Abstract
The Chinese community in Prague is fairly new, established more or less after the Velvet Revolution in 1989, with next to no history in the communist era. Despite its small size, it is still the second largest Chinese community in the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) after that in Budapest and is worth studying for at least two major reasons. First, for the last decade, its size has remained stable, though its internal composition has changed significantly. In general, the community is not settled, has little communal life or communal areas within the city (e.g., a Chinatown), and is demographically, economically and socially diverse despite its relatively compact place of origin. The increased interest of Chinese tourists and investors in Prague may, however, result in a reassessment of the goals and future of the community. In general, the development of the Chinese community in Prague is unique and differs greatly from that of similar communities in Western and Southern Europe, the USA and elsewhere outside the CEECs. The second reason for studying Chinese in Prague is that it can serve as a case study to understand general trends in Chinese migration to the CEECs. Even though the founding of contemporary Chinese communities there in the early 1990s differed from place to place, the timing, longitudinal development, general motivation factors, place of origin and so forth are not unlike those in other CEECs.
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Notes
- 1.
In the geographical framework as formulated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- 2.
Czechia is the short version of the official name of the Czech Republic.
- 3.
Our analysis is based on two major fieldwork projects carried out among Czech Chinese between 2011 and 2014, conducted independently of each other and with different aims. The research conducted by Adam Horálek used mainly psychological ethnicity questionnaire and semistructured narrative interviews. That by Cheng Ter-hsing James and Hu Liyan focused on a quantitative sociological analysis of integration processes within the community and its intergenerational dimensions. The two reports have been combined in an attempt to remedy the lack of studies on community organization and configuration as opposed to migration networks and processes (see Zhou and Lee 2013).
- 4.
Czechoslovakia comprised two nations (Czechs and Slovaks), four nationalities (Germans, Hungarians, Poles and Russians) and other ethnic groups (e.g. Roma people). All other non-autochthonous peoples were labeled as foreigners (and in statistics still are). The Czech statistical office now distinguishes between two types of minority: foreigners by their citizenship and autochthonous ethnic minorities possessing Czech citizenship (these are not included in presented numbers).
- 5.
Neither of the research samples was representative of the whole population of Czech Chinese , and the methodology differs too.
- 6.
Nyiri in his paper “Chinese Migration to Eastern Europe” (2003: 243–244) detached four main flows of Chinese migration: (1) from Russian Far East to European Russia; (2) from Moscow to Hungary, Romania and the Czechia (1991–1993) to look for better business opportunities and safety; (3) from Hungary to Czechia , Romania, Yugoslavia, Russia and the rest of Eastern Europe; and (4) from Hungary and Czechia to Germany , Austria and Italy.
- 7.
Karsten Giese (1999: 199) shows that in 1980s the “invasion” of the Chinese into Europe went through Germany , which became a transit country for further migration to Western Europe and North America.
- 8.
The term “third country” refers to non-EU and non-European Free Trade Association countries (e.g. Norway, Switzerland and Iceland).
- 9.
Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, http://www.mvcr.cz/clanek/statistika-poctu-podanych-zadosti-a-pocet-nabyti-statniho-obcanstvi-ceske-republiky.aspx (accessed on November 8, 2015).
- 10.
Data presented in this section come mainly from the research conducted by Adam Horálek, unless stated otherwise.
- 11.
According to Zhou and Lee, ethnic enclaves refer to “urban clusters of immigrants from the same sending country” (Zhou and Lee 2013: 24).
- 12.
See also Česko-čínská obchodní asociace (Czech-Chinese Business Association, CCOA), http://www.ccoa.cz/en/home.php
- 13.
Ter-Hsing James Cheng and Liyan Hu conducted a survey specifically for this research in 2010. The main issue was to make a comparison between the first and second generations on the issue of cultural identity and social integration in Czechia . Accordingly, we designed two questionnaires for the first and second generations of Chinese immigrants. We adopted a face-to-face interview for the survey, and we trained two Chinese college-level students as our research assistants. Demographically, we restricted the first-generation participants to those above 19 years who had lived in Czechia for at least one year, and the second-generation participants to those above 13 years who had lived in Czechia for at least one year. In addition to the questionnaire, we conducted in-depth interviews with six Chinese immigrants who were owners of restaurants and textile shops, or were college students.
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Horálek, A., Cheng, Th.J., Hu, L. (2017). Identity Formation and Social Integration: Creating and Imagining the Chinese Community in Prague, the Czech Republic. In: Zhou, M. (eds) Contemporary Chinese Diasporas. Palgrave, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5595-9_12
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