Are Emigrating Wealthy Chinese Afraid of a Coming Political Tempest?

Recently I blogged about an increasing number of Chinese elites who are emigrating or considering to emigrate, which contrary to conventional thinking, does not augur well or reflect sanguine signs of a “China Century”

I even alluded to snowballing risks of a political crisis

Perhaps many of these Chinese millionaires may be sensing trouble ahead (see bold highlights above), not only from a bubble bust, but also from the growing fragile state of China’s unsustainable capitalist-communist political economy.

Well, I guess my hunches seem to be getting some confirmation.

This from Financial Times/CNBC

In private conversations, many of the people who supposedly make up the ruling elite of China express serious misgivings about the direction and future stability of the country, while admitting that they feel largely powerless to affect meaningful change.

“There is a sense that we are approaching an inevitable breaking point, when the pressures in society will boil over and consume the rulers,” says one Chinese banker with close ties to a number of powerful political families.

“Almost all of the elements are in place for an uprising like we saw in 1989 – corruption is worse today than it was then, people feel they can’t get ahead without political connections, the wealth gap is much bigger and growing and there has been virtually no political reform at all. The only missing ingredient now is a domestic economic crisis.”

And many wealthy Chinese seem to be flocking to the US, by investing in “US citizenship”

From the Wall Street Journal Blog

In 2011, 2,969 Chinese citizens applied for the program and 934 were approved, according to the Immigration Service. (Approval doesn’t mean they get citizenship, it just means they can start the program). Their numbers represented more than three quarters of the total number of applicants and approvals.

It’s also a huge increase from previous years. In 2007, only 270 Chinese citizens applied and only 161 were approved, accounting for only about a third of the totals.

Why the huge increase?

The obvious reason is that China has a lot more millionaires and billionaires.

But the other reason is that these newly rich want out – or at least an escape hatch and presence in another country in case they have to flee.

So speaking of voting with their feet, many wealthy Chinese seem to view the US as having a relatively better potential compared to their homeland. They could be right.

But they could also be wrong. Maybe these Chinese elites don’t realize that they risk jumping from the proverbial frying pan to the fire.