China’s Combative Nationalists See a World Turning Their Way

> People from china going home is one thing... but there are still people from eg. Netherlands (and other developed european countries... and underdeveloped too, and african, and southern american, and a lot of asian too), who want to move to america (and actively do, especially coders and engineers), while those people moving to china is rare.

There has been a fair amount of African immigration to China, for instance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africans_in_Guangzhou. Given the actions the PRC has taken to restrict it, the actual demand might be higher than the numbers indicate.

China has plenty of Western expats, as well, especially places like HK and Shanghai.

But my point still stands. Immigration numbers are a lagging indicator. They tell you about how things were in the past, not necessarily how they are now or how they're going to be in the future. By the time you actually see them change, it will probably be too late to undo damage caused that change.

In short, looking at immigration numbers to shore up feelings of national self-confidence is kinda foolish, since it'll just lead you to rest on our laurels. In my view, it's better to look at how perceptions are changing, and try to correct the reasons for those changes.

For instance: my friend never thought the US would handle something like COVID so badly, and especially not so much more badly than China. That +1 to China's reputation, and -1 to the US's. Add to that the fact that most of the stuff we have in the US was made in China (and thus available there, too, neutralizing a US advantage), etc. It's not to hard to see that, unless something changes (e.g. a more competent government, more solidarity among the people), it's not inconceivable that the immigration flows might slowly head to parity then reverse.