China’s brain drain woes: elite emigration and national security

The emigration wave from the late 2000s to the present A popular Internet writer caused a stir when he asserted in mid-2010 that “all Chinese who earn more than 120,000 yuan a year want to immigrate.”1 While this view seems exaggerated, there is no denying the upsurge in emigration to Western countries since the mid-2000s, particularly to the United States, Canada and Australia.2 Most worrying for the CCP leadership is the fact that despite widespread publicity given to the supposed viability of the “China model,” growing numbers among China’s elite have chosen to leave the fast-rising quasisuperpower for the West.