ABSTRACT
Over the past decade, Russian and Chinese leaders have succeeded in putting the history of past conflicts behind them and forging a partnership based on common foreign policy and economic interests. Considering the lengthy border the two neighbours share,1 one would have expected regional relations to promote economic integration and deepen political relations. In fact, exactly the opposite has occurred: lagging regional relations have stymied the development of economic ties, and problems on the regional level, especially related to the issue of Chinese migration to the Russian Far East, have had to be addressed on the bilateral level. Russian regional leaders, and to a lesser extent, national officials, see in Chinese migration an opportunity to gain political capital by manipulating the ‘yellow peril’ to improve their standing with otherwise dissatisfied voters. Moreover, adverse demographic and economic trends prompt Russian officials on the national and regional levels, as well as publics in these areas, to describe Chinese migration as a threat to their economic and societal security.
