Synthèse de l’article de Catherine GUEGUEN, “New Migrants from Continental China in Philippine Cities: Differences in Profiles and Settlements”, Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales, vol. 28, n°4, 2012, p. 127 – 143.

Synthèse de l’article de Catherine GUEGUEN, “New Migrants from Continental China in Philippine Cities: Differences in Profiles and Settlements”, Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales, vol. 28, n°4, 2012, p. 127 – 143.

This article of Catherine Guéguen, published in 2012, returns like many previous studies on the question of the Chinese community in the Philippines from a sociological and anthropological point of view.
New Chinese migrants are migrants who only make a short stay in the Philippines, unlike the Chinese migrants of the 1930s. The close family circle accompanies them but not the older members of the family. Staying on the archipelago is not their goal, they try to prosper in the short term.

The Philippines seems to be an Eldorado for these Chinese, it is estimated that these migrants to 60,000 individuals and a Sino-Philippine population of 800,000 people. Since the presidency of Joseph Estrada (1998-2001) new waves of Chinese migrants have reached the Philippines. From then on, they compete with local businessmen. In addition, since 2003 short-term visas have been made easier for mainland Chinese, flows have increased.

Cities are the main places of settlement for these migrants, so the article looks at the opportunities for spatial integration for these migrants and the social links that emerge. Undoubtedly the presence of a long-established Chinese community in the Philippines to facilitate their integration. However some migrants have settled since the 90s and a more diversified professional integration has broken the Chinese tradition of trading.

        Since 2003, like every citizen of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Chinese get a three-week visa when they arrive at one of the three international airports in the Philippines (Manila, Cebu, Davao ). Air traffic has therefore intensified between Manila and Xiamen via Hong Kong. Air transport is therefore more and more frequent and less and less expensive, there are many services "low cost" between Southeast China and the Philippines. Affordable airline tickets and visa facilities allow Chinese citizens to travel easily to Southeast Asia. This raises the question of illegal migrants, but there is information on this subject.

We can consider that there is an economic migration helped by Chinese-Filipino, since the migrant comes from a poorer region than the host country, especially from Fujian province. These migrations take on particular importance in the capital of the Philippines. Create a "person-to-person" migration with Chinese returning to their home province and staying in the Philippines. It is then easy for new migrants to find work for example, by network of knowledge. But the activities of these small Chinese companies in the Philippines are often close to illegality.

Most of the new migrants come mainly from Fujian (Xiamen and surrounding areas), and work as traders in the many markets of Manila capital and in inner cities that correspond to Chinatowns. Their trade is focused on the sale of cheap product, textile, small appliances, directly imported from mainland China.

        The portrait of the local Chinese community evolves in Manila. The new educational policies considerably reduce the teaching of Chinese in so-called Chinese schools since 1970. The level of language of young Sino-Filipino has therefore decreased, some can not even write or speak Chinese. Changes in the community and its components in the immediate family are also responsible for this failure in the transmission of Chinese culture. Indeed, parents do not necessarily speak Chinese at home for business reasons, and children first learn the local language, then English before speaking Chinese. This is why teachers are needed, they are even sometimes hired by parent associations. Some schools now use the Chinese Foreign Office in China directly to find teachers, usually young interns, for one year.

As for the rich Chinese businessmen from Taiwan or mainland China, the Philippine administration offered them offices in Juan Luna Street in the heart of Binondo. Only holders of an investor visa enjoy a "clear" situation regarding their residence status in the Philippines. However, they must spend US $ 50,000 to obtain it.
The urban expansion of cities also induces the spread of new migrants. Chinese Filipinos participate in the economic and spatial integration of the latter. They are more present in Binondo, the heart of the old Chinatown, than anywhere else, but they can also end up in suburban residential areas. The Chinese district therefore offers many opportunities, but these new migrants are creating competition and a need for adaptation in the region.

        The author of the article goes back to these "Chinese districts", which he compares to an "integration bridge" through maps. First, there are three cities in the Philippines marked by Chinese districts: Manila, Cebu and Madao. In the case of Chinese teachers who are present only for a short time, their place of residence is close to schools or universities, as in Damar or Grace for example. As for residential areas inhabited by Chinese Filipinos, it is mainly closed communities that favor small businesses. It is also in these neighborhoods that new migrants can work as labor can qualify, especially locate in the north of Manila. Many of them are involved in repackaging activities, that is, moving from heavy packaging of products from China to lighter packaging, more suited to the Philippine market. The second map of the article looks at this visibility of new Chinese migrants in Manila neighborhoods.

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