Ethnic Chinese in Mongolia 5678450 203992273 2008-04-07T14:37:36Z Yaan 3505251 lead: still far from perfect, but maybe better than before '''Ethnic Chinese in Mongolia''' can be subdivided into three groups: Mongolian citizens of ethnic Chinese background, temporary residents with Chinese citizenship, and permanent residents with Chinese citizenship. Mongolia's [[1956]] [[census]] counted [[Han Chinese|ethnic Chinese]] as 1.9% of the population; the United States government estimated their proportion to be 2% in 1987, or roughly 40,000 people.<ref name=LOC>Library of Congress 1989</ref> The 2000 census showed 1,323 permanent residents of Chinese descent; this figure does not include naturalised citizens, temporary residents, nor illegal immigrants.<ref>Batbayar: 221</ref> [[Illegal immigrants]] from China were estimated at 10,000 in the 1990s; some use Mongolia as a transit point into [[Russia]].<ref name=Bedeski>Bedeski 1999</ref> == History of settlement == Historically, the [[Gobi Desert|Gobi]] served as a barrier to large-scale Chinese settlement in what was, before 1921, called [[Outer Mongolia]]; the unsuitability of most of the territory for [[agriculture in Mongolia|agriculture]] made settlement less attractive. Some Chinese settlements in Mongolia were founded in 1725, when farmers moved there by decree of the [[Qing Dynasty]] to grow food for soldiers fighting the [[Dzungars]]. They were established in the [[Orkhon River|Orkhon]] and [[Tuul River|Tuul]] river basins, and in 1762, in the [[Khovd (city)|Khovd]] region. Although the Qing officially closed off Mongolia to Chinese immigration<ref>Batbayar 2006: 216</ref> and occasionally evicted Chinese merchants, Chinese trade firms continually penetrated the country, concentrating mainly in [[Ulaanbaatar|Ikh Khüree]], [[Uliastai]], [[Khovd (city)|Khovd]] and [[Kyakhta]]. Their trade practices and the lifestyle of the Mongolian nobility lead to an ever-increasing indebtedness of the banners, nobles, and ordinary people, and Chinese businesses became a target of public discontent as early as [[Chingünjav]]'s uprising in 1756. The spill-over from the [[Muslim Rebellion|Dungan rebellions]] of the 1870s into Mongolia also saw a number of Chinese businesses in Khovd and Uliastai destroyed. Many of the Chinese merchants lived in Mongolia only seasonally or until they had made enough money to return to China. Others took Mongolian wives, at least for the time of being in Mongolia. In 1906, the [[Qing Dynasty]] began to implement policies aimed at a Han-Chinese colonization of Outer Mongolia along the lines of those in Inner Mongolia, but these policies never took full effect because the Dynasty collapsed and Mongolia declared independence in 1911. The total Han Chinese population at that time, mainly consisting of traders and artisans, but also of some colonists, can be estimated to have been at some ten thousand. == Since 1911 == Upon Mongolia's declaration of independence, many Chinese became victims of atrocities{{Fact|date=December 2007}}, particularly in [[Khovd (city)|Khovd]]. However, after 1912, Chinese businesses were able to continue their operations, incl. collection of debts, largely unimpeded. It was only the establishment of communism that meant an end to Chinese trade in Mongolia. Ever-increasing obstacles to commerce were created, and the closure of the border to China for imports in 1928 meant an end for Chinese enterprise in the country. With the [[People's Republic of China|PRC]] development aid projects of the 1950s, another wave of Han Chinese entered Mongolia. However, most of them left the country when relations between Mongolia and China got sour in the mid 1960s. In the early 1980s, Ulan Bator was reported to have a small Chinese community, which published a [[Chinese-language]] [[newspaper]] and which looked to the Chinese embassy there for moral support. However, in 1983, Mongolia systematically began expelling some of the remaining 7,000 Chinese contract workers in Mongolia to China. They were accused of "preferring an idle, parasitic way of life" to honest labor. At the same time, ethnic Chinese who had become naturalized citizens were reported to be unaffected. Because the presence and the status of Chinese residents in Mongolia were politically sensitive subjects, Mongolian sources usually avoided mentioning the Chinese at all.<ref name=LOC/> After the introduction of democracy, another wave of Chinese immigrants has entered the country. Many of the immigrants work in the construction sector, others run small or medium enterprises. Negative sentiments against Chinese immigrants remain; China is seen as a potential threat to Mongolia's security and cultural identity.<ref>''Asian Economic News'' 2007-02-23</ref> ==See also== *[[Overseas Chinese]] *[[Demographics of Mongolia]] ==References== ===Notes=== {{loc}} {{reflist}} ===Sources=== * {{cite conference|title=Foreign migration issues in Mongolia|last=Batbayar|first=Tsedendamba|editors=Akaha, Tsuneo (ed.)|booktitle=Crossing National Borders: Human Migration Issues in Northeast Asia|publisher=United Nations University Press|id=ISBN 9280811177|date=2006|pages=215-235}} * {{cite journal|last=Bedeski|first=Robert|title=The Chinese Diaspora, Mongolia and the Sino-Russian Frontier|date=November 1999|journal=JPRI Working Paper|number=62|url=http://www.jpri.org/publications/workingpapers/wp62.html|accessdate=2007-02-23}} * {{cite news|url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0WDP/is_2005_April_11/ai_n13601320|title=Anti-Chinese sentiment swelling in Mongolia|date=2005-04-11|accessdate=2007-02-23|publisher=Asian Economic News}} * {{cite paper|publisher=United States Library of Congress|date=June 1989|accessdate=2007-02-28|title=Country Studies: Mongolia|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/mntoc.html}} See section "Ethnic and Linguistic Groups: Chinese, Russians, and Others. {{Overseas Chinese2}} [[Category:Ethnic groups in Mongolia|Chinese]] [[Category:Overseas Chinese groups]] [[ms:Orang Cina di Mongolia]]