open access

https://hdl.handle.net/2115/50913

Border Demarcation, Cross-Border Migration, and Interethnic Hostility in the Russian Far East

英語

2012

Slavic Research Center, Hokkaido University

Eurasia Border Review

3(2)

1-20

The article examines the effects of border dispute resolution and cross-border migration in Primorskii Krai, Russian Federation in the early 2000s on ethnic stereotypes of the Chinese, on Russia-China relations, and on policy preferences toward Chinese migration among the Russian border province population. This is the first statistical comparison of two original opinion surveys designed by the author and carried out by the Institute for History, Anthropology, and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East in 2000 (N=1,010) and 2005 (N=650). Focusing on 387 respondents interviewed in both years, it examines whether and how the same individuals changed their views on Chinese migration after a "treatment" period bookended by the departure of Primorskii's anti-demarcation treaty governor in 2001 and the Russian State Duma's ratification of the Russia-China border treaty in 2005. All statistically significant attitude changes were toward a more positive perception of migration and Russia-China relations. This positive shift was more pronounced among respondents in border counties and among older respondents who had been longer exposed to anti-Chinese official discourses since the Sino-Soviet split in the early 1960s - regardless of per-capita scale of Chinese and Korean migration. In addition, local Russians who visited China more often between 2000 and 2005, but not before 2000, also viewed Chinese migration more positively. These findings provide evidence that formal settlement of border disputes significantly improves immigration attitudes in neighboring states.

紀要論文

Version of Record

1884-9466

AA12497353