The Isolation of Chinese Migrants in Eastern Europe (东欧华人移民的隔离)

Abstract

Eastern Europe has witnessed an influx of Chinese newcomers. Yet this region is often-overlooked by scholars of overseas Chinese. Similarly, the Chinese remain largely absent from European migration studies. In the work that has been done, the Chinese are often depicted as a community that keeps to itself. I examine this claim by highlighting the results of surveys conducted in Bulgaria, Croatia, and Hungary. These surveys, the largest ever done in each country, focus on three broad explanations for why the Chinese seem to be isolated, which I summarize as “need not, want not, and cannot.” The results identify significant differences between the three communities — but not because of want. Instead, the community in Hungary is the least isolated because it needs to interact with the locals; conversely, the community in Bulgaria is the most isolated because of the barriers its members face in the host country. This essay calls attention to the Chinese in European migration studies and to the region of Eastern Europe among overseas Chinese scholars.近年来，东欧已然成为华人移民的新大陆，此区域却普遍被海外华人学者所忽略；而华人移民议题亦不是欧洲移民研究的重心，现有的研究更常将华人描绘成一个与世隔绝的社群。在此研究中，笔者将透过分析保加利亚、克罗地亚以及匈牙利三国史上最大规模的调查资料来检视此一主张。这些调查为华人移民社群的孤立现象提供了三种解释：不需要、不想要、以及无法融入当地社群。分析结果显示，虽然三个华人社群的隔离因素有显著差异，但「不想要」与华人社群孤立现象并无因果关系。三国之中，以匈牙利的华人社群因需要和当地人互动因而孤立程度最低；保加利亚的华人社群则由于重重障碍导致孤立程度最高。本文建议欧洲移民研究应多关注华人移民议题，海外华人学者亦应多聚焦于东欧区域的移民问题。This article is in English.