From Xinjiang to Australia

Russians have lived in Xinjiang since the nineteenth century and those who accepted Chinese citizenship were recognised as one of China’s ethnic minorities known as guihua zu (naturalised and assimilated people). In the minzu identification programme (1950s–1980s), the name eluosi zu replaced guihua zu and became Russians’ official identification in China. Russians (including both Soviet and Chinese citizens) used to constitute a significant population in Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and several other regions in China before the 1960s. According to the 2000 census, eluosi zu had a population of only 15,609 and more than half of these lived in Xinjiang. Based on anthropological fieldwork in China and Australia, this article investigates the formation of the eluosi zu and the changing concept of ‘the Russian’ in Xinjiang, with the emphasis on the socialist period after 1949. The emigration to Australia from the 1960s to 1980s initially strengthened the European identity of this Russian minority. With the abolition of the ‘white Australia’ policy in 1973 and China’s growing importance to Australia, this Russian minority group’s identification with Xinjiang and China has been revived. Studying Russians from Xinjiang also provides an insight into the Uyghur diaspora in Australia, since their emigration history and shared regional identity are intertwined.