The Great Escape Returns: China’s Red Second Generation Flees
In recent years, many people from Mainland China, including the wealthy middle class and ordinary citizens, have immigrated overseas. This trend is seen as a form of soft resistance, reflecting historical patterns of rejecting rulers through migration. Since the CCP took control in 1949, there have been several mass migrations, including during the Cultural Revolution. Today, with the economy deteriorating and political persecution intensifying, a new wave of migration to the United States has emerged. Veteran media personality Guichun noted that Hong Kong’s population now exceeds 7 million, with approximately two-thirds being refugees from mainland China or their descendants.
In 1945 Hong Kong’s population was only 600,000 but by 1949 it had increased to 1.8 million and by 1950 it reached 2.2 million most of whom were fleeing the mainland. Guichun explains that the concept of Escape can be divided into Broad and narrow definitions broadly speaking it refers to those who left the country with proper documents while narrowly speaking it refers to those who crossed mountains and illegally immigrated. The broad form of escape began as early as 1949 when the CCP took control and forced many Shanghai capitalists to flee what we would now call Capital flight or migration.
Many intellectuals also left including prominent figures such as Shan Ainling, Chen Yong, Chenmu as well as the fathers of former Hong Kong Chief Executives Tong Qiwa and Carry lam and the father of Chao Yun Fat. Narrower escapes happened after the 1950s since Hong Kong was China’s only densely populated region with relatively easy access it became a major destination for Mainland refugees. One famous example is Jimmy Li the founder of the Hong Kong Apple Daily who illegally immigrated in the 1960s because so many people were fleeing to Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong government implemented a buffer zone policy in the 1950s to limit immigration from mainland China. The buffer zone policy was based on an agreement between the British and the Qing government which stipulated that the British authorities could not prevent Chinese citizens from entering Hong Kong Island or Kowloon but such a provision did not apply to the new territories which was under a lease. Thus the British authorities could block immigration into the new territories but not in Hong Kong Island or Kowloon as long as the individual could prove they were Chinese they were granted identity cards effectively allowing them to enter those areas safely. Guichun also mentioned that the exodus from mainland China actually started during the land reforms in Guangdong.
His Hong Kong friend Mr Huang shared stories of how his mother a teacher fled to Hong Kong with her children during this period recounting how she went grey overnight in Guangzhou due to the intense hardship. During the Great Famine in China which struck the furl Pearl River delta for the first time in history many people fled to Hong Kong where food was available. Tao Zhu, who governed Guangdong believed that socialism had no need to fear migration thinking that people would quickly return once they reached capitalist regions.
However, after he opened the Border 200,000 people fled in just 3 days leading him to close it again during the Cultural Revolution many intellectuals and young people from Guangdong fled to Hong Kong including Lu Dazong, the founder of Frontier magazine who was a sent down youth from Dongwan senior journalist Shershan shared a story from the 1980s when he worked at Guangdong television and heard about an editor who attempted to escape to Hong Kong seven times being caught each time. Three times he reached Hong Kong but was caught in the new territories before he could reach safety.
He once attempted to flee with his girlfriend, but to protect her, he was captured while she successfully reached Hong Kong. During the Cultural Revolution, many refugees, especially the youth, died while trying to escape—some drowned, others were shot by border guards, and many starved. Veteran writer Kaishen Kuin noted that both political and economic reasons drove immigration from mainland China, with political causes more significant for the elite. Mao Zedong’s frequent political movements made survival difficult for intellectuals. Some fled early, foreseeing danger, while others left when it became imminent. Economic reasons also spurred migration, particularly after the Cultural Revolution and the Great Famine, as people in Guangdong sought food in Hong Kong. Large-scale immigration to Hong Kong had already started before China’s economic reforms.
When Xiong Shuan led Guangdong, he observed the vast economic disparity between Guangdong and Hong Kong. His proposed reforms aimed at saving the CCP initiated China’s economic opening but did not necessarily improve ordinary lives. Kaishen Kuin noted that many wealthy individuals have recently fled China, taking significant sums of money with them as capital flows out yearly. Both the wealthy and ordinary people are seeking refuge in the United States and other countries. Le June, an independent TV producer, mentioned that even the Red Second Generation, children of high-ranking officials, are looking to flee.
Ordinary citizens are increasingly crossing the US Mexico border after the pandemic another wave of migration to the United States has begun a red second generation individual in New York said that their main concern now is how to transfer their assets and leave the country as soon as possible. Shershan concluded quoting an ancient proverb better to be eaten by a tiger than to live under a tyrannical government indicating that many Chinese people are desperate to escape the mainland.
