As is usual in cases like these, NOLA had their number.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/1/30/chinas-louis...
I remain profoundly ashamed that Al Jazeera rather than an American or local news outlet had to break this story.
Chinese are big customers for schemes selling foreign residency
31–40 of 135 posts
Re: Chinese are big customers for schemes selling foreign residency
#32Peter Thiel wrote about it back in 2014 in his book, Zero to One. We have a different image of China and China has done a great job posing as next superpower but the reality is very different on the ground. Rich Chinese want to get away from China by paying whatever price they can afford, this is not surprising at all!
The gov sometimes has these campaigns that sweep through and affect both guilty and innocent. Some try to keep a “get out of jail card” so to speak, if need ever be. That’s what much of this is.
Re: Chinese are big customers for schemes selling foreign residency
#33It is large industry. More than one of my acquaintances got their green card and then citizenship by paying $20-$30k for fake marriage to a US citizen.
Another frame: your acquaintances were frustrated at how hard it is to immigrate and figured out a workaround. I strongly believe in freedom of movement so any legal or extra-legal means to do so are all right in my book.
Rules are meant to be bent. Laws are meant to be broken.
Re: Chinese are big customers for schemes selling foreign residency
#34Peter Thiel wrote about it back in 2014 in his book, Zero to One. We have a different image of China and China has done a great job posing as next superpower but the reality is very different on the ground. Rich Chinese want to get away from China by paying whatever price they can afford, this is not surprising at all!
China really is the next superpower AND some Chinese are interested in having a lily pad outside China that they can hop to. No conflict between these. Lots of Americans have second passports, including Peter Thiel.
China has the population and to some extent tech advantages but the Chinese government is very strict, unpredictable and favor individuals who are on their side.
Not everyone has an equal opportunity to make it big in China. If you care about freedom and a better future for your children, make money and move out!
Re: Chinese are big customers for schemes selling foreign residency
#35> But Canada closed its federal programme in 2014 (some provincial schemes, such as Quebec’s, continue). Only mentioned as an aside, but for Vancouverites, this has been very painful. Uniquely Quebec manages its own immigration (let's not get into it) and they have an investor immigration scheme that essentially sells citizenship for a pittance. Of course since persons have freedom of movement there's nothing stoppin…
My belief has always been foreign capital (speculation) is bad, but immigration is good. So if you want to move here and bring all that foreign capital great! If you want to speculate or park money in Canadian real estate (empty houses and condos) that's really bad for the locals. It never should have been allowed.
Foreign capital, when it is invested in productive enterprise is good. It reduces the cost of borrowing money, which stimulates your economy, promotes value creation, etc. Assuming you believe that this sort of economic activity is a net good, that is. (And I think that even a dyed-in-the-wool socialist will agree, under the right tax system.)
Foreign capital, when invested into a limited, rationed, speculative resource, that is also required for life - like say, housing, is a ----ing nightmare.
Re: Chinese are big customers for schemes selling foreign residency
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not that I agree or disagree, but that is simply an ad hominem attack.
I’m not sure ad hominem applies, since it isn’t trying to discredit his argument by nature of his background. The comment is definitely off topic and doesn’t add anything to the discussion, however.
> I’m not sure ad hominem applies, since it isn’t trying to discredit his argument by nature of his background
It literally asks that his argument be dismissed because of his his personal conduct; it is textbook ad hominem.
Re: Chinese are big customers for schemes selling foreign residency
#37The reasons for this are obvious: 1. Money laundering i.e. How can Chinese government officials embezzle tax money and keep it? Buy real estate overseas and have your family live in them. 2. Tax evasion. Buy real estate overseas and have your family live in them. The education angle makes sense, but imo it's not the main reason.
But who cares? if we don't respect Chinese rule of law (or lack thereof) then is it money laundering?
As in, money laundering requires that the source of money have an illicit origin - not merely the observation thats its being moved around - but if the origin is successfully completely unknown, or if the origin is determined illicit by the Chinese government, then neither of those really satisfy the criteria for vilifying the current recipient
Re: Chinese are big customers for schemes selling foreign residency
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not that I agree or disagree, but that is simply an ad hominem attack.
Calling something an ad hominem attack doesn't make it less valid in the context of the discussion. This is a thread about immigration. If Thiel's opinions on immigration are to be considered, then his own behaviour in that regard are absolutely relevant.
> This is a thread about immigration. If Thiel's opinions on immigration are to be considered, then his own behaviour in that regard are absolutely relevant.
No, it's not. It might be germane if (1) his behavior demonstrated that he was particylt untrustworthy on this topic and (2) fact claims were being made that could only be accepted based on trusting Thiel.
It might also be germane if we were discussing the credibility of his claim to believe in the position he lays out rather than the merits of that position (this is actual a special case of the preceding.)
It's also potentially useful as a filter as to whether it's worthwhile to both considering his opinions and participating in the discussion in the first place; many fallacies are pragmatically useful in terms of whittling down the universe of ideas to decide which one are more likely to ve worth spending more time analyzing. But once you jump into the discussion on the merits, well, there is a reason fallacies have been identified.
Re: Chinese are big customers for schemes selling foreign residency
#39As is usual in cases like these, NOLA had their number. http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/1/30/chinas-louis... I remain profoundly ashamed that Al Jazeera rather than an American or local news outlet had to break this story.
Huh. On the freeway (CA-84) in the SF Bay Area, I keep on seeing an ad for some seminar on H1-B to EB-5 (with Bobby Jindal headlining as a speaker). I wonder if it's related, other than (presumably) being a conduit to invest in Louisiana.
(Lots of people on H1-B's especially from India want a faster path to get a green card rather than be stuck in limbo for decades..
Re: Chinese are big customers for schemes selling foreign residency
#40> But Canada closed its federal programme in 2014 (some provincial schemes, such as Quebec’s, continue). Only mentioned as an aside, but for Vancouverites, this has been very painful. Uniquely Quebec manages its own immigration (let's not get into it) and they have an investor immigration scheme that essentially sells citizenship for a pittance. Of course since persons have freedom of movement there's nothing stoppin…
My belief has always been foreign capital (speculation) is bad, but immigration is good. So if you want to move here and bring all that foreign capital great! If you want to speculate or park money in Canadian real estate (empty houses and condos) that's really bad for the locals. It never should have been allowed.
Immigration would be great, I agree. One issue though is "astronaut families", where several family members (such as children) move to Canada, but the income-earning parents stay abroad and send money. Then they follow along when they retire.
This can really distort things, because it's a lot of foreign capital coming in without the productive industry and income taxes being present. Then later it becomes a social services burden.
Many of those kids do grow up to become awesome Canadians, so that's good though. But some of them choose to move back abroad after getting their citizenship and education, when it becomes time to work...