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2014-March-12

Qiu Yuanping: Don't Politicize Emigrant Issues

By staff reporter Li Wuzhou

Qiu Yuanping, CPPCC member and director of the State Council's Overseas Chinese Office, sat down with China Today to discuss emigration. Due to globalization, she said, emigration is a very natural phenomenon. Because Chinese citizens have freedom of travel, there is no need to overly politicize the trend.

Several countries, particularly Canada, have recently tightened restrictions on immigration, a move some Chinese regard as an unfair attack on potential Chinese immigrants. Qiu was quick to allay these concerns, commenting that the policies were mended for all investment immigrants, not just Chinese. Further, due to Canada's low population density, immigrants from other countries are still being welcomed.

Althought the number of Chinese emigrants has increased, Qiu emphasized that Chinese policies guarantee freedom of emigration and immigration. Besides, she explains, the number of Chinese emigrants, though big in itself, represents only a small fraction of the total population, especially compared with other highly migrating countries.

"I think overseas emigration is just a normal trend of population movement. It wouldn't make sense to turn this into a political issue," Qiu said . She also pointed out that the number of overseas Chinese returning to the country has been growing at a two-digit rate over the past two years.