From 2010-2020, U.N. Refugee Agency reported a consistent increase in the number of asylum-seekers from China totaling more than 630,000 people. Separately, the number of asylum-seekers from Hong Kong jumped dramatically, from 22 in 2018 to a record 487 people in 2020, despite the coronavirus pandemic. Asylum-seekers are just one part of the China exodus story, as people from China and Hong Kong emigrate in other ways, as well. This project examines why people left and where they have resettled.
This project is unique because VOA reporters and stringers from almost every continent located and interviewed people who have left China's mainland and Hong Kong. The migrants and asylum seekers shared their stories of why they left and the countries they picked as their new home. These individual stories provide a larger picture of Beijing's policies and the similarities shared by many of the people who left China. A webpage was created that included stories of the migrants and asylum seekers, statistics, video and a creative map that moves to different parts of the world to highlight individual stories with links to a separate story page. The entire project shows the scope of the China Exodus story.
The project on VOA's website is also linked to YouTube with a playlist of 10 visual elements including video packages and a graphic explainer.
The project met the objective of seeing the bigger pictue of some of the impact of China's policies on its citizens. It also shows from a global perspective, the different places Chinese citizens have chosen to resettle. The China Exodus project has also received thousands of views on YouTube,
