had their domes and minarets removed. If correct, it would be the lowest number of Muslim houses of worship in the region since the decade of national upheaval sparked by the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. As per the report, a third of the Islamic religious sites, such as shrines, cemeteries and pilgrimage routes have been completely destroyed. Also read| China constructed 400 internment camps in Xinjiang: Study Interestingly, none of the Christian churches or the Buddhist temples in the area were destroyed during this time. ASPI is not the only to make these claims. An AFP investigation, too, had revealed that dozens of cemeteries had been destroyed in the region, and the investgators had found human remains scattered across the land due to the destruction. The Chinese government has, however, expectedly declined these accusations. China's foreign ministry has rubished the report as "anti-China report" that has "no academic credibility". The Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin even claimed that there are nearly 24,000 mosques in the area. "Xinjiang's total number of mosques is more than ten times the number in the US, and the average number of mosques per Muslim person is higher than in some Muslim countries," Wang told a regular press briefing.

Nearly 16,000 mosques destroyed in Xinjiang by China: Australian think tank

Two people have been arrested on suspicion of the manslaughter of 39 people found dead in a refrigerated lorry in Essex. Olly Barratt speaks on Essex Lorry Deaths.

Your Story: Olly Barratt speaks on Essex Lorry Deaths