© EPA / ALEXANDER KAZAKOV/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN / POOL Beijing will have a channel for “creeping” migration.
Russia and China are introducing a visa-free regime for citizens of both countries starting September 15. This marks the beginning of a new stage in Siberia's “quiet expansion,” writes Andriy Kovalenko, head of the National Security and Defense Council's Center for Countering Disinformation.
He notes that visa-free travel does not change anything for Russians, because visa processing used to take several days, but China will now have a channel for “creeping” migration to Siberia and the Far East. According to him, Chinese enclaves are already forming there, where locals are not accepted, and profits are returned to Beijing.
Kovalenko stressed that hundreds of thousands of migrants from China could appear in Siberia by 2030. Due to the demographic crisis, Russia cannot populate its own territories, so others are filling the vacuum.
“The real picture is this: the Kremlin is not “lifting” the region, but giving it to foreigners for resettlement. Siberia and the Far East are strategic lands that Moscow is smoothly giving up,” Kovalenko emphasized.
Recall that in early September, Putin visited Beijing, where he met, among others, with the leaders of China and North Korea. After returning to Moscow, the Kremlin leader began a new phase of the war in Ukraine, The Times pointed out.
