Thematic workshop “Chinese among others in Europe”

On the 16th of October 2020, a thematic workshop on changing Chinese ethnic relations in Europe was organized by Fanni Beck from Central European University in Budapest and Pál Nyiri from Free University Amsterdam titled “Chinese among others in Europe: Ethnic Relations Amidst Shifting Migrations, Geopolitics, and Pandemics.” The workshop is part of the project CHERN – China in Europe, which examines various involvement of China state and Chinese citizens in Europe.  The workshop was organized online due to COVID-19 measures, despite efforts and initial optimism for a hybrid conference. 

The presenters addressed the ongoing prejudice against Chinese in Europe exacerbated by a recent health crisis, the changing characteristics of the phenomena of Chinese students studying abroad as well as various exclusions among Chinese themselves as well as Chinese prejudice towards others in multicultural settings. Martina Bofulin presented a paper “Chinese Migrants and Covid-19: Mobility and Exclusion in the Time of Pandemic”, which examined the various exclusions Chinese migrants face in the country of settlement, country of origin, and among their transnational communities. Her paper has been selected for the thematic issue of the Global Dialogue, the magazine of the International Sociological Association available in eight languages.