HONG KONG — “How do you get your money out of China?” a wealthy friend asked me recently. I told him that I visit Hong Kong often, and on each trip I take 20,000 yuan, or about $3,100, the legal maximum, which I then exchange for Hong Kong dollars and leave in a local bank account. My friend, who has a much bigger financial portfolio than me, appeared disappointed. At $3,100 a trip, my method isn’t a realistic way for him to get his riches out.

In the last year, as the stock markets have tumbled and the renminbi has slowly lost value, many Chinese people like my friend have been seeking ways to move money abroad. The government has responded by adopting new measures to staunch the outflow of money, but people are finding ways around the restrictions. Individuals and companies have moved about $1 trillion out of the country in the last year and a half.

The capital flight is a sign of how the Chinese have become more insecure about their future. Economic insecurity adds to the standing list of worries about daily life that includes pollution and tainted food and water. The recent discovery that millions of compromised vaccines were given to children has further incensed the public.

Then there are the things the Chinese only whisper about: the stifling of public debate, the undermining of the rule of law, the flouting of due process.