Beijing Allows Chinese Living In Regions Bordering Russia To Have Three Children – OpEd

By

The Chinese government’s decision to rescind its one-child policy and allow Chinese parents to have two children has attracted attention around the world; its concurrent decision reported this weekend to allow Chinese living in regions bordering Russia to have three children is likely to attract even more attention in that country.

Today, South China Insight, a Russian-language portal featuring news from China, reported that Beijing has decided to allow couples living in regions along the Russian border to have three children and not just two as is the case with some exceptions in the rest of the People’s Republic (south-insight.com/node/218173).

If that leads to a population boom in these border areas either because Chinese already there decide to have three children or other Chinese move in to take advantage of this exception, some in Russia are likely to view this as yet another demographic threat from China, whose population density in border areas is already far higher than in the Russian Federation.

Obviously, this is a long-term challenge given that few of those born under this new Beijing policy would come of age before 2040; but even that will be enough to raise questions in Russian minds about China’s intentions toward Siberia and the Russian Far East and about Vladimir Putin’s tilt away from Europe and toward China.

Paul Goble

Paul Goble is a longtime specialist on ethnic and religious questions in Eurasia. Most recently, he was director of research and publications at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy. Earlier, he served as vice dean for the social sciences and humanities at Audentes University in Tallinn and a senior research associate at the EuroCollege of the University of Tartu in Estonia. He has served in various capacities in the U.S. State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency and the International Broadcasting Bureau as well as at the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Mr. Goble maintains the Window on Eurasia blog and can be contacted directly at [email protected] .

One thought on “Beijing Allows Chinese Living In Regions Bordering Russia To Have Three Children – OpEd

  • April 26, 2016 at 6:08 pm
    Permalink

    What would be a great way to defuse suspicion and promote more investments into Russia?

    Cross border marriages. Russian men are legend where it comes to drinking and wife beating. In comparison, the hardworking and family loving Chinese men make much better providers for family. Marriage would solve the immigration bottleneck.

    And Eurasian children are so pretty!! In 15, 20 years, these multilingual, tall and strong 2nd generation, with network and guanxi on both sides of the border, can dominate the entertainment industry and beyond in China. In the mean time, these mixed-race families can take advantage of the land development policies in Siberia and Russian Far East, and bring in well needed capital and work force.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *