We’ve often discussed the massive upsurge in illegal Chinese border-crossers (such as here and here), an upsurge so large that in March of this year the number of Chinese nationals encountered at the US border was 8,000% that of the same period in 2021. That kind of increase is hard not to notice, and we’re not the only ones doing so.
The country of Ecuador, for one, has taken careful notice. Ecuador has been virtually unique in South America in providing Chinese nationals visa-free access (the only other such nation is tiny Suriname). That policy has enabled Chinese travelers to enter Ecuador and remain for up to 90 days. Instead of enjoying Ecuador’s sites, most then travel northward through Colombia and the Darién Gap into Panama on their illegal way to the US border. Last year, 48,381 Chinese entered Ecuador but only about half (24,240) went home once their 90-day visit was up. No one believes the remainder stayed in Ecuador. Authorities counted 15,500 Chinese exiting the Darién Gap that year, clearly on their way to you-know-where.
The Ecuadoran government has taken steps now to limit the Chinese influx. In a few days, on July 1, they will abandon the visa-free policy “due to the unusual increase in irregular migratory flows of Chinese citizens.”
Those citizens, incidentally, largely hail from Shanghai, which has sent about 274 migrants for every one million people. (The Shanghai metropolitan area has a population of around 39.3 million.) Hong Kong is second, with 257 arrivals per million.
For more, see Business Insider.