Chinese emigration

Due to the political dynamics of the Cold War, there was relatively little migration from the People's Republic of China to southeast Asia from the 1950s until the mid-1970s.

The Four Modernizations program, which required Chinese students and scholars, particularly scientists, to be able to attend foreign education and research institutions, brought about increased contact with the outside world, particularly the industrialized nations.

Other difficulties included bureaucratic delays and, in some cases, a reluctance on the part of Chinese authorities to issue passports and exit permits to individuals making notable contributions to the modernization effort.

[43] In the early 2020s, there has been an influx of Chinese migrants using Mexico's northern border to enter America and advance to New York City, termed "ZouXian", translated in English to “walk the line”.

[45] A January 2025 report by the international human rights organization Safeguard Defenders, using United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees data, reveals that over one million Chinese citizens have applied for asylum abroad since Xi Jinping took leadership in 2012.

The Sinophone world, a legacy of Chinese emigration to Southeast Asia (Nanyang)
Established in the 19th century by Chinese immigrants, Chinatown, Melbourne is the longest continuous Chinese settlement in the Western World and the oldest Chinatown in the Southern Hemisphere . [ 26 ] [ 27 ] [ 28 ] [ 29 ]
The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum in Singapore . Singapore is a Chinese-majority multi-cultural and multi-racial country in Southeast Asia.
Chinatown, Flushing (法拉盛) in Queens , New York City has become the present-day global epicenter receiving Chinese immigration as well as the international control center directing such migration. [ 37 ]