The homelessness issue in China is worsening, as indicated by the shift in terminology from “vagrants” to “dispersed individuals” by the Chinese Communist Party. According to a report cited by American columnist and political commentator Gordon G. Chang, there are currently 47.5 million homeless individuals in China, more than five times the official pre-2020 pandemic statistics. With China’s economy visibly declining this year, the number of homeless individuals on the streets is only expected to rise.
Founder of the popular Chinese comic IP “Hunzhi,” Chen Lei, expressed astonishment at these statistics, noting the increasing prevalence of homelessness he has personally witnessed recently.
Chang mentioned the abundance of online photos showing Chinese people sleeping on the streets and in parks, with a majority of them being young individuals. Official reports from the Chinese Communist Party also acknowledge the rising unemployment rate among young people, leading many jobless individuals to seek amenities like free Wi-Fi, air conditioning, food, and water at government-operated service centers. A center in Shenzhen sees nearly 3,000 young people visiting daily.
The rapid economic decline in China, coupled with automation policies by the Communist Party, has exacerbated the issue of homelessness. Experts believe the increase in homelessness is a result of post-pandemic economic pressures, particularly severe youth unemployment with no signs of improvement.
Reports from United Press International (UPI) also highlighted the correlation between the rising proportion of homeless young people and labor market pressures, indicating that the escalating homelessness issue is a significant sign of ongoing societal collapse in China.
In the 1980s, when China began its so-called reform and opening-up policy, the Chinese faced significant pressures. However, the current social unrest is causing more concern, with many opting to escape. During Biden’s administration, a significant number of Chinese individuals moved to the US, reflecting a desire to live in a free society. But for the vast majority of Chinese individuals, escaping is not an option.
Many of those on the streets have low social credit scores, which prevent them from opening bank accounts, purchasing high-speed train tickets, or finding decent employment, ultimately leading to their homelessness. Even Chinese individuals with high social credit scores are self-isolating. Many have started collectively embracing the “lying flat” and “being lazy” movements as a form of passive resistance against the Communist Party’s economically hopeless and politically bleak system.
Prosperous urban residents are also abandoning the decades-long trend of rural-to-urban migration, opting to retire in the countryside.
Charles Burton, former Canadian diplomat, China expert, and senior researcher at the European think tank Sinopsis, noted that under the leadership of Xi Jinping, the Communist Party’s ideological rigidity aims to maintain control by intensifying state control over various aspects of social life, tightly scrutinizing the media, imposing ideological restrictions on education, and dominating popular culture narratives.
Piero Tozzi, Senior Director of China Policy at the First Policy Research Institute of the United States, highlighted that Xi Jinping’s governance model is founded on the Communist Party’s “quasi-totalitarian Legalist thought.” The Party’s current objective is “comprehensive control of society,” with Xi imposing his will on all aspects of society to suppress the vitality and spirit of the Chinese people.
This destructive communism has inflicted severe damage on Chinese society, evidenced by the plummeting total fertility rate in China, currently estimated at around 1.0, far below the 2.1 needed to maintain stable population levels. If this trend continues, China may see a significant population decrease by the latter half of this century, with the population potentially dropping to only one-third of the current numbers by the year 2100, according to some experts.
While it’s natural for a mature society with higher economic development levels to experience a decline in fertility rates, the substantial drop in China’s fertility rate is not a natural consequence of societal development but rather a reflection of pervasive pessimism and extreme societal pressure under the Chinese Communist Party’s suppression.