Lynette Ong is Distinguished Professor of Chinese Politics at the University of Toronto.
When Xi Jinping took over the leadership of the Communist Party 11 years ago, he sold his people the “China Dream” – a vision that the country would soon become the world's greatest power and reclaim its rightful place in history. A lot has changed since then – notably the COVID pandemic and rising tensions with the US, which now show that more and more Chinese do not accept his vision. It is known as social discourse runxue — literally meaning “to escape” — is in vogue. Since the end of zero-COVID at the end of 2022, the number of Chinese people leaving the country across various social strata has increased rapidly. So is the amount of private capital that goes out through legal and illegal means.