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Interesting article... Now I'm wondering what's up with the Wenzhou city and Henan province specifically. Might be time for a rabbit hole.
I suppose so, but East Asians really are an extreme minority here, which is why I call it exceptional.
I do agree about Romania being cheap to live in, but the wages here are rather horrid, since the currency is worth 4-5 times less than the USD/Euro (then again, apparently 1 Euro is about 8 Chinese Yuan...). The country is actually facing an emigration crisis, because all of the young people are leaving to work in countries with more well-paying markets.
Still, our immigration policies are rather lax (a stamped affidavit from a citizen and spending a few years in the country can make you a permanent resident), and there's not much competition for jobs, plus what you said about EU entry. You're probably right. If his home situation truly was that bad, then I can imagine how my noble land of wife beaters, magicians and thieves would be better (most human trafficked country in the EU, and almost in the whole of Europe, by the way! The government refuses to actually crack down on it because it makes them money).