The Chinese in Ukraine (1900’s–1938): Migration, Institutionalization, Representation
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Abstract
The paper for the first time presents an outline of the history of the Chinese in Ukrainian lands from the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 to Stalin’s repressions of 1938, focusing first on the formation and disruption of the Chinese diaspora’s formation, and second on the erasure of the Chinese from Ukraine’s ethnic fabric. Based on the analysis of existing studies, the paper advances a methodological approach to the proper terminology for describing the Chinese in Ukraine across different historical periods and to the establishment of chronological frameworks for distinct waves of migration. For the first time, evidence of the Chinese presence in Ukraine prior to 1915 has been brought to light and analyzed, including cases of soldiers returning from Manchuria with Chinese servants or adoptees, as well as the subsequent adaptation of these individuals within local society. The recruitment of Chinese coolies by Russian industrialists during World War I is examined, with the argument that they formed the foundation of the Chinese diaspora in Soviet Ukraine. The emergence of institutionalized communities in Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Poltava is analyzed, and the main centers of Chinese settlement are identified. Drawing on archival materials, the paper for the first time reconstructs a profile of a Chinese immigrant in Soviet Ukraine during the 1920s–1930s, highlighting their socio-economic status and interactions with the local population. Based on available archival sources from 1922–24 and 1937–1938 a basic demographic data on Chinese migrants in Ukraine was collected and analyzed which allowed to draw an image of a Chinese migrant in soviet Ukraine, specifically, their age cohort, origin and trade.
How to Cite
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Chinese-Ukrainian relationships; Chinese in Europe; World War I; Chinese diaspora; USSR; Stalin’s repressions
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