3 years of zero-Covid lockdowns prompt Chinese studying overseas to think twice about returning home
- Over a million Chinese students are studying abroad, with most in the US, UK and Australia
- Economic, political and cultural conditions in China have driven students in ‘same direction’, professor says
After witnessing China’s three years of isolation under its zero-Covid policy, many Chinese students studying abroad are thinking twice about returning home after graduation.
Some said they were disheartened by Beijing’s draconian pandemic controls and their less-than-rosy employment prospects in the country.
“My motivation to live abroad has changed from being enthusiastic about Western culture to fear about living in China,” she said.
She said she had been terrified by tales of Shanghai residents appealing for food when the city was put under lockdown last spring.
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“The extreme conditions pushed humanity to the worst,” she said. “Even basic rights of life are under threat and that is really scary.”