I have often wondered about the sudden influx of new Chinese immigrants into various neighborhoods in East Los Angeles. New reports speak of a "crackdown" for agencies who accept bribes or who train potential Chinese immigrants about what to say during an immigration interview or how to complete an immigration form to improve their chances of entering the U.S. Unlike many other immigrants, Chinese may migrate to the USA with cash to purchase houses with a minimum price tag of $500,000. Other reports tell of waves of expectant mothers who come to the US to have children on the West Coast and vacation on the East Coast. From personal experience, the percentage of ESL students in my class hail from Beijing, Shenzen, and Hong Kong has exploded exponentially.
The question I have is: What caused this spike in Chinese immigration?
Dr. Willy Lam spoke of the Chinese premiers ambition and how it lends itself to greater Chinese nationalism. With China's growing economic power, it aims to marginalize the US within the Asia Pacific Region - and possibly - the world. Although Xi has a talent for hiding his true ambition (since it is seen as an affront to the honor of leadership), one thing remains certain, Xi plans to stay in power until 2027 in time for China's 21st Party Congress. In order to do so, the CCP must justify its monopoly of political resources if it can effectively transition China from a quasi-superpower to a superpower.
Thus, in order to realize "The Chinese Dream", Xi must expand the power of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which entails suppressing all forms of dissent.
Xi wants to avoid Gorbachev's Glasnost and Perastroika where Russia lost control of its command, centralized economy, in favor of capitalism. However, Xi must use the right combination of soft and hard power to accomplish this task.
China's Communist Party has once again become a place where the temporary relaxation of centralized power has begun to consolidate at the expense of many personal freedoms for its private citizens.
Thus institution of harsher and stricter laws at every expression of dissent makes China a scary place to be.
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