Earlier, by Peter Brimelow on Japan's Immigration Laws: Closed Door, Forbes, August 30, 1993

As a contributor to a website promoting patriotic immigration reform, I sometimes get asked about mainland China's immigration laws. What are they like?

Short answer: Like Japan's, but more so. Way more so.

There was a good summary in the March 14th issue of The Economist, page 34. This being The Economist, an open-borders rag, it comes with an air of sniffy disapproval, but you get the facts. Quote:

China is hardly poised to become an immigrant melting-pot. In 2016 it issued just 1,576 permanent-residency permits. In the same year America granted permanent residency to over 1m foreigners—roughly equivalent to China's entire foreign-born population. Unlike American green cards, China's residence permits are not considered a pathway to citizenship. [A proposal to help a few foreigners settle in China triggers a furore]

This restrictionism is solidly supported by the mass of Chinese people. Last month the ChiCom justice department called for comments on a proposal to make it slightly easier for rich or highly skilled foreigners to become permanent residents. They got more than they bargained for. Quote:

A dismaying number of comments betrayed racial and sexual panic, with men vowing to defend Chinese women from immigrants, notably from Africa. Several young women vowed to leap from the Great Wall rather than marry a foreigner.

Wow. Mrs. Derbyshire is even more of an outlier than I thought.