Chinese Becoming Most Numerous Ethnic Group in Many Parts of Russian Far East, Nemets Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Sept. 6 – There are now more than 2.5 million ethnic Chinese living in the Russian Far East; and because the indigenous and largely Russian population there is so small, the Chinese are becoming the most numerous and active nation in many parts of the Russian Far East, according to Aleksandr Nemets.

            Given that Moscow has stopped publishing data on this issue, it is difficult to be certain exactly how many Chinese there are within the borders of the Russian Federation and specifically within the borders of particular regions, the US-based Russian analyst says (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=64F9B62229673).

            But a comprehensive study in 2016 by Japanese scholar Hideaki Sakamoto (nosmi.ru/20161007/237989535.html) declared that “Chinese are penetrating the Far East of the Russian Federation where few Russians live and Russian researchers suggest that in the near future in that region, the Chinese will become the most numerous nationality.”

            At that time, the Chinese controlled via long-term rent between 300,000 and 400,000 square kilometers in the region; and there is little reason to think that either the number of Chinese resident in the Russian Far East or the amount of land they control have declined in size since then. Rather, the reverse.

            In all the federal subjects of the Russian Federation in the Far East, only Sakhalin is protected from the influx of Chinese; and only Magadan, Chukotka and Kamchatka lag beyond others largely because of the difficulties the Chinese – and everyone else as well – has in reaching those locations.