Why desperate Chinese citizens are risking it all and trying to illegally smuggle into Australia via boat

Immigrants come to Australia to escape bankruptcy in China Desperate Chinese nationals are travelling to Indonesia with the intention of illegally entering Australia by boat. Li* was one of ten illegal Chinese immigrants who wandered into the unfenced Mungalalu Truscott Airbase in remote Western Australia on April 6, after arriving via boat. Li, Zhang and Fang* were among the 10 Chinese nationals who were intercepted by WA police after illegally arriving in Australia on April 6 Beijing's 'Covid Zero' policy shut down Li's neighbourhood for weeks at a time without warning in 2020, which ruined his business and sent him broke. All three men told the ABC that they signed up to be smuggled into Australia after seeing Li and Zhang* told the publication that Beijing's 'covid-zero' policy had bankrupted them with no hope of recovery, prompting them to flee Victor Shih, an associate professor in Chinese political science at the University of California, said it was unusual for Chinese nationals to flee their country. The Chinese immigrants were found after some wandered into the unfenced Mungalalu Truscott Airbase which alerted authorities After the eight-day voyage from Jakarta, Indonesia, most men onboard the boat were shocked to discover that Australia had strict border controls and detention centres All the immigrants who arrived on the boat were transported to the Nauru Detention Centre, where Fang chose to return to Malaysia.