Why desperate Chinese citizens are risking it all and trying to illegally smuggle into Australia via boat
Desperate Chinese nationals travel to Indonesia with the intention of illegally entering Australia by boat.
Li* was one of 10 illegal Chinese immigrants who entered the unfenced Mungalalu Truscott Air Base in remote Western Australia on April 6, after arriving by boat.
Li and two others from the group, all in their 30s, told the ABC the potentially deadly trip was worth the risk to escape bankruptcy and debt at home.
So far this year, four boats carrying Chinese nationals have made the journey to Australia.
Li’s boat was the only one to succeed, as the others were intercepted or sank.
Li, Zhang and Fang* were among 10 Chinese nationals intercepted by WA police after illegally arriving in Australia on April 6.
Beijing’s “Covid Zero” policy locked down Li’s neighborhood without warning for weeks in 2020, destroying his business and putting him out of business.
‘I found my life in China too stressful, with limited freedom, I guess[ed] to come to Australia because it is more humane and freer,” he told the ABC,
Zhang*, another immigrant detained by border police along with Li, told a similar story of debt and restrictions making life in China unbearable.
The two men had never met before arriving in Jakarta, but both used Xiaohongshu and Douyin – Chinese versions of TikTok – to find a way out of China.
Ads in the comment sections offered to smuggle someone to Australia for $10,000.
Li said the offer was especially tempting for many people who had their genuine visa applications for Australia rejected.
After responding to the ads, each man was placed in group chats and instructed to fly to Jakarta and wait until nightfall to board their boat.
Many of the ten Chinese immigrants on board were unaware of Australia’s strict border controls and offshore detention centers.
Li expected the process to be simple, with the intention of applying for asylum upon arrival.
“All we knew is that there would be two possibilities if we traveled by boat,” he explained.
“We were either intercepted before landing, or we landed successfully and then applied for visas based on our individual situation, such as seeking asylum.”
Another man on the boat, Fang*, was also unaware of Australia’s harsh immigration system and the risk of detention.
Fang had been a steelworker in Malaysia and didn’t even resign before leaving for Jakarta on his way to Australia.
He made the trip hoping to make more money in Australia than in Malaysia.
All three men told the ABC they signed up to be smuggled into Australia after seeing advertisements for such a service on the Chinese version of TikTok.
Li and Zhang* told the publication that Beijing’s ‘covid-zero’ policy had left them bankrupt with no hope of recovery, prompting them to flee (photo, Chinese President Xi Jinping)
Victor Shih, an associate professor of Chinese political science at the University of California, said it was unusual for Chinese nationals to flee their country.
When a country reaches middle-income status, as China did in 2020 after eradicating extreme poverty, its citizens generally prefer to stay, Shih explains.
However, President Xi Jinping’s strict COVID-zero policy has wiped out many people’s savings and left them with unmanageable debt.
Chinese society operates under a social credit system, which severely punishes individuals with negative status, exacerbating their problems.
“In China, because of the pervasiveness of the credit system… if you get a low score on the credit system, some of these people can’t even ride the train,” Dr. Shih said.
‘That makes entrepreneurship, starting a new company to pay off part of their debts, virtually impossible.’
Li, Zhang and Fang were intercepted by WA police and Australian Defense Force officers who were sent to the old World War II airbase to secure the site.
The Chinese immigrants were found after some walked into the unfenced Mungalalu Truscott air base, which alerted authorities
After the eight-day journey from Jakarta, Indonesia, most of the men on board the boat were shocked to discover that Australia had strict border controls and detention centers
All immigrants who arrived by boat were transported to the Nauru Detention Center, where Fang chose to return to Malaysia.
Australian immigration officials offered each of the remaining men AU$7,600 if they voluntarily boarded a free return flight to China.
Li, who has a supportive wife and child at home, calls his family from the detention center phones.
He is now awaiting legal aid to continue the paperwork required to remain in Australia after his detention.
However, the Home Office said people who arrive in Australia by boat without a visa will have “no chance of settling”.
“Australia’s policy response remains consistent: unauthorized maritime arrivals will not establish themselves in Australia,” a spokesperson said.
Daily Mail Australia could not independently verify Li, Zhang and Fang’s accounts.
*Li, Zhang and Fang are pseudonyms.