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       Why More Chinese Are Risking Danger in Southern Border Crossings to U.S.

       Trekking the perilous Darién Gap and seeking asylum are risks worth taking for migrants from China who have lost hope in the country’s future.

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       Gao Zhibin tries to comfort his daughter, who was sick, vomiting and in pain while crossing the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama to reach the United States in March. Credit...Federico Rios for The New York Times

       By Li Yuan

       Reporting from New York and San Francisco

       Dec. 3, 2023

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       Gao Zhibin and his daughter left Beijing on Feb. 24 for a better life, a safer one. Over the next 35 days, by airplane, train, boat, bus and foot, they traveled through nine countries. By the time they touched American soil in late March, Mr. Gao had lost 30 pounds.

       The most harrowing part of their journey was trekking through the brutal jungle in Panama known as the Darién Gap. On the first day, said Mr. Gao, 39, he had sunstroke. The second day, his feet swelled. Dehydrated and weakened, he threw away his tent, a moisture-resistant sleeping pad and his change of clothes.

       Then his 13-year-old daughter got sick. She lay on the ground, vomiting, with her face pale, her forehead feverish, her hands on her stomach. Mr. Gao said he thought she might have drunk dirty water. Dragging themselves through the muddy, treacherous rainforests of the Darién Gap, they took a break every 10 minutes. They didn’t get to their destination, a camp site in Panama, until 9 p.m.

       Mr. Gao said he felt he had no choice but to leave China.

       “I think we will only be safe by coming to the U.S.,” he said, adding that he believed that Xi Jinping, China’s leader, could lead the country to famine and possibly war. “It’s a rare opportunity to protect me and my family,” he said.

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       A growing number of Chinese have entered the United States this year through the Darién Gap, exceeded only by Venezuelans, Ecuadoreans and Haitians, according to Panamanian immigration authorities.

       It is a dangerous route once used mostly by Cubans and Haitians, and to a lesser extent people from Nepal, India, Cameroon and Congo. The Chinese are fleeing the world’s second-largest economy.

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       Li Yuan writes the New New World column, which focuses on the intersection of technology, business and politics in China and across Asia. More about Li Yuan

       A version of this article appears in print on Dec. 4, 2023, Section B, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Why More Chinese Are Risking Danger In Southern Border Crossings to U.S. . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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