139. Immigration Issues and the Construction of New Tuvalu

Modern immigration is different from the past. In ancient times, immigration was similar to the era of the colonization of the Americas, where people were sent to reclaim wasteland and settle down. Modern immigration, however, is driven by the pursuit of superior living conditions or the fulfillment of specific needs.

Small nations like Tuvalu previously lacked the conditions to attract immigrants; in fact, their own citizens were eager to emigrate to other countries to make a living. If this world had remained as it was in my previous life, all Tuvaluans would have emigrated to New Zealand within a few years, leaving the country a shell of its former self.

However, ever since Li Daniu crossed over, everything has changed. Beyond the purchase of the Auckland Islands and the development of New Tuvalu, the welfare Li Daniu provided to his citizens was incredibly attractive.

Tuvalu lacked water resources and vegetables. Because there was no domestic industry, most daily necessities had to be imported—even a towel had to be brought in from abroad. Although Tuvalu did not impose high tariffs, shipping costs alone caused prices to soar several times over. In a country with a per capita annual GDP of only a little over a thousand US dollars, how could one possibly maintain a comfortable standard of living?

After ascending to the throne, Li Daniu issued a decree prohibiting immigration to prevent the loss of his nation's limited population. While Tuvalu is a monarchy and Li Daniu’s word is law, he could not allow his people to sit on an island and starve or die of thirst. Therefore, after issuing this decree, he used the wealth earned from a priceless necklace he brought back from his first movie world to subsidize prices, bringing the cost of imported goods back to normal levels. Do not underestimate this; it effectively reduced the domestic cost of living to one-third of its original level, much to the delight of the populace.

Yet, if this were the only measure, Tuvalu’s standard of living would still remain at the bottom of the world, because even if prices were normal, they still lacked the means to earn money. Without industry, agriculture was underdeveloped, and fishing revenues remained stagnant because they could not sell their catch domestically and had to rely on foreign buyers.

Consequently, Li Daniu impulsively introduced a monthly living allowance of $3,000 per person. To receive $3,000 a month for doing absolutely nothing is an inconceivable feat, even for a country like France, which boasts the best social welfare in the world. Although France’s annual welfare expenditure accounts for more than 30% of its GDP, these benefits are not free—they come with prerequisites, such as subsidies for cultivating a certain amount of land or for having more children. It is no exaggeration to say that with this single decree, Tuvalu instantly became the nation with the best welfare system in the world. $3,000 a month is enough to provide a very high standard of living for an individual in almost any country.

When the first month’s allowance was distributed to every citizen, the global media scrambled to report on it. This caused Tuvalu’s airport to be flooded with flights for a period. People around the world were stunned to discover such a country existed. For many living in poverty elsewhere, immigrating to Tuvalu became the ultimate dream.

However, at the time, Li Daniu rejected all immigration requests. This was not only because Tuvalu lacked the capacity to receive them, but also because he simply did not have that much money. If he opened the borders, every 10,000 immigrants would cost him $30 million a month; 100,000 people would mean an expenditure of $300 million monthly. Compared to a global population of over seven billion, 100,000 is a negligible figure; even if Li Daniu were a printing press, he could not keep up with such numbers. With immigration closed, the influx stopped, and Tuvalu returned to its previous state.

Yet, after his recent social media post, Li Daniu decided to open up immigration. The challenge, however, was how to implement it. His business ventures in the United States were on the right track. The *Harry Potter* books had begun to bare their fangs; once global sales commenced, they generated millions of dollars in royalties for Li Daniu every day. Of course, this would not last forever, and he had taxes to pay, but there were seven books in the series, not just one.

As for the second season of *The Voice of America*, Li Daniu no longer needed to spend much effort on it. With the experience from the first season, professionals like Quinn were far more capable of producing the show than Li Daniu, who was merely a dabbler. Similarly, the contestants signed by TC Entertainment were being packaged and promoted by experts tailored to their individual styles. All Li Daniu had to do was provide a couple of songs as lead singles every so often; he wasn't the only person in the world who could write music. Both the books and TC Entertainment were effectively cash cows, providing Li Daniu with substantial monthly income. More importantly, the first step had been taken; with a solid foundation, he could look forward to rapid development.

Li Daniu returned to Tuvalu on his private jet. Truth be told, he was a rather neglectful king—what kind of monarch spends every day abroad? On the surface, Tuvalu did not look much different, but the spirit and demeanor of the Tuvaluan people had completely transformed. Fearing another massive, crowd-filled welcome, Li Daniu had specifically instructed Burns to keep his arrival a secret.

Upon landing, he saw Burns standing by the runway with a car waiting behind him. "It’s only about a kilometer from the airport to the palace; is a car really necessary?"

Hearing Li Daniu’s question, Burns looked quite innocent. "Your Majesty, didn't you say you wanted to keep this confidential? I was afraid you would be seen on your way from the airport to the palace."

Good grief, what kind of talk was that? How could a proper King of Tuvalu be afraid of being seen by his own people? Still, thinking of the intense enthusiasm the Tuvaluan people displayed whenever they saw him, he could not blame Burns, because he was, in fact, afraid.

Back at the palace, Li Daniu obtained the data Burns had collected on immigration requirements from various countries, something he had arranged before leaving the United States. "Have you come up with a plan?"

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty. Our government is severely understaffed. We are already struggling just to coordinate the construction of New Tuvalu. That German fellow has already complained several times that he doesn't have enough men."

Li Daniu frowned and asked, "Didn't I tell you to let that German fellow recruit whoever he wants under the name of the New Tuvalu Construction Company?" Although Li Daniu kept calling him "the German fellow," his importance was self-evident. No matter how high the quality of the Chinese construction teams had been in previous overseas projects, he still needed someone to supervise the work.

Burns answered with some embarrassment, "It’s not that we won't let him recruit; it’s that the people he wants to hire aren't willing to come, even if the salary is 50% above market rate."

"Why?" After Li Daniu asked this reflexively, he regretted it, for he already knew the answer.

Sure enough, Burns replied, "Because the living conditions in the new Tuvalu are too poor. There is no internet, and the power is unstable. Because of the poor transportation, we can't even guarantee sufficient building materials. You could say the difficulties are mounting..."

The Auckland Islands previously had only a rudimentary airfield, so primitive that Li Daniu’s private jet could not take off or land smoothly, forcing them to use helicopters or small jets. The pier was even simpler; although there was a bay, large cargo ships could not dock, and small ones had very limited capacity. As for electricity, it was highly unstable; the new Auckland Islands had no electrical infrastructure, only low-power diesel generators. Although Burns had begun installing solar and wind power equipment, such systems could not be set up in a day or two. Consequently, the construction work on the new Auckland Islands was struggling to make any headway.