Russia in Asia

Chinese Migration in the Maritime Territory: Economic, Political, and Security Implications for the Russian Far East

The demise of the Soviet Union and the improvement of relations between Moscow and Beijing in the late 1980s lifted political, economic and cultural isolation of the Russian Far East from China. While creating economic incentives for cooperation, the cross-border flow of people, goods, and services has given rise to security concerns and socioeconomic grievances among political elites and the public in the Russian Far East. In Primorskii krai (Maritime Territory)—located at the juncture of Russia, China, and Korea—these concerns are accompanied by lack of reliable data and systematic analysis of the scale and socioeconomic consequences of Chinese migration, suggesting that informed public debate on these issues is unlikely and policy miscalculations are probable.

This web site provides data on Chinese migration in the Maritime Territory and the analysis of economic, political and security implications of cross-border exchanges between Russia and China. This site emerged as part of the project on cross-border migration and interethnic security in the Russian Far East that was made possible by a grant of the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research (Title VIII). The project received additional financial support from the

• Appalachian State University,
• the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies of the Woodrow Wilson Center International Center for Scholars,
• the National Bureau of Asian Research (as part of the program on security implications of political and economic developments in the Russian Far East funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York).

This site also incorporates the Primorskii 2000 opinion survey and Primorskii 1993-2000 event data assembled as part of the project on developing methods for preventive monitoring of interethnic hostility. This research was made possible by major grants of The United States Institute of Peace and the Pacific Basin Research Center based at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and sponsored by the Soka University of America. Partial support was provided by San Diego State University and the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX).

Principal Investigator:

Mikhail A. Alexseev, Assistant Professor of Political Science, San Diego State University
E-mail: alexseev@mail.sdsu.edu

Research Assistants:

• Jacek Wasilewski, Appalachian State University,jw34602@am.appstate.edu
• David Haimsky, San Diego State University, dhaimsky@hotmail.com

Content last updated March 15, 2002