Lynette Ong is distinguished professor of Chinese politics at the University of Toronto.
When Xi Jinping assumed the Communist Party leadership 11 years ago, he sold to his people the "China Dream" -- a vision that portrayed the country as soon-to-be the world's greatest power, reclaiming its rightful place in history. Much has since changed -- notably the COVID pandemic and rising tensions with the U.S. On-the-ground evidence now suggests an increasing number of Chinese people no longer buy into his vision. The social discourse known as runxue -- which literally means "to run away" -- is in vogue. Since the end of zero-COVID in late 2022, the number of Chinese, across different social strata, leaving the country has climbed rapidly. So has the amount of private capital exiting through legal and illegal means.
