Chinese emigrants to conquer Siberia
The problem of the Chinese emigration is becoming more serious for Russia
It seems that migration is supposed to happen at the expense of highly-qualified professionals, not poorly-educated citizens as it happens in the US. Russia is currently experiencing a rather serious situation with the Chinese unemployed. There has already been more of them saved than the entire Russian population. Furthermore, it looks like Russia is forced to deal with this issue, otherwise it will not become a WTO member. No one can guarantee that millions of Chinese unemployed will not go to labor exchange to ask for the unemployment allowance instead. It is an open secret that smart people go to California and silly people go to Siberia.
Historically, the Chinese called Siberia "the land of hunger." The primary development of the region was over many years ago. At present time, one could do it in the Kamchatka region only. China is not likely to take care of Russia's WTO membership or the development of Siberia. If they wanted to develop the Far East, they would invest money in it, not the unemployed. However, they prefer to invest money only in saw-mills.
The last century of the oil history of humanity is drawing to its end. However, they have found oil in the "hungry country." One may not say that Russia is strongly against the Chinese emigration. Yet, it would be more reasonable to follow the example of the American practice - to introduce special tests on history or the Russian language, for instance.
Dozens of Russian traveling agencies have been deprived of their licenses to accept tourist groups from China this year. A lot of other agencies had to pay fines too. However, spokespeople for the Russian Federal Border Guard Service say, the situation is almost out of control at the border with Kazakhstan. The Chinese population there doubles every year. They even publish several newspapers in Chinese, they have paging companies, there are even hotels and hospitals.
In Russia's Far East the Chinese make about eight percent of the six million strong population. It is 480,000 people. The Russian population is gradually becoming the minority. Small vendors introduced a special term there - a "100 percent flaw." The term is used when they buy defective goods at factories and then sell them in Russia. Such an activity is strictly prohibited in China. Furthermore, the Chinese mafia in Russia is growing very fast too. In 1994 the Chinese committed 431 crimes only in Primorye region alone. The figure increased tenfold in 2004.
It is obvious, the problem has already become serious. Former Foreign Affairs Minister Andrey Kozyrev wrote a letter to then Vice Prime Minister Anatoly Chubais: "Esteemed Mr. Chubais. According to your regulations, we have considered the letter from the Primorye region Governor Yevgeny Nazdratenko addressed to Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. We would like to express the following thoughts about the visa-free exchange of tourists between Russia and China. The Foreign Affairs Ministry shares the concern of the law-enforcement bodies. However, it is early to say that the tourist exchange should be based on visas now."
There are Chinese dormitories in Moscow. In the dormitories there are dirty trade halls filled with computers and sacks. One can find even small hospitals there. It goes without say that the criminal environment for such emigrants in Moscow is absolutely natural. It is hard to come across a Chinese at markets or in the street. They usually do not show up in public. They hire Russian children to work for them.
Several generations of Russian people have tried to develop Siberia. The Baikal-Amur Railway, known as BAM, may serve a bright example for it. It has recently celebrated 30 years, but it is still not finished. Attempts to turn Siberia to the penal servitude, or a camp for prisoners of war did not bring any good.
Russian people flee back to Russia from other CIS countries now. The majority of them prefer to settle somewhere closer to the center. The Kamchatka region, for example, is totally ignored. The difficulties of living in the region made it equal with living conditions on the mainland. President Putin often visits Kamchatka now, although he does not hurry to retrieve privileges for citizens of the north.
Russia's first Prime Minister Sergey Vitte used to say that Russia needs to defend itself on the west and to advance in the east. It does not concern only the military policy, it can be said about the demographic and migration policies too.
Chinese businessmen develop and grow, while Russian people still go to second-hand markets
Statistics is a tough thing. It says that over a million people have left the Far East of Russia over the period of ten years. Eight million people are left. The pressure of the 100-million-strong population of the Chinese border territory is obvious and objective like a nature decree. A lot of things have been said and written about the issue of the Chinese expansion in Russia. Generals, governors, common people and serious scientists have said enough. However, there is another important issue about the matter - the geopolitical balance. Russia tries to keep its balance, although there is a serious risk to stumble down and fall. Politicians repeatedly raised the question of settling people in the Russian Far East, the government tried to solve this problem too. However, none of their suggestions suit up-to-date conditions.
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It is obvious that it is absolutely not enough to offer people a vacant space. The traditional "exile to Siberia" that was widely practiced in the tsarist and Soviet Russia does not have any perspective at all. Fortunately, no one discusses an opportunity to repeat the Stalin's great transmigration of people. Who is going to travel in the middle of nowhere, while smart people open accounts in Swiss banks?
There was another great transmigration of people before. In the middle of the 1980s, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union ordered to take a lot of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan republics nationals to the Russian Far East. The grand experiment failed on account of a trivial reason: the party forgot that they do not grow maize over there.
Only a crazy person might wish to travel to the Far East to "earn money" there: the living standard in the region is twice as less in comparison with the rest of Russia. This is the problem. A great transmigration is always inspired with great incentives. Why not going to Israel, for example? The Israeli government maintains every migrant for six months, paying social allowances to elderly people on monthly basis. It is rather easy to raise a loan in order to buy an apartment, electric equipment and so on. More importantly, all of that does not depend on the level of patriotism of every certain repatriate.
Israel's way can not be an example for the Russian Far East, though. The relative well-being of this country is not based on its economy, but on American investments. The United States transfers three billion dollars to this country annually. The goal of that is all about American interests in the Middle East, the idea of the Jewish state does not have anything to do about it, of course.
This brings up a question, if Russia has similar interests in the Far East. They usually put it as follows: there are interests, but there is no money. This can not but raise doubts: there is money, but it is not aimed at the Far East. However, it may seem at first sight that the state tries to do it best to direct the funds there. Yevgeny Anoshin, the secretary of the presidential envoy in the Far East administrative district, said that the state undertook to solve three major problems in the power industry, transportation and communication. "The state does the main thing, while businessmen are supposed to do the rest," the official said. The secretary also added that the presidential envoy in the Far East initiated the presentation of Russia's Far East region at the VII International Economic Forum in St.Petersburg. It goes without saying that a forum like that is a very serious enterprise: UN spokespeople, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Jean Lemierre will be present. As it was said, the Russian region is ready to present 118 investment projections.
This seems incredible. So many investment projections, but there is no money in the Far East anyway. What is that "main thing" that the state does? It deems that it is about the fact that the state allowed Chinese to build big towns on the sites of previous depressive settlements over ten years of the so-called border trade. The government did not allow Russians do the same, though. As a matter of fact, the border trade is not really relevant. It is the strategy that the state determines. Chinese border towns obtained both the official status of "border open town" and numerous privileges. That was a good incentive for business activities. Chinese enterprises that wished to conquer the Russian market were given wider autonomous rights. As a result, Chinese businessmen are ready to invest in the Russian mining industry. The maximum that Russian people gained from the border trade is second hand goods markets.
