I have a fair few Chinese friends and have found something similar. Sure, I know a few Chinese who are desparately trying to do whatever they can to emigrate from China, but I also know quite a few who studied/worked overseas and then returned to China because they prefer the conditions there. They recognise some problems with how things are in China, but view the problems overseas as greater.
America for instance is perceived to be a more dangerous place to live. By official numbers (which is what people see), you're much more likely to be raped or murdered in a big American city than in a Chinese one. The streets aren't covered with homeless people, used needles and human faeces in China. You don't get $x0,000 healthcare bills for simple procedures in China. Big Chinese cities don't have "no-go zones". Your kids won't be bullied for academic success, they'll be bullied for academic failure. Your kids are much less likely to be exposed to hard drugs and drug users in high school. Sure, this may not actually be due to the efforts of the authoritarian government, but that doesn't stop people crediting the government for it.
Europe is also seen as dangerous. There is no political correctness in China, and many middle class Chinese fall relatively far to the right of the political spectrum by western standards, viewing Europe as a failing state ravaged by Muslim immigrants and undermined by its coddling welfare policies. A Chinese friend, who grew up in a relatively poor part of China but is now stably middle-class, recently went on holiday to Italy, and one of the first things they said when they returned was that they were shocked by how poor everybody seemed there.
For ambitious Chinese, many feel they have a bigger chance of making it big in China. Count the number of ethnically Chinese tech company CEOs in Chinese companies vs US companies, for instance. The "bamboo ceiling" is not present in China, and due to the population the sheer number of job opportunities for professionals is bigger than most other countries can offer.
>> For ambitious Chinese, many feel they have a bigger chance of making it big in China. Count the number of ethnically Chinese tech company CEOs in Chinese companies vs US companies, for instance.
You were expecting Chinese tech companies to mostly have non-Chinese CEOs? ;)
America for instance is perceived to be a more dangerous place to live. By official numbers (which is what people see), you're much more likely to be raped or murdered in a big American city than in a Chinese one. The streets aren't covered with homeless people, used needles and human faeces in China. You don't get $x0,000 healthcare bills for simple procedures in China. Big Chinese cities don't have "no-go zones". Your kids won't be bullied for academic success, they'll be bullied for academic failure. Your kids are much less likely to be exposed to hard drugs and drug users in high school. Sure, this may not actually be due to the efforts of the authoritarian government, but that doesn't stop people crediting the government for it.
Europe is also seen as dangerous. There is no political correctness in China, and many middle class Chinese fall relatively far to the right of the political spectrum by western standards, viewing Europe as a failing state ravaged by Muslim immigrants and undermined by its coddling welfare policies. A Chinese friend, who grew up in a relatively poor part of China but is now stably middle-class, recently went on holiday to Italy, and one of the first things they said when they returned was that they were shocked by how poor everybody seemed there.
For ambitious Chinese, many feel they have a bigger chance of making it big in China. Count the number of ethnically Chinese tech company CEOs in Chinese companies vs US companies, for instance. The "bamboo ceiling" is not present in China, and due to the population the sheer number of job opportunities for professionals is bigger than most other countries can offer.