.

NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Many Russians fear massive Chinese immigration


The Russian fur trade in Siberia.  Business brought immigration of Russian nationals.

Welcome to Siberia
The Chinese come for business but may not leave!


(Asia Times)  -  Plans of the local authorities of Russia’s Far Eastern Zabaikalsky (Transbaikal) region to allow Chinese firms to rent sizeable plots of unused land entailed nationwide debates. These controversial land lease plans appeared to revive Russia’s fears of the ‘yellow threat,’ perceived Chinese intentions to swallow vast under-populated areas in the Russian Far East and Southern Siberia.

Earlier this month, the authorities of Zabaikalsky region signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China’s Huae Xingbang, a subsidiary of Zoje Resources Investment. The MOU envisages the lease of 115,000 hectares of unused land at 250 rubles ($4.6) per hectare in Nerchinsko-Zavodskoy, Uletovsky, Sretensky and Shilkinsly districts for 49 years.

Chinese investors reportedly pledged to invest 24 billion rubles ($438 million) to develop agricultural businesses relying on Chinese workforce there. The MOU also envisages the subsequent lease of 200,000 hectares if the first project proves a success.

The plan, notably the proposed massive influx of Chinese workers, entailed vocal protests in Russia, including a series of online petitions demanding to annul the would-be-deal.


Russian Fears of a Greater China
Many Russians fear that an over populated China will export "workers"
into Siberia.  By remaking the ethnic mix of the region Siberia becomes
more and more Chinese and less Russian until the border is "adjusted"
to make a greater China official.


Politicians in Moscow also did not remain silent. On June 22, the nationalist Liberal-Democratic Party (LDPR) warned of risks renting land in under-populated Zabaikalsky region to companies from neighboring and overpopulated China. There are no guarantees that the Chinese workers could not be naturalized, then become a majority and seize power in these regions in 20-30 years, said Igor Lebedev, vice-speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, representing LDPR. They could proclaim these lands to be China’s territory eventually, he said.

The Kremlin has refrained from comments on the proposed deal. However, on June 24 the Russian Agriculture Ministry said the deal was not approved by the ministry’s officials.

Facing increasing criticism, the local authorities defended themselves. On June 22, Zabaikalsky region governor Konstantin Ilkovsky said in televised remarks that no binding agreement was concluded with Chinese firms. There were only mutual exchanges of intentions, Ilkovsky said.

The would-be land lease deal apparently served to revive old fears of the “yellow threat” in the Russian Far East. Notably, Viktor Ishayev, head Khabarovsk regional government in 1991-2009, and then presidential envoy in Far Eastern regions, voiced similar concerns more than a decade ago. In early 2000s, he vocally complained that Chinese maps allegedly painted vast areas of the Russian Far East “in Chinese colors”. Ishayev warned of the perceived “yellow threat” and speculated that China was considering the annexation of the Russian territory.

However, in 2003 President Vladimir Putin strongly dismissed Ishayev’s concerns. Subsequently, Ishayev and other local politicians refrained from the “yellow threat” wording and did not mention perceived Chinese plans to take over Russian lands.

More recently, similar fears resurfaced in Moscow. In August 2012, then President Dmitry Medvedev urged to protect the country’s Far Eastern regions from what he described as excessive migration inflows of foreign nationals.

Read More . . . .

Russia pushed China out of the Far East provinces under Czar Alexander II (1855-1881).  Many Russians fear Chinese immigration will return those areas to China.
.
On a personal immigration note I feel the fears of many Russians. Here in the People's Republic of California American citizens are rapidly becoming outnumbered by illegal aliens from Mexico.  It is only a matter of time until a future Hispanic dominate state government of "Alta California" asks to rejoin Mexico.

A convoy of exiles sent to Siberia.
Russian immigration changed the demographics of Siberia.

No comments: