Inequalities in China drive many to seek better life abroad

Weeks prior to discovery in England of bodies of 39 people believed to be from China, Beijing was holding lavish National Day celebrations congratulating itself on its rise from an impoverished Asian giant to world’s second-largest ecomy. trdy lays bare some crucial but sometimes overlooked facts about China’s development as it revels in its new-found status as a global power that has elevated hundreds of millions of its citizens to middle classes.

Despite flashy wealth of metropolises such as Beijing and Shanghai, much of China remains relatively poor and ecomic growth has created vast wealth disparities, especially between cities and rural hinterland.

income gap has fueled desire among many to seek a better life abro — some out of choice, ors coerced or manipulated into undertaking a hazardous journey. Though illegal migration appears to have fallen with improved ease of obtaining passports and visas, it remains best — or only — option for some.

China’s government says it has yet to confirm that bodies found are those of its citizens, as reported by British police. Most Chinese migrants come from country’s souast, specifically a handful of counties in coastal province of Fujian that have a long history of sending people abro to work in restaurants, factories, and agriculture.

On Friday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying called for redoubled cooperation to combat human smuggling and said Chinese diplomats were in close contact with police in Britain and Belgium, from where shipping container was transported to England.

“I think international community should furr strengn cooperation in this area, strengn sharing of information and intelligence in this regard, and conduct an early intervention in se activities so as to prevent such trdies from happening again in future,” she said.

issue is a difficult one to confront for China’s ruling Communist Party, which is intensely sensitive about country’s international im and has staked much of its legitimacy on improving living standards for bulk of 1.4 billion people.

In an editorial Friday, party newspaper Global Times sought to lay blame elsewhere, saying European governments hn’t done eugh to crack down on such crimes and networks that profit from m.

“Such a serious humanitarian disaster occurred under eyes of British and Europeans,” paper said. “Britain and related European countries have t met ir responsibility for protecting se people from dying in such a manner.”

timing of incident is particularly awkward for party, which under its authoritarian leer Xi Jinping me rich use of occasion of 70th anniversary of founding of People’s Republic on Oct. 1 to highlight ecomic improvements it says have lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty since launch of ecomic reforms in 1978.

A massive Oct. 1 pare through heart of Beijing featured vanced weaponry such as intercontinental ballistic missiles and hyper-glide vehicles that can reportedly travel more than five times speed of sound. That underscored China’s vast spending on its military that has given country world’s second-largest defense budget after United States.

Recent years have also seen increased social spending to extend health care and higher education beyond urban elites. China says it has reduced number of those living below poverty line from 770 million in 1978 to around 15 million, while almost half of young Chinese go on to higher education.

Yet millions of Chinese still work in factories far from home and are forced by internal residency rules to leave ir children behind. Hourly ws have risen but remain low by Western standards, just a few hundred dollars a month depending on region.

While an aging population and move to higher techlogy industries is boosting demand for workers, those without skills to compete for more demanding jobs often find mselves shut out of labor market.

China’s appetite for labor should eliminate need for illegal migration, and human smuggling has fallen off “drastically” in recent years, said Chu Yin, professor at Department of Public ministration of Renmin University. Still, some are drawn by possibility of striking it rich abro, said  Chu.

“We often say if you are middle class, you will have more opportunities in cities such as Beijing, but if you are from a lower class, you can earn more money in European and rth American countries,” said Chu.

A “cultural habit of smuggling” has also formed among some, he said, and “people envy those who have me big money abro and that will make more people want to follow suit.”

Ar Renmin professor, Wang Yiwei, said case may be more about opportunities afforded to sneak into England amid uncertainty over its withdrawal from European Union. facts surrounding case were likely “very complicated,” Wang said.

Recent years have seen a massive increase in numbers of Chinese citizens traveling abro for work, study or tourism as it becomes easier to obtain travel documents.

At same time, people smuggling networks have grown much more sophisticated from days when would-be migrants often traveled in holds of rusty freighters. Migrants will often w travel first to a third country before moving on to ir final destinations in rth America or Europe.

Even so, this week’s trdy harkens back to previous deaths of Chinese migrants, mainly from Fujian, including 58 people who suffocated in a truck in Dover, England, in 2000, after a perilous, months-long journey from Fujian.

In February 2004, 21 Chinese migrants — also from Fujian — who were working as cockle-pickers in Britain drowned when y were caught by rushing tides in Morecambe Bay in rthwest England.