8 - Xin Yimin in the Philippines: Challenges and Perspectives

Summary

Xin yimin (新移民), or new Chinese migrants, have continued to be a hot topic for discussion for the last three decades. In fact, it is now often difficult to distinguish which group of Chinese migrants and what period of entry can be considered xin yimin. This large-scale migration of the Chinese started in the early 1980s after China’s opening up when opportunities to study abroad, travel, do business overseas, and join families became more prevalent. In Southeast Asia, xin yimin refers to those who came in during the new millennium or the beginning of the twenty-first century. For the purposes of this chapter, I use the common practice in the Philippines to differentiate the laoqiao (老僑), jiuqiao (舊僑), xinqiao (新僑), and the xin yimin who are migrants who came in during the 1990s to date. I will focus on those who came to the Philippines in the new millennium, but particularly highlight new developments, issues and new organizations formed starting 2016, the beginning of President Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency.

Historically, there have been Chinese migrants to the Philippines since Spanish colonial rule. However, the contemporary influx of Chinese migrants into the Philippines started in the 1970s, especially after the establishment of Philippines diplomatic relations with China in 1975. It escalated in the 1980s with the market reforms instituted by Deng Xiaoping and the opening up of China to foreign markets. This influx increased even more considerably after President Duterte was elected in 2016.

The influx of new Chinese migrants to the Philippines for the last two decades has been contentious, and President Duterte’s pivot to China has brought the problem to the forefront. Philippines-China bilateral ties have reached new heights and brought an increase in investments and infrastructure development and other much welcome economic benefits, but have also triggered an escalation of anti-Chinese sentiments due to many factors, founded and unfounded.

One of the key challenges is the fact that seventy per cent of the newcomers in the work force are hired in POGOs (Philippine offshore gaming operations) or are employed in the online gambling and downstream businesses related to them.