Chinese people in Belgium

There is a small ethnic Chinese community in Belgium, compared to neighbouring Netherlands and France. The population is still small in size due to the necessity to be fluent in at least the two languages and also transportation factors, so most Chinese emigrants still choose the neighbouring countries.

History

Single male sailors who wished to reestablish their lives in a foreign country made up the first Chinese living in Belgium. Beginning in the 1950s people from the New Territories of Hong Kong began to settle Europe.[1] They moved due to a lack of jobs in Hong Kong and political developments in Mainland China.[2] Chinese people arrived until the end of the 1960s.[3]

As of 1994 Belgium had 3,463 persons with Mainland Chinese citizenship, including 1,788 females and 1,675 males; and 489 persons with Republic of China (Taiwan) citizenship, including (278 females and 115 males).[4] However, as of 1998 most Chinese in Belgium originated in Hong Kong. Prior to 1997 were counted as "British" when they arrived, and by 1998 many had naturalized as Belgian citizens. Therefore, they were not counted as ethnic Chinese people living in Belgium. Pang Ching Lin (彭靜蓮, Pinyin: Péng Jìnglián), author of "Invisible Visibility: Intergenerational Transfer of Identity and Social Position of Chinese Women in Belgium," stated that therefore there is a lack of records specifically tracking Chinese people, and therefore there is an element of invisibility.[3]

Institutions

There are multiple Chinese organisations in Belgium, but they do not regularly cooperate with one another. They sometimes cooperate during some political events supported by the Mainland Chinese government and during the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Chinese New Year.[5]

Notable individuals

References
  • Liu Huang, Li-Chuan. "A Biographical Study of Chinese Immigrants in Belgium: Strategies for Localisation" (Part IV: Chinese Migration in Other Countries: Chapter 13). In: Zhang, Jijiao and Howard Duncan. Migration in China and Asia: Experience and Policy (Volume 10 of International Perspectives on Migration). Springer Science & Business Media, April 8, 2014. ISBN 940178759X, 9789401787598. Start p. 207.
  • Pang, Ching Lin (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven). "Invisible Visibility: Intergenerational Transfer of Identity and Social Position of Chinese Women in Belgium." Asian and Pacific Migration Journal. December 1998 vol. 7 no. 4 433-452. DOI 10.1177/011719689800700402 .

Notes
  1. Pang, p. 438.
  2. Pang, p. 439.
  3. Pang, p. 434.
  4. Pang, p. 436.
  5. Liu Huang, p. 219.


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