Author: Qinna Shen
Source: Transit: A Journal of Travel, Migration, and Multiculturalism in the German-speaking world, vol. 12, no. 2 (2020): 23鈥46
Publication Type: Journal Article
Abstract: Taking a cue from a painting by Jiny Lan, a Chinese artist living in Germany, which captures Merkel鈥檚 refugee policy in 2015, the article examines both official and popular responses to the recent Syrian refugee crisis in China and other East Asian countries. In the painting, Merkel wears a Manchu-style headdress typical of women at the Qing court. Lan鈥檚 portrait of the German Chancellor resembles the Empress Dowager Cixi鈥攐ne of the most powerful women in Chinese history, and a ruler with a contentious legacy. The article distills some of the major reasons for a positive or negative attitude toward accepting refugees among Chinese living in both China and Germany. In the coda, it briefly touches on reactions in Japan and South Korea to provide context and contrast.
Although popular opinion in China and within Germany鈥檚 Chinese communities is divided on the refugee question, there is little interest among Chinese in either country in building a Willkommenskultur. The massive influx of new immigrant groups led Chinese expatriates in Germany such as Jiny Lan to distance themselves from Merkel鈥檚 impactful refugee policy. Their political views tended to converge with those of Merkel鈥檚 critics both in the government and among the right-leaning populace. The apocalyptic equation of Merkel and the Empress Dowager Cixi taps into the fear that the end of Germany is near, evident in neologisms such as 鈥淓uropastan,鈥 鈥淒eutschstan,鈥 and 鈥淔rancistan.鈥 The refugee issue is an ongoing one. Merkel has by now modified her position, but the effects of her refugee policy in 2015 still remain to be seen.