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China’s soft power
OpinionComment
Andrei Lungu
Andrei Lungu

Opinion | China must become an immigration magnet if it wants to overtake the US

  • Most of China’s immigration measures have short-term goals, while the US has proven it can attract and retain talent from across the globe
  • Given the challenges of changing policies and mindsets, Beijing should in the meantime tap into the power of its women to reinvigorate the nation

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A man walks through New York’s Chinatown district on July 11, 2014. Census Bureau data at the time showed Chinese people made up the second-largest foreign-born group in New York after immigrants from the Dominican Republic, with the Chinese community growing by 34 per cent in the previous decade to the Dominicans’ 3 per cent. Photo: AFP
Andrei Lungu
As China continues its rise, its leadership’s unstated goal seems to be to overtake the United States as the world’s leading power. If China really wants to achieve this, the best thing it can do is learn from America’s example, become a magnet for people around the globe and convince them to become Chinese citizens.
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The US might have the world’s largest economy and most expensive military, but its real strength is that for centuries it has been a magnet for people all over the world. Thanks to its living standards, democratic values, open society and world-class education and research, it has attracted millions of immigrants who started calling America home.

Among them were some of the world’s brightest minds, who made America’s technological development possible. Almost a third of all US Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry or medicine were born overseas.

But the benefits of immigration go beyond technology or even economics. Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Madeleine Albright and Samantha Power are some of the immigrants who ended up guiding America’s foreign policy.

By attracting people from around the world who use their diverse backgrounds, knowledge of foreign countries, language and cultural skills as diplomats and officials, the US has an unmatched advantage in foreign policy.

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US offers temporary ‘safe haven’ for Hongkongers in response to crackdown on opposition

US offers temporary ‘safe haven’ for Hongkongers in response to crackdown on opposition

The benefits of immigration go even deeper as the US gains not just a new citizen but a family. Former president Barack Obama and current US Vice-President Kamala Harris, who reached the apex of power in America, are the children of immigrants. Their contributions to the US could not have been possible without America’s status as a beacon for immigrants anywhere on the planet.

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