IMAGE SOURCE:  SodaHead

BY REGINA WANG

China has benefited from globalization but for the first time ever has announced it is facing a problem associated with it: illegal immigration. China announced it will investigate foreigners who overstay their welcome. Here’s a report from the state-owned newspaper, Shanghai Daily ...

“... the crackdown will include improving visa policy, strengthening border control, repatriating illegal aliens, and setting up repatriation locations in regions that have large numbers of such foreigners.”

Authorities investigated more than 20,000 incidents of illegal immigration last year.  China Daily reports this is...

“double the number of 1995 … Almost 600,000 foreigners lived in China for more than six months in 2011...”

While none of the state media reveal where those foreigners came from, many hailed from from Africa, Aljazeera reports...

“Many overstayed their business visas. Many simply switched passports back in Africa and returned under new names. It’s often turned into difficult relationships with their new neighbors.”

Besides Africa, a large number of illegal foreigners arrived from North Korea and Southeast Asia. A professor told the L.A. Times ...

"Labor costs are increasing in China. This is hard on employers who don't necessarily need sophisticated laborers. So a lot of foreigners are motivated to come here.… It's like how many Chinese have gone to the U.S. to seek better lives."

The country has a variety of ways of dealing with illegals. The Guardian reports...

“Those seized are detained for 21 days if they cannot pay the fine; longer if they cannot afford a plane fare. Sometimes officers will let overstayers slip away for a bribe of 2,000-10,000 yuan, they say.

The Guardian reports many risk their lives to escape.  In 2009, a Nigerian man died from jumping out of a window during an immigration raid in Guangzhou. His death led more than 100 Africans to the streets to protest.