CHINESE MIGRATION TO ROMANIA: THE PAST COUNTS

Abstract: One of the defining features of the post-Cold War era is the growth of international migration in all areas of the world, especially in Europe, where the lift of the Iron Curtain created needs and opportunities as far as immigrants are concerned. Although a beneficial process in itself, the growth of migration to Europe was frequently a cause of various forms of conflict, which in the social science was explained by the theory of immigrant phobia. The purpose of my thesis was to reveal more of the ingredients that can make migration successful. I studied the case of the Chinese migration to Romania as an apparently paradoxical one: with all the factors that normally trigger immigrant phobia in place, the coexistence of the dominant and migrant group is seemingly peaceful. The study was conducted as a quantitative research meant to test the hypothesis that the positive attitude of Romanians towards Chinese migrants is influenced by their early and exclusive contact with the Chinese imported goods, during the communist dictatorship of Ceausescu. In turn, the hypothesis was derived by using theories, secondary data and pre-knowledge of the author. Data on both independent and dependent variables were collected by a poll and analyzed with SPSS to test the degree of correlation and signification. The results proved relevant and they were further discussed in a socio-psychological analytical frame, leading to the conclusion that previous contacts with vectors of a culture soften the interaction with migrants representing that culture.