| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 40,000 (1987 est.) 2% of the Mongolian population | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| No data | |
| Languages | |
| Chinese,Mongolian | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Overseas Chinese |
Chinese Mongolians 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 countedethnic Chinese as 1.9% of the population; the United States government estimated their proportion to be 2% in 1987, or roughly 40,000 people.[1] The 2000 census showed 1,323 permanent residents of Chinese descent; this figure does not include naturalised citizens, temporary residents, nor illegal immigrants.[2]Illegal immigrants from China were estimated at 10,000 in the 1990s; some use Mongolia as a transit point intoRussia.[3]
EthnicChinese artists were hired byBilge Khagan of theSecond Turkic Khaganate.[4][5] Chinese text on a silk piece of yellow color was found in a Turkic tomb.[6]
During theLiao dynasty, Han Chinese lived inKedun, situated in present-day Mongolia.[7] Chinese farmers migrated in.[8][9][10] Many Han people migrated to cities located in modern-day Mongolia under Liao rule.[11]
Ethnic Han officials were sent by theYuan dynasty to theLingbei Province (modern-day Mongolia and Siberia;和宁路益蘭州謙州).[12] The Yenisei area had a community of weavers of Han origin, and Samarkand andOuter Mongolia both had artisans of Han origin, as observed byQiu Chuji.[13]
During theMing dynasty, ethnic Chinese military frontiersmen inLiaodong were prone to mixing and acculturating with non-Han tribesmen.[14]
Ethnic Chinese soldiers served in the Yuan army against the Ming, and the Mongols were joined by many Chinese defectors. The Mongol Mangui served in the Ming military and fought theManchus, dying in battle against a Manchu raid. Some Chinese people who lived among the Mongols inInner Mongolia, while in their youth, adopted Mongol culture and married Mongol women. A Han military officer who defected to the Mongols was "Monkey Li" (Li Huai) who fought against the Ming dynasty.[15][16][17]
Historically, theGobi served as a barrier to large-scale Han settlement in what was, before 1921, calledOuter Mongolia; the unsuitability of most of the territory foragriculture made settlement less attractive. Some Han settlements in Mongolia were founded in 1725, when farmers moved there by decree of theQing dynasty to cultivate food for soldiers fighting against theDzungars. They were established in theOrkhon andTuul river basins, and in 1762, in theKhovd region. After the fighting ended, the Qing closed off Mongolia (then underQing rule) to immigration[18] and occasionally evicted Han merchants.
Despite those restrictions, trade firms owned by Han people continually penetrated Mongolia, concentrating mainly inIkh Khüree,Uliastai,Khovd andKyakhta. Their trade practices and the lifestyle of the Mongol nobility lead to an ever-increasing indebtedness of the banners, nobles, and ordinary people, and Han-owned businesses became a target of public discontent as early asChingünjav's uprising in 1756. The spill-over from theDungan rebellions of the 1870s into Mongolia also saw a number of Han-owned businesses in Khovd and Uliastai destroyed. Many of the ethnic Han merchants lived in Mongolia only seasonally or until they had made enough money to return toChina proper. Others took Mongol wives, at least for the time of being in Mongolia.
In 1906, the Qing dynasty began to implement policies[which?] aimed at Chinese colonization of Outer Mongolia along the lines of those in Inner Mongolia, but these policies never took full effect as a result of theXinhai Revolution and the Mongolian declaration of independence from China. The total Han 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.[citation needed]
UponMongolia's declaration of independence, many Chinese became victims of atrocities,[citation needed] particularly inKhovd. However, after 1912, Chinese businesses were able to continue their operations, including 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 thePeople's Republic of China development aid projects of the 1950s, many Han Chinese entered Mongolia, beginning in 1955. By 1961, they had reached a number of 20,000. However, after theSino-Soviet split in the early 1960s, in which Mongolia sided with the Soviets, China eventually withdrew most of its workers.[19] At the same time, Mongolian politicians or academicians with alleged links to China (e.g. Ts. Lookhuuz or G. Sükhbaatar) became victims of political purges. 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. 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.[1]
After the introduction ofdemocracy, another wave of Chinese immigrants has entered the country. Many of the migrants work in the construction sector, while others run small or medium enterprises. Negative sentiment against Chinese migrants remains;[20] China is seen as a potential threat to Mongolia's security and cultural identity.[21] However, not all recent immigrants from China are ethnicHan Chinese; in particular, there are a number ofMongolian Chinese.[22]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. Country Studies.Federal Research Division.