SO DESPERATE HE LEFT HIS CHILDREN BEHIND, BUT DOCUMENTING EVERY SINGLE STEP AS HE TRAVELED BY PLANE, BOAT, BUS, MOTORCYCLE AND FOOT TO GET TO LAST. HOW DID HE DO IT? CAME ILLEGALLY THROUGH THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF U.S. AND MEXICO? HE WAS PUSHED TO THE BRINK AS XI JINPING TIGHTENS HIS GRIP ON ZERO COVID. THE RATE OF CHINESE NATIONALS SEEKING ASYLUM ELSEWHERE INCREASING AS A CLIP SINCE XI CAME TO POWER. SELINA WANG HAS THE STORY YOU'LL SEE ONLY OUTFRONT. >> Reporter: THIS WALL SEPARATES THIS MAN FROM HIS AMERICAN DREAM. HE'S PREPARED TO RISK EVERYTHING TO CLIMB OVER, ILLEGALLY CROSSING INTO THE U.S. FROM MEXICO. BUT UNLIKE MOST OF THE THOUSANDS OF ILLEGAL CROSSINGS A DAY ON THE SOUTHERN BORDER, HE'S NOT FLEEING POVERTY OR VIOLENCE SOUTH OF THE WALL. HIS JOURNEY STARTED ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD. WE'VE BEEN FOLLOWING HIM FOR MONTHS DURING HIS PERILOUS ESCAPE OUT OF CHINA BY PLANE, BOAT, BUS, MOTORCYCLE, AND ON FOOT. HE RAN A BUBBLE TEA SHOP BACK IN CHINA. WHEN COVID HIT, BUSINESS TANKED FROM CONSTANT LOCKDOWNS. HE LEFT HIS SON AND DAUGHTER BEHIND WITH HIS PARENTS, HOPING TO BRING THEM TO AMERICA ONE DAY. CHINA'S UNRELENTING ZERO COVID POLICY STIFLING NATIONALISTIC EDUCATION TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS PUSHED WONG OVER THE EDGE. >> Reporter: HE'S THE STRONG MAN ATOP A SURVEILLANCE STATE, ONE THAT DURING THE PANDEMIC CAN CONTROL AND TRACK THE MOVEMENTS OF VIRTUALLY ALL 1.4 BILLION PEOPLE. SINCE THE START OF THE PANDEMIC, CHINA HAS KEPT ITS BORDERS SEALED, A POLICY THE GOVERNMENT SAYS IS NEEDED TO FIGHT COVID-19. AND EARLIER THIS YEAR, FOR BADE ITS CITIZENS FROM GOING OVERSEAS FOR NONESSENTIAL REASONS. WITH CHINA TURNING INCREASINGLY INWARD, WONG BECAME DESPERATE TO GET OUT, AND HE WAS SET ON ONE DESTINATION -- AMERICA. >> Reporter: THROUGH ONLINE CHAT GROUPS, HE DISCOVERED A NETWORK OF PEOPLE IN CHINA PLANNING TO ILLEGALLY EMIGRATE TO AMERICA THROUGH ECUADOR. HE APPLIED FOR A LANGUAGE SCHOOL IN ECUADOR AND MADE IT OUT OF CHINA IN APRIL WITH THE SCHOOL'S ADMISSION LETTER AS PROOF. HE STARTED DOCUMENTING HIS WHOLE JOURNEY. FROM ECUADOR, HE RODE BUSES OVER 1,000 MILES TO COLOMBIA, THEN TOOK A BOAT TO PANAMA, SHARING THE RIDE WITH OTHER DESPERATE BUT HOPEFUL MIGRANTS. ON THE OTHER SIDE, A FIVE-DAY HIKE THROUGH PANAMA'S RAIN FOREST, AN ENDLESS WALK THROUGH RIVERS AND MOUNTAINS, A JOURNEY THAT WONG SAID ALMOST BROKE HIM FROM EXHAUSTION. A BRIEF RESPITE AT A REFUGEE CAMP, THEN SEVEN DAYS OF BUSES FROM PANAMA TO COSTA RICA, NICARAGUA, HONDURAS, THEN GUATEMALA. FROM THERE, A BOAT TO MEXICO'S BORDER, WHERE POLICE DETAINED HIM FOR FIVE DAYS. WHEN HE WAS RELEASED, HE PAID AN ILLEGAL SMUGGLER THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS TO GET TO MEXICO CITY. DOZENS OF PEOPLE SQUEEZED INTO THE BACK OF A TRUCK, THEN PACKED INTO A VAN, MORE THAN 104 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT INSIDE. IN MEXICO CITY, WONG RODE A MOTORCYCLE 1,600 MILES TO THE U.S. BORDER, WHERE WE MET UP WITH HIM, DETERMINED TO MAKE IT TO THE OTHER SIDE. ACCORDING TO THE U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY, THE NUMBER OF CHINESE NATIONALS SEEKING ASYLUM HAS BEEN STEADILY INCREASING UNTIL IT REACHED A RECORD IN 2021. AND MOST OF THEM, 70%, WERE TRYING TO GET TO AMERICA. ON CHINA'S INTERNET, SEARCHES FOR EMIMMIGRATION STARTED SKYROCKETING IN MARCH HAS MANY STRUGGLED TO GET BASIC NECESSITIES AND FOOD DURING LOCKDOWNS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. DISCUSSION FORUMS WITH DETAILED TIPS ON HOW TO LEAVE CHINA HAVE GONE VIRAL ON SOCIAL MEDIA. IMMIGRATION LAWYERS SAY INQUIRIES FROM CHINESE WANTING TO LEAVE HAVE SURGED SINCE THE PANDEMIC. BUT FOR OTHERS LIKE WONG, HE SAYS THEIR ONLY PATH INTO AMERICA IS THE ILLEGAL WAY. HE ULTIMATELY MADE IT TO THE OTHER SIDE, WALKED HOURS IN THE AMERICAN DESERT OVER MOUNTAINS. HIS SNEAKERS FELL APART. MORE THAN A MONTH LATER, WE MET WONG IN LOS ANGELES. IN THIS NEW WORLD, HE'S FOUND THE FAMILIAR. IN THE BEST CASE, IT WILL BE YEARS BEFORE HE SEES HIS FAMILY AGAIN. HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR CHILDREN? HAVE YOU TOLD YOUR FAMILY WHERE YOU ARE? >> Reporter: THAT FUTURE IS UNCERTAIN CERTAIN, BUT WITH CHINA IN HIS PAST, HE HAS HOPE OF LIVING OUT HIS AMERICAN DREAM. >> ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE REPORT, SELINA. I KNOW AS THIS REPORT WAS AIRING, MUCH OF IT WAS BLACKED OUT IN CHINA, AND THEY PUT UP CLAIMING NO SIGNAL. BUT THE MAJORITY OF THAT REPORT DID NOT AIR WHERE YOU ARE DUE TO CENSORS. HOW IS THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT REACTING TO CASES LIKE WANG'S? >> YEAH, ERIN. IN OUR CONVERSATION RIGHT NOW, IT IS STILL BEING CENSORED AND BLACKED OUT. IT SAYS THERE'S NO SIGNAL HERE. WE HAD REACHED OUT EARLIER TO THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT TO COMMENT ON OUR STORY, AND BEIJING DEFENDED THE COUNTRY'S COVID POLICIES AND CALLED CHINA A LAND FULL OF VITALITY AND HOPE. YOU KNOW, STORIES LIKE WANG'S, THEY ARE A SMEAR ON BEIJING A NARRATIVE THAT CHINA IS GETTING STRONGER AND MORE PROSPEROUS WHILE AMERICA IS IN DECLINE. WANG'S JOURNEY MAY BE RARE AND EXTREME, BUT WE HAVE SPOKEN TO OTHERS THAT ARE TAKING A SIMILAR PATH, INCLUDING ONE MAN WHO ILLEGALLY ESCAPED CHINA BY WALKING ACROSS THE BORDER INTO VIETNAM. FROM THERE HE FLEW INTO ECUADOR AND IS NOW TAKING THAT SAME PATH AS WANG DID INTO THE U.S. THROUGH THE U.S./MEXICO BORDER. OF COURSE THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE IN CHINA WHO SUPPORT THE ZERO COVID POLICIES HERE, ERIN, BUT MORE AND MORE ARE FEELING THE SENSE OF HOPELESSNESS ABOUT THEIR FUTURE, A COUNTRY HERE WHERE THEY SEE THEIR FREEDOMS AND OPPORTUNITIES DISAPPEARING. ERIN. >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH
