A. LARIN, Candidate of Historical Sciences

"The Chinese in Russia" is one of the most popular international topics of interest not only to specialists, but also to a wide range of the Russian population. Even from the pop stage, you can hear: "Chinese is far away, don't be cruel to me..." (by "far" is meant not a geographical distance, but a temporary one). At the turn of the century, China, according to the International Labor Organization, became the world's largest supplier of migrants, and its share in the international migration movement tends to increase ¹, and this fact attracts the attention of the public in a number of countries.

Ideas about Chinese emigration are often mythologized. Their bearers often succumb to the hypnosis of figures, real or fictional, forgetting that in reality there are state borders in the way of the emigration flow, and the flow itself is controlled and regulated by the governments of the countries of departure and entry (although not always one hundred percent). Meanwhile, without taking this fact into account, it is impossible to correctly assess the problem of Chinese emigration.

This article is an attempt to review the policy of the Chinese government in the field of emigration - as far as we know, the first in our literature.

CHINA AS A SOURCE OF MIGRATION FLOWS

According to estimates in Chinese literature, since the late 1970s, i.e. during the period of reform and opening-up, the number of emigrants (so - called "new emigrants" or "new immigrants" - "Xin Yimin"), including migrants from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, has been approximately 4 million. ².

More than half of this flow - according to Chinese data, 2.2-2.5 million people-went to economically developed countries, where Chinese diasporas began to grow especially rapidly. Taking into account natural growth, the increase was 3 million people. Senior immigration officials in Beijing note that the number of expatriates in developed countries is almost doubling every ten years3. According to the OECD, in 1995-2004, the volume of emigration to the 30 most advanced member countries of the organization exceeded 2 million people.

Emigration flows to the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, and in recent years to the EU4 have been particularly significant. In 2004 alone, 256.2 thousand new immigrants from China appeared in 20 OECD countries, including 90.3 thousand in Japan, 51.2 thousand in the USA, 36.4 thousand in Canada, 18.5 thousand in the UK, and 13.6 thousand in Australia. Chinese specialists, businessmen and workers have also appeared in Afghanistan, South Africa, Mauritius, Israel, Dubai and other countries where they did not exist before. The Chinese diaspora has spread to 150 countries.

According to Taiwanese scientists, the number of the Chinese diaspora has increased by 2.4% annually in the last two decades of the 20th century.⁵

Such an impressive increase in the emigration flow from China is due to a combination of a number of fundamental reasons, and it should be considered as a special case of the overall increase in international migration associated with the globalization of the world economy. On the part of China, a powerful incentive here is the continuing agricultural overpopulation, which throws an excess of labor into the cities, and the release of labor in the cities themselves, associated with the structural adjustment of the economy. At the same time, the most serious efforts of the Government to create new jobs based on a market economy cannot solve the problems of unemployment and poverty in a short time. The relatively low standard of living encourages emigration to prosperous countries and people with knowledge work. And the policy of openness allows this huge labor potential to gradually move abroad.

At the same time, developed countries are experiencing a shortage of workers in both physical and certain types of knowledge work and are willing to accept a certain number of immigrants of the necessary specialties from developing countries, including China, adjusting their immigration policies accordingly.

It is not the passive attitude of some foreign Chinese communities that favors immigration from China. Significant in this sense is the community of natives of Changle (prov. Fujian) in the United States. Members of the fraternity have created a system of mutual assistance that helps new arrivals receive benefits, settle down, find a job and keep in touch with the motherland. As a result, over the past 20 years, 200 thousand people have emigrated to the United States from Changle with its population of 680 thousand people. ⁶

Mass emigration from China in its current form, of course,

generally beneficial to the state: it is turning into an important means of modernizing the country, as it results in an influx of investment and modern technologies from new emigrants, and, just as importantly, an opportunity to organize a "brain circulation", which partially manages to turn their serious drain. We are not talking about the amounts that come to the country as family aid and charitable donations. It is also significant that emigration can reduce tensions in the domestic labor market to a certain extent. The costs are just a " brain drain "in its irrevocable part, but this minus is more than covered by the pros, and the Chinese government puts up with it, taking all possible measures to make the damage deducted by this" minus " from the country's renewal potential as small as possible.

These factors mainly determine the PRC's approach to emigration processes. It can distinguish the following areas: organization and financing of young people's departure to study ("state-owned" students) with the obligation to return to their homeland; encouragement of young people's departure to study at their own expense ("self-employed" students) in combination with work on returning them to China after their studies, not necessarily immediately; consent to the departure of qualified specialists. specialists while maintaining contacts and, as far as possible, cooperation with them. We have already discussed these aspects of Beijing's policy earlier (see Asia and Africa Today. 2007, N 10). Below we will analyze the rest of its components, namely::

- gradual liberalization of exit rules;

- fight against illegal emigration;

- organization of labor export under contracts.

EXIT POLICY

Since the establishment of the PRC, exit and entry to the country have been tightly controlled, and the number of people traveling abroad has been negligible. As China has moved towards a strategy of reform and openness, travel bans have gradually eased and the number of people leaving has increased. The" Law of the People's Republic of China on the Control of the Exit and Entry of Citizens " of November 22, 1985 established the basic rights of citizens:

"Article 2. Chinese citizens may leave or enter the country with a valid passport or other valid document issued by the relevant institution. They are not required to apply for a visa.

Article 5. Chinese citizens who wish to leave the country for private purposes must submit an application to the public security authorities of the city or county where their residence is registered. A positive answer must be given, except for the cases provided for in Article 8 of this Law." (Article 8 refers to: persons accused or suspected of criminal acts; persons serving sentences; persons whose departure, in the opinion of the competent departments of the State Council, may cause damage to State security, etc. ⁷)

In 2002, due to China's accession to the WTO, the procedure for issuing passports was simplified, in particular, the requirement to have an invitation from abroad was abolished.⁸

On January 1, 2007, the first "Passport Law" in the history of the People's Republic of China came into force, fixing a new, somewhat simplified registration of the exit procedure. Now the passport must be issued within 15 days from the date of application, instead of the previous 30 (with the exception of remote areas of the country). The passport is valid for 5 years for people under the age of 16 and 10 years for those over 16. In contrast to the previous rules, the new law does not allow the renewal of the passport ⁹.

Apparently, the liberalization of the rules for issuing passports was not limited to the above-mentioned public exemptions and was quite profound. The following figures show its results. In the early 1980s, public security agencies authorized an average of more than 100,000 trips abroad. Currently, more than 20 million Chinese citizens hold ¹⁰ passports. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, 34,520,000 visits were made to the People's Republic of China in 200611.

Western human rights activists point out the inconsistency and incompleteness of the ongoing reform, noting that the Chinese government's policy is still restrictive and that the right to enter and exit is a fundamental human right. ¹² In our opinion, the gradual, cautious pace of transformation here has quite serious reasons. This is also due to the general style of reforms in the PRC ("wading, feeling the bottom"), and, perhaps, the reluctance to allow a sharp, excessive pressure on the consular services of countries that are attractive for immigration, as well as on their border services, given the presence of illegal migration. Migration pressure could damage the image of China: give foreign mass consciousness food for skepticism about the success of the PRC in implementing its social slogans, and to revive the talk about the" Chinese threat " in its demographic version.

"NONVIOLENT TAKEOVER OF THE REGION"

On the other hand, the analysis of statistical data, as well as domestic socio-economic factors that create an emigration pressure in the country, encourage some experts, on the contrary, to be wary of the prospect of an increase in migration flows from China. (Not to mention that some Asian countries "believe that illegal emigration from China is being carried out in accordance with a long-term plan for "nonviolent absorption" of the region."¹³) So, one observer suggests that China "can take a dominant position in the global migration system and, ultimately, change the nature of the host country."-

¹⁴. However, the author of these words himself puts forward counter-arguments: the surge in emigration can be understood as a temporary outburst, following long years of strict control over leaving the country; students and specialists who have studied abroad return to China, attracted by the new opportunities caused by its economic recovery, and here the most radical changes are possible in the overall migration picture.

However, such counter-arguments are perceived as a manifestation of political correctness and are not discussed seriously. The most popular point of view is the "alarmist-constructive" one, which considers emigration from China as an organic part of the world economy and at the same time makes it clear that it should not be allowed to take its course. "As China becomes more deeply involved in the global system," writes University of California Professor Min Zhou, "as the process of marketization continues to undermine the power of the state, and the Chinese people are reunited with their overseas diasporas, Chinese emigration, legal and illegal, can form a new" age of China.".. In potency, emigration from China is a tsunami on the horizon. Therefore, China and the recipient countries of immigration face a choice: how to negotiate migration and how to regulate it. " ¹⁵

Chinese scientists view emigration from China in a different light. At present, they believe, "the mass of Chinese migrants that has spread around the world has already become a force that has an important impact on the world economy, science, technology and culture every day and attracts the attention of all mankind."¹⁶

Chinese emigration is a special phenomenon: its participants, unlike Western colonialists, conquerors and racists, throughout their history were engaged exclusively in peaceful labor, without violating local laws. Therefore, the Chinese diaspora in its classical forms can "serve as a fruitful model for the future migration wave maturing in human society" ¹⁷.

As for the future, "in an age of rapid economic globalization, with China's openness to the outside world, it will be difficult to avoid migration of some other part of the population abroad." ¹⁸ Chinese experts argue that the number of ethnic Europeans living outside the continent is 50% of its own population. While the Chinese diaspora makes up less than 3% of China's population, "which shows that the potential strength of the Chinese population's movement to the international sphere is very great" ¹⁹.

Thus, Chinese scientists emphasize that Chinese emigration is a natural phenomenon, regardless of its absolute size, which has an indisputable right to exist and plays a positive role in the life of the international community. The phenomenon of emigration, however, should not be understood simplistically: "There are many Chinese on Earth; how to bring Chinese human resources outside in an orderly way and whether this will be a blessing or a disaster for the world-we need to think about it" ²⁰.

FIGHT AGAINST ILLEGAL EMIGRATION

This is a hot topic that both Chinese and Western authors pay constant attention to. Note that this term refers to both secretly crossing the border, and living or working in a foreign country without properly executed documents. The hidden nature of illegal emigration makes it possible to make any assumptions about its volume, but it does not allow us to get reliable information. In fact, we have nothing better to do than separate, disparate "eye-to-eye" estimates that don't agree well with each other. However, in total, they give at least the most approximate idea of the scale of the phenomenon. In each case, we are talking about tens and hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, who make up a significant percentage, sometimes even up to half, of people of Chinese nationality living in this country, and an impressive proportion of the total number of illegal immigrants from various countries living in it. Here are some of these estimates.

According to a 2001 Chinese publication, " the number of emigrants who remain illegally or work illegally outside China is growing every year... Their number far exceeds that of those who have left China illegally, accounting for 5-10% of the global Chinese diaspora and increasing by 20% annually. " ²¹

If you believe the same publications, every year 500 thousand Chinese secretly leave their country. 100 thousand of them are moving to the United States, 50 thousand-to Russia, about 100 thousand more-to Europe, 15 thousand-to Vietnam and Myanmar, 10 thousand - to Japan, etc. ²²

In order not to multiply the number of figures further, we will give one qualitative assessment that indicates the expansion of the geography of illegal migration from the PRC: "The Chinese, especially from the provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang, have become one of the main participants in international migration heading to the EU. We can say with some certainty that China supplies the largest number of illegal migrants from East Asia to Europe. " ²³

Naturally, illegal migrants go to the same places as legal migrants-first of all, to developed countries. Until about 1996, the undisputed leader among destination countries was the United States, but then an increasing number of illegal immigrants began to focus on Europe and Australia. Developing countries are also not ignored, but they are often used only as transit points for further travel. Such points exist in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. One of the most difficult routes, for example, looks like this: Yunnan Province-secret border crossing to Burma-crossing the " zo-

lotoy triangle", on the "Ho Chi Minh Trail" to Thailand-finally, from there with a fake Taiwanese passport-by plane to the United States.

Illegal transportation is organized by secret mafia structures - "shetuan" ("snake shelves", or "snake tangles"), which have agents and partners in other countries who pass clients along the chain to each other. According to the United Nations, the snakes ' revenues from sending people abroad reach $ 3.5 billion annually. ²⁴ (The cost of sending 1 person to England reaches $ 30,000, in the United States - up to $ 70,000. ²⁵) The main base of their activities is the southern coastal provinces of China, primarily Fujian. And in terms of time, the surge of their activity occurred in the late 80's-early 90's, when attempts to cross by sea to the United States, Australia and Canada became widespread. In 1993, the U.S. Coast Patrol apprehended eight vessels, each carrying between 120 and 527 clandestine passengers from China.²⁶

In the following years, China has established close cooperation with other countries in the fight against illegal cross-border migration, and the activity of the "Shetuan" has significantly decreased (but not completely disappeared). The previous numerous border crossings in large groups of up to a hundred people became impossible. However, according to Chinese authors, the number of illegal migrants who legally leave the country to visit relatives, study at their own expense, as tourists, members of trade delegations or contract workers, and then illegally stay abroad and engage in illegal labor activities, has begun to grow.²⁷

HOW TO BECOME"ILLEGAL"

Some types of illegal emigration should be discussed in more detail, since something similar is taking place in Russia and is the subject of attention of both Russian and Chinese law enforcement agencies.

Potential expats give money to the" snake head", i.e. a member of the" Shetuan " who has his own people in a certain state-owned company. They apply to the provincial government for permission to send a delegation abroad to study best practices or purchase equipment. A list of members of the delegation - employees of the company with their personal data is compiled. Everything in the list is completely true, and it is approved. Then the photos of the delegation members are replaced. An imaginary trade delegation goes to Bangkok, say, accompanied by a "snake's head". In Bangkok, the passports of" delegates "are handed over to an escort, and the" delegates " themselves are placed at the disposal of another group of smugglers. After some time, having been provided with new false passports, they go on a risky journey, say, to Europe, and the aforementioned company presents the "original" passports to the authorities as proof of the successful return of the delegation to their homeland.²⁸

It is more common to leave as part of tourist groups. The Hong Kong scholar James Jin, whose work we are recounting here, quotes a Chinese travel agent: "Sometimes most of the tour group suddenly disappears after exploring Bangkok, just before leaving for China." It is interesting that the disappearance of tourists, who thus become illegal immigrants, turns out to be beneficial for both countries-both sending and receiving, or rather, for the departments of these countries involved in the case. Sending - because in case of non-return of the tourist, the travel agency pays a fine for it to the authorities in the PRC. This is because the tourist leaves a cash deposit (about 5 thousand yuan) at the embassy of the country before leaving, and this deposit is subject to confiscation, since there is no doubt that if the tourist disappeared, leaving his passport in the group, it means that he will not stay in Thailand for a long time. The firm does not remain at a loss, since in the end all these expenses are paid by the emigrants themselves.

Some of those who have entered the desired country by illegal means sooner or later manage to legalize themselves, or at least find a more or less stable position with the hope of future legalization.

It is quite legal in form, but fraudulent in essence, is emigration through fictitious marriages. "This method of emigrating to Europe, Taiwan, and the United States is very popular among Chinese youth these days." ²⁹

It is worth noting that since the early 2000s, more and more residents of Northeast China's provinces-peasants and downsized workers from state-owned enterprises - have joined illegal emigration.

Generally speaking, the selfish national interest of an overpopulated China should in principle be to give its citizens maximum freedom to travel abroad, moreover, to encourage their emigration, thus easing the tense situation in the domestic labor market. If Beijing were to remove exit restrictions, it would reduce the scale of illegal emigration to zero and, consequently, remove the task of combating it from the agenda. In another scenario, the leaders of the People's Republic of China could, while maintaining exit restrictions, actually turn a blind eye to illegal emigration, creating the appearance of a diligent fight against it, and if not successful, then only for objective reasons.

However, political, or more precisely, foreign policy considerations in this case outweigh the economic benefits. First, if a State continues to tolerate systematic violations of its borders and the existence of channels for the movement of criminal elements , it loses part of its sovereignty, and at the same time the respect of the international community. Secondly, and most importantly, the influx of illegal immigrants provokes serious dissatisfaction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.-

It also causes a lot of trouble for governments, forcing them to engage in repatriation and make claims against China in this regard. "When dealing with repatriation processes, there are tensions and acute issues that directly affect the development of China's relations with its partners and its international political image," notes the Chinese yearbook Yellow Book on International Politics.³⁰ It goes on to quote the words of a senior US official: "The number of Chinese illegal immigrants being deported is far from the largest of all. But it is their deportation that is particularly difficult for us."

In this context, a certain pressure on the public consciousness is exerted from time to time by reports of attempts to enter secretly and cases of deaths of Chinese citizens. One of the most high-profile episodes of this kind took place in June 2000 in Dover,where 58 corpses of Chinese migrants who died of asphyxia were found in the caches of a tomato truck. Similar events on a smaller scale have occurred before and after this episode. For example, in January of the same year in Seattle (USA) on one of the ships that arrived from Hong Kong (Hong Kong), 18 fugitives from China were found in a container. Three of them died en route ³¹.

TURNING YOURSELF IN

Some of the stories don't sound particularly political to Beijing. For example, in August 2002, eight 15 - to 16-year-olds from Zhejiang Province, as part of a group organized by Snake Head, traveled by plane from Beijing to Moscow, from there by train to Yugoslavia, and then by truck as "live contraband" to the suburbs of Paris. Here they decided to run away from their guides and turned themselves in to the police, explaining that they had left their country because their parents, members of the banned Falun Gong sect, had been arrested.³²

Stories of this kind are regarded in the West as a clear evidence of the "immigration threat", and the speeches of human rights defenders, quite correct in form, but critical in content, give these cases an even louder resonance. This damages China's prestige.

In an effort to avoid criticism from other countries and friction with them, Beijing not only restrains departure from the country, only gradually relaxing restrictions, but also resolutely fights against illegal emigration.

We want to tell you more about the measures taken in China to show their scope and diversity, given that the issue of illegal immigration in our country is quite acute.

The list of measures taken ³³ includes, in particular, the tightening of relevant legislation, including passport legislation. The new law on passports, which came into force in January 2007, prohibits the issuance of passports for a period of 6 months to three years to persons who have violated the rules of border control, repatriated illegal immigrants, as well as those who illegally stayed abroad or illegally work there. The law provides for fines and imprisonment for individuals who produce or use false passports. The issuance of passports should be denied to criminal elements; prisoners; persons who, while abroad, may pose a threat to national security; persons who have forged documents or given false information in the application for departure ³⁴.

An information campaign was launched in the coastal regions of the country: publications in the media, lectures, meetings of rural residents in places of traditional illegal emigration, etc., in order to make people aware of the danger of border violations. A Committee on illegal Migration was established, which included representatives of the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and others. Back in the late 90s, the marine police was organized, and measures of control over the sea coast were strengthened.

New methods of document verification have been introduced. According to the Ministry of Public Security, the measures taken in October 2003 - March 2004 prevented 5,500 attempts to leave China using forged documents (and almost the same number of attempts to enter China in this way by citizens of Vietnam, Pakistan, North Korea, and Myanmar). For comparison: in 2003, this Ministry issued 300 thousand passports, not counting official ones issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The authorities began to conduct numerous operations against criminal groups engaged in illegal transportation of people across the border. (Among the participants of such groups - "snake heads" - there are not only residents of the PRC, but also emigrants of Chinese origin who have settled abroad.) Now it is punishable by a large fine or up to 10 years in prison. Whenever possible, money paid by failed refugees is withdrawn from smugglers and returned to their victims. Information about smugglers and assistance in catching them are rewarded with a cash reward of several thousand yuan.

According to Western scientists, local authorities who allow a resident to flee abroad are punished. There is even a system of collective responsibility of residents for each other, like the old system of "baojia" (system of mutual responsibility)³⁵.

Persons who have returned from illegal emigration do not escape punishment either. They may be imprisoned for up to 6 months, after which they are placed under the supervision of the authorities; at the same time, educational work is carried out with them.

"SNAKE HEADS" WILL NOT DO WELL

According to statistics from the Ministry of Public Security, a total of 38,691 people were detained and 6,149 "snake heads" were arrested during the period 1991-2003 while attempting to leave illegally. Among the latter, there are many criminals from the United States, South Korea and Singapore. "Snake heads" are subjected to more severe punishments than their victims, who are sometimes treated in the most brutal way. The sentence for illegal transfer of people abroad can be life imprisonment or even the death penalty.

In the fight against illegal emigration, the PRC cooperates with more than 40 countries, especially Australia, Canada, the United States, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany, and France. Representatives of the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China, if necessary, travel to a particular country to identify and deport illegal migrants. China's partners show no less interest than it does in eliminating this phenomenon. China and the United States established a liaison group in 1998 to coordinate efforts to combat illegal emigration, drug trafficking, and terrorism. It is interesting that the Australian Minister of Immigration P. Raddock visited Fujian Province in 1991, where he distributed 5 thousand propaganda posters. A year later, U.S. officials brought video tapes to Fujian that clearly show the conditions in which illegal immigrants are in containers during the long journey across the ocean and how they are arrested upon arrival.

Experts consider simplification of registration when traveling abroad, including on the basis of relevant interstate agreements, to be a useful way to reduce the number of illegal emigrants. China has signed such agreements with almost 30 countries. Thus, the agreement with Australia provides for easier issuance of visas, but with strict control over departure under the responsibility of travel agencies. Thanks to this agreement, Australia has moved from one of the first to one of the last places in terms of the number of non-returning visitors from China.

Thus, the Chinese Government is actively fighting illegal emigration, using a system of punitive and preventive measures that is unique in scope and variety.

Another thing is that the struggle does not always bring the desired results. One of the reasons for this is that for the local population and the grassroots authorities closely associated with it, emigration of compatriots, even if illegal, brings visible benefits in the form of subsequent money transfers from abroad and a reduction in the number of unemployed. It is characteristic that this creates a respectful attitude towards the "snake heads". Another reason is connivance, if not direct assistance, on the part of officials, presumably due to their corruption. One American expert on illegal immigration states: "There is no shortage of evidence that government officials, both in China itself and at various transit points, facilitate the clandestine movement of people abroad."³⁶

Another important fact is that in some countries, Chinese communities are firmly established and can serve as an autonomous habitat for illegal immigrants. For example, as the Chinese authors note, "the economic level of Chinese Americans is quite sufficient for self-sufficiency and is able to incorporate a significant number of immigrants"³⁷.

For these and other reasons, illegal emigration as an unavoidable shadow accompaniment to legal emigration continues, as well as the fight against it. In 2003, 26,000 illegal immigrants were deported to China.³⁸ During the year from July 2005 to June 2006, Chinese police detained 2,500 people while attempting to leave the country illegally. Chinese scientists quite rightly note: "Chinese illegal emigration is a very complex and multi-layered phenomenon, both domestic and international at the same time. It is extremely difficult to eradicate it in a short time. It is necessary to recognize that the facts of Chinese illegal emigration represent only a small part of the overall picture of global illegal emigration, its main causes are rooted in the properties of the world economy. Therefore, in addition to curbing and prohibiting illegal emigration, the international community should approach the issue from the point of view of development and regulate it rationally."³⁹ Experts in different countries have long come to the conclusion that it is necessary to solve the problems of international migration, and not only illegal migration, but also migration in general, through the collective efforts of the international community. The PRC can play a prominent role in organizing these efforts. "China is perhaps in a uniquely convenient position not to leave the problem to narrow-minded national politicians, but to put it on the agenda at an international forum."⁴⁰. It is difficult to disagree with this statement, especially if we take into account not only China's leading position in the field of global migration, but also its weight in the entire system of international relations.

EXPORT OF LABOR

Among the various types of migration abroad, a prominent place is occupied by the departure of workers under contracts concluded by specialized agencies. Organized migration of this kind is growing rapidly. According to the Ministry of Commerce, at the end of 2005, 547,000 Chinese workers41 were employed abroad, at the end of 2006 - 670,000. 42 By January 2007, the total value of contracts for the supply of labor was 33.67 billion rubles. USD ⁴³

In Russia, Chinese workers will have to carry out the largest construction projects: the Huamin Park in Moscow and the Baltiyskaya Zhemchuzhina complex in Moscow.

In St. Petersburg. The Chinese government insistently offers us the idea of free exchange of goods and services, and Chinese specialists at every opportunity rightly remind us of the shortage of workers in the Russian Far East and the incalculable labor resources of the PRC.

The largest share of exported labor is used in the Asian market - about 400 thousand workers in 2004. Less than 7% is accounted for in Europe, which is, generally speaking,the largest importer of foreign labor. ⁴⁴ Workers from China can be found in 180 countries around the world. Chinese labor consumers include Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Algeria, Russia, the United States, Jordan, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates. The main areas of work are factory production (200 thousand workers in 2004), construction industry (140 thousand)⁴⁵, followed by forestry, fishing, transport, public catering. There are dozens of professions listed in the catalogs of agencies that provide labor services, including a wide range of working specialties - from handymen to welders. Officials from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security note: "As China expands its ties with the outside world, foreign partners are increasingly inviting our skilled workers." ⁴⁶

Agencies also offer intellectual work: design, consulting, management, science, teaching, culture, healthcare, computer services. However, the number of high-class white-collar workers does not exceed 1% of the total volume of exported labor.⁴⁷ China itself, as you know, has an acute need for personnel of this kind. Nevertheless, there is a clear desire to achieve more significant indicators, due, in particular, to the expected increase in demand in developed countries for qualified specialists in high-tech industries, while tightening restrictions on unskilled and low-skilled labor. Those responsible state with satisfaction: "It is already good that China has managed to break through to this area at the expense of developed coastal provinces." ⁴⁸ It should be noted that the coastal provinces are generally the main source of labor exports.

Export of labor services is a dynamically developing branch of the Chinese economy. In 2003, the Ministry of Commerce granted the right to engage in this activity to 1,600 firms (compared to 70 firms in 1989) ^.49 According to other sources, in 2004 there were 1,400 such companies in ^the country50. Most of them are united in the Chinese Association of International Contractors, which accounts for more than 90% of the total number of workers exported abroad. ⁵¹ In 2003, the Ministry of Commerce allowed private companies to export labor resources.

In the same year, the Government had to pay special attention to protecting contract workers from terrorist attacks. Three consecutive attacks on Chinese workers were carried out in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Ethiopia, resulting in several people being killed, injured or taken prisoner. In the wake of these events, the Government pledged to expand security cooperation with partner countries and allocate additional funds to protect workers from terrorist attacks. It required companies to "take proper social responsibility", which means, as can be seen from the press, paying large compensations to the families of victims, as well as strengthening the protection of employees, training them in precautionary measures, etc.

It is significant that, at the same time, companies were required to "respect the laws and regulations of the host countries, take into account their culture, protect the environment" and even "share the benefits received, for example, by increasing the employment of the local population through outsourcing"⁵². This very rational tactic is designed to create favorable conditions for continuing and expanding the export of labor resources abroad. In order to make Chinese workers more competitive, Beijing decided to organize a large-scale foreign language training, advanced training, give them the necessary minimum of legal knowledge, etc. They expect that the demand for Chinese labor abroad, especially in Asia, will increase ⁵³.

In recent years, the issue of resolving conflicts between Chinese migrants and the local population has become particularly important for China, which is obviously due to the increase in the number of trips of Chinese citizens abroad. In 2006, a special unit was created in the system of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, which was transformed in August 2007 into the Center for Consular Protection. Consular assistance was provided in cases such as economic conflicts, terrorist attacks, force majeure caused by transport disasters and natural disasters, and finally, violations of local laws by Chinese citizens. During the clashes in Lebanon, East Timor and the Kingdom of Tonga, Chinese citizens had to be evacuated. In 2006, consular protection had to be granted 31 thousand times, of which 80% were due to force majeure and law violations by Chinese citizens.⁵⁴

The Chinese side's principled approach here is: "To resolve the contradictions in their infancy, and in case of their aggravation - to protect their rights in accordance with the law, by analyzing specific circumstances, in cold blood, in no case allowing the friction to deepen, acquire a racist character and reach the level of interstate relations"⁵⁵. The best option is "friendly consultations". But you can not do nothing in any case: "If we remain silent in response to a negative offensive, then only those who will be happy will be happy.",

who thinks that the Chinese only care about themselves " ⁵⁶.

This tactic has been used several times in Russia, where, unfortunately, unpleasant conflicts have already arisen between the Russian authorities and Chinese migrants. For example, in May 2004, at a Moscow market, police arrested a large shipment of Chinese goods imported into Russia through the "gray customs clearance"channels. In May 2005, there was a clash between Chinese workers and Russian police officers in Irkutsk. In the same year, 2005, an investigative case was initiated on the smuggling of a huge batch of shoes from China. In all these cases, Chinese representatives have consistently defended the interests of their fellow citizens, but at the same time showed restraint and flexibility, sought to localize the conflict and demonstrated their readiness to resolve it gradually, through careful study and discussion of the issue, without compromising the development of bilateral relations. Moreover, it is not only relations at the interstate level that are important for Beijing: it considers the creation of a favorable environment around the diaspora and the establishment of good relations between the diaspora and the local population to be the most important task.

All this is seen in China as the realization of well-known fundamental political principles of the Central Committee of the Communist Party: "people are at the forefront" and "politics is for the people", and indicates the intention of the Chinese leaders to pursue a responsible policy in the international arena that corresponds to the status of a great power.

¹ UN. International Migration Organization. Regional Fact Sheet. Asia // www.un.org/migration/presskit/factsheet_asia.pdf

^{Zhang Guotu.} 2 Guanyu xin yimin yanjiu dy ji dian sikao (A few thoughts on the study of new migrants) / / Huaqiao huazhen lishi yanjiu. 1997. N 2; Zhang Guotu. 70 niandai ilai dy huazhen xin yimin fazhan zhuankuang ji wo guo dy duize (Development of the situation with new migrants of Chinese origin since the 70s and our policy) / / Huaqiao katie yanjiu lunwen ji. 2001.

³ He mu xiang yong, hezo gong ying. Goujian ige chunman holi dy huaqiao huazhen shehui. Zai di si ju shijie huaqiao huazhen shetuan lianyi dahui shang di baogao (Harmony... collaboration with a win for everyone. We will build a vibrant community of foreign Chinese. Report at the 4th World Conference of Friendship Associations of Foreign Chinese) - http://www.chinaqw.com.cn/news/200707/03/78235/shtml

⁴ UN. International Migration Organization. Op. cit.

^{Peter S. Li.} 5 Chinese Overseas as a Minority in Majority Settings. Proceedings II: the International Chinese Overseas Conference. 2001. Taipei, p. 19 - 40.

⁶ Jin 20 nyan Fujian Changle ren yimin Meigo du dongji he tiaojian (Incentives and conditions for emigration of residents of Changle (Fujian )in the last 20 years) / / Huaqiao huazhen lishi yanju. 2006. N 1, pp. 1-2.

⁷ Law of the People's Republic of China on the Control of the Exit and Entry of Citizens - http://www/novexcn.com/entry_exit_citizens/html

⁸ People's Daily, 17.01.2002.

⁹ China Daily, 30.12.2007.

¹⁰ Ibidem.

¹¹ Fa zhi wan bao - http://chinaqw.com.cn/hqhr/hrdt/200711/ 29/9626. shtml

^{Guofu Liu.} 12 The Right to Leave and Return and Chinese Migration Law. Martinus Nijhoff Pulishers. 2006.

^{Min Zhou.} 13 The Chinese Diaspora and International Migration -http://www/sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/Zhou_Chinese_Diaspora.pdf

^{Skeldon R.} 14 (University of Sussex). China: From Exceptional Case to Global Participant// www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?ID-219

^{Min Zhou.} 15 Op. cit.

^{He Shiyuan.} 16 Hai wai huazhen yu guoji yimin yanjiu // Hai wai huazhen yanju lun ji ji (Study of foreign Chinese and international migration) / / Collection of works on the study of foreign Chinese... Beijing, 2002, p. 7.

¹⁷ Ibid., p. 6.

^{Qiu Libeng.} 18 Guoji renkou qianyi yu huaqiao huazhen yanjiu (International migration of the population and the study of foreign Chinese) / / Collection of works on the study of foreign Chinese.., p. 51.

¹⁹ Ibid., p. 53.

^{Zhou Yuye, Wang Xianfeng.} 20 Dan dai junguo feifa imin khodun du taejeon (Features of modern illegal migration) - http://www.jnu.edu.cn

^{Huang Ronglong.} 21 Zhongguo dy feifa yimin wenti (The problem of Chinese illegal migrants) / / Renkou yu jingji. 2001. N 1, p. 12.

^{Huang Jie.} 22 Zhongguo ren she hei mu-tou du da zhui tsung (Behind the black curtain of Chinese "snakes" - in the footsteps of smugglers). Fuzhou 2002, p. 241.

^{James K. Chin.} 23 Reducing Irregular Migration from China // International Migration. V. 41, issue 3. September 2003.

^{James K. Chin.} 24 Trends and Government Policies: Reducing irregular Migration from China - www.eldis.org.static/DOC20279.htm

^{Kwong P.} 25 Chinese Migration Goes Global - http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=9473

^{Huang Tse.} 26 Decree. op., p. 226.

^{Huang Ronglong.} 27 Edict. op., pp. 12-22.

^{James K. Chin.} 28 Op. cit.

²⁹ Ibidem.

^{Li Xiaomei.} 30 Zhongguo hai wai yimin qingkuang shuping / / Guoji xingshi huang pi shu. 2007 nian: quan qiu zhengzhi yu anquan baogao (On the situation with emigrants from China / / Yellow Book on International Politics. Report on Global Political and Economic Security). Beijing, 2007, p. 210.

³¹ Desperate People - Illegal Immigrants from China -http://www.findarticles.eom/p/articles/mi.MOEPF/is_22_99/ai61361 437

^{James K. Chin.} 32 Op.cit.

³³ For more information, see: Cooperative Efforts to Manage Emigration. Irena Omelaniuk. Best Practices to Manage Migration: China//http://migration.ukdavis.edu/ceme/more.phpbid-149_0_6_0

³⁴ Passport Law to Fight Against Illegal Emigration // Xinhua News Agency. 02.06.2006.

^{James K. Chin.} 35 Op. cit.

^{Ko-lin Chin.} 36 The Social Organization of Chinese Human Smuggling. 2001.Cit. по: Smuggling of Chinese into the United States -http://www.workingimmigrants.com/2006/03/smuggling...

³⁷ To yuan zuqun shi ye with poisons Huazhen tesin (Chinese specifics in the conditions of multinational society) / / Huaqiao huazhen lishi yanjiu. 2007, N 1, p. 11.

³⁸ Emigration Rules Toughening // China Daily, 18.11.2004.

^{Zhou Yuye, Wang Xianfeng.} 39 Dan dai junguo feifa imin khodun du taejeon (Features of modern illegal migration) - http://www.jnu.edu.cn

^{Kwong P.} 40 Op. cit.

⁴¹ http://www/china.org.cn/english/Life/144942.html

⁴² http://www/chinanews.cn./news2005/2007 - 01 - 22/327 29.html

⁴³ http://www/china.org.cn/english/Life/144942.html

⁴⁴ Chinese Workers Set Foot on Global Market // China Daily, 01.04.2005.

⁴⁵ Ibidem.

⁴⁶ China Daily, 18.11.2004.

⁴⁷ Ibidem, 01.04.2005.

⁴⁸ Ibid.

⁴⁹ Ibid.

⁵⁰ Rule Tightens Controls on Labor Abroad // China Daily, 03.08.2004.

⁵¹ Keeping Overseas Chinese Workers Safe http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-07/14/content_348368.htm

⁵² Gov't to Protect Workers Abroad - http://english.people. com.cn/200705/16/eng20070516_375043.html; China to Establish Security Mechanisms to Protect Overseas Workers - http://english.peo-ple.com.cn/200705/15/eng20070515_374565.html

⁵³ Chinese Seeking Jobs Overseas - http://www/china.org.cn/en-glish/Life/113158.html; China Daily, 01.04.05.

⁵⁴ Fa zhi wan bao...

⁵⁵ He muxiang yun, hezo gong ying...

⁵⁶ People's Daily, 16.04.2007.

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