In an interview last month, former US president Donald Trump said Chinese nationals arriving in the United States from its southern border were “probably building an army”, echoing language common among the US right wing. Right-wing commentators have suggested that the increase in Chinese arrivals and asylum seekers is a planned infiltration of “military-aged men” or spies.

This is fearmongering. Espionage depends on access, which Chinese graduates and tech workers have but asylum seekers do not. Furthermore, migrants around the world tend to be younger men, especially those taking a physically gruelling route such as the risky Darién Gap, which stretches across Colombia and Panama.

Project Syndicate