China Policy Monitor No. 1572

XI: CHINESE WOMEN MUST START "NEW TREND OF FAMILY"
During his discussions with the official All China Women's Federation, Xi Jinping called on Chinese women to establish a "new trend of family" and "actively cultivate a new culture of marriage and childbearing and strengthen guidance on young people's view on marriage, childbirth, and family." Women should not only be concerned with their own development but also with "family harmony, social harmony, national development and national progress," Xi said. Beijing wants Chinese people to have more children, but factors including high childcare costs and career pressures have deterred many couples. Officials have responded with financial incentives and underwritten kindergarten to try to lift the national birth rate. (NBC, October 31, 2023)

RICH CHINESE MOVE THEMSELVES, ASSETS OUT OF THE PRC
Wealthy Chinese are moving themselves and their assets out of the country. About 13,500 high-net-worth individuals are expected to leave China this year, up from 10,800 last year. In the first half of 2023, there was a shortfall of $19.5 billion in China's balance of payments data, and the value of capital flight is probably higher. In Singapore, more than 10% of luxury condos sold in the first three months of 2023 went to Chinese buyers, up from about 5% in the first quarter of 2022. "The arbitrary punishment being meted out to the wealthy class is unlike anything we have seen since the 1990s. This has prompted many in that class to think about diversifying out of China," says Victor Shih of the University of California San Diego. (The Guardian, October 30, 2023)

MORE CHINESE ARE BRAVING PANAMA'S JUNGLE TO REACH THE U.S.
Growing numbers of Chinese immigrants are going to the U.S. via the Darién Gap, a perilous route through the Panamanian jungle. For the first nine months of 2023, 15,567 Chinese citizens crossed the Darién, as compared to 2005 in 2022, and 376 between 2010 and 2021. U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested 22,187 Chinese illegally crossing the border from Mexico between January and September; nearly 13 times the same period in 2022. Arrests peaked in September at 4010, up 70% from August, and most of those apprehended were single adults. Chinese immigrants fly into Ecuador without a visa and then join other migrants who travel through the Darién and across several Central American countries before reaching the U.S. border. The UN projects that China will lose 310,000 people through emigration this year, compared with 120,000 in 2012. (NBC, October 30, 2023)

POPULAR SOCIAL MEDIA USERS MUST REVEAL THEIR IDENTITIES
To "purify" cyberspace, China's top social media platforms - including WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Baidu, and Bilibili - have announced that accounts with more than 500,000 followers will need to reveal their real names. The new requirement will remove the anonymity of thousands of social media influencers on platforms used daily by hundreds of millions of Chinese. Anyone who does not comply will face restrictions on their online traffic and income. Weibo CEO Wang Gaofei reassured users that the policy would not be extended to accounts with less than 500,000 followers. (Reuters, October 31, 2023)

PLA GENERAL: CHINA WILL "CRUSH FOREIGN INTERFERENCE," "SEVERELY PUNISH" TAIWAN SECESSIONISTS
While attending the 10th Beijing Xiangshan Forum, PLA Lieutenant General He Lei said: "Once the Chinese government is forced to use force to resolve the Taiwan question, it will be a war for reunification, a just and legitimate war supported and participated in by the Chinese people, and a war to crush foreign interference. In this war, the PLA will live up to the expectations and trust of the Party and the people, fight bravely under unified command, and achieve complete reunification of the motherland with the least casualties, minimal losses, and lowest cost, winning a great victory in the final battle of the PLA's war and achieving complete national reunification." He pointed out that "the responsibility for provoking this war lies entirely with the Taiwan authorities, 'Taiwan independence' secessionist forces, and external interfering forces" and asserted that, "[a]fter the war, the Chinese government will bring the stubborn 'Taiwan independence' secessionist elements to justice and punish them severely." (Global Times, October 29, 2023)