Cross-Border Marriage Migration of Vietnamese Women to China
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CROSS-BORDER MARRIAGE MIGRATION OF VIETNAMESE WOMEN TO CHINA by LIANLING SU B.S., Harbin Normal University, 2009 A THESIS submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF ARTS Department of Geography College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2013 Approved by: Major Professor Max Lu Abstract This study analyzes the cross-border marriage migration of Vietnamese women to China. It is based on sixty-four in-depth interviews with Chinese-Vietnamese couples living in Guangxi province, near the border between China and Vietnam. Most of these Vietnamese women are “invisible,” or undocumented, in China because they do not have legal resident status. The women came from rural areas in northern Vietnam and generally have relatively lower levels of education. The primary reason the Vietnamese women chose to marry Chinese men rather than Vietnamese men was to have a better life in China; the women stated that living in China was better because of its stronger economic conditions, higher standard of living, and the higher quality of housing for families. Many of the Vietnamese women stated that by marrying Chinese men, they could also support their family in Vietnam. The Chinese men who marry Vietnamese women tend to be at the lower end of the social-economic spectrum with limited education. These men often have difficulties finding Chinese wives due to their low economic status and the overall shortage of local Chinese women. Both the Vietnamese women and Chinese men use different types of informal social networks to find their potential spouses. The cultural (particularly linguistic) similarities and historical connections between the border regions of China and Vietnam facilitate cross-border marriages and migration, which are likely to continue in the future. Table of Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. v List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ vii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... viii Chapter 1 - Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Cross-border Marriage Migration ......................................................................................... 5 1.2 Research Questions and the Importance of the Study ........................................................ 10 1.3 Organization of the Thesis .................................................................................................. 14 Chapter 2 - Motivations and the Roles of Social Networks in Cross-border Marriage Migration 15 2.1 Marriage Migration Motivations ........................................................................................ 16 2.1.1 Motivations for Women to Marry ................................................................................ 17 2.1.1.1 For a Better Life .................................................................................................... 18 2.1.1.2 Family Strategy to Cope with Poverty .................................................................. 23 2.1.1.3 “Marriage Squeeze”—Imbalance of the Sex Ratio .............................................. 26 2.1.2 Motivations for Men to Marry “Foreign Brides” ......................................................... 27 2.1.2.1 Inability to Find Local Women ............................................................................. 28 2.1.2.2 Female Deficit ....................................................................................................... 30 2.1.2.3 Preferences for Traditional Wives ........................................................................ 32 2.2 Roles of Social Networks ................................................................................................... 36 Chapter 3 - Research Design......................................................................................................... 45 3.1 The Study Site ..................................................................................................................... 45 3.2 Fieldwork ............................................................................................................................ 52 3.3 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 58 Chapter 4 - Cross-border Marriages between China and Vietnam ............................................... 61 4.1 Current Trends in Cross-border Marriages ......................................................................... 61 4.2 Demographic Characteristics of the Chinese-Vietnamese Couples ................................... 63 4.3 Nature of the Cross-border Marriages ................................................................................ 73 4.4 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 76 Chapter 5 - Motivations of the Cross-border Marriages ............................................................... 78 iii 5.1 Motivations for Vietnamese Women to Marry Chinese Men ............................................. 78 5.1.1 For a Better Life ........................................................................................................... 80 5.1.2 To Support Families in Vietnam .................................................................................. 89 5.1.3 Preference for Chinese Men ......................................................................................... 93 5.1.4 Difficulty Finding a Local Vietnamese Man ............................................................... 96 5.1.5 Other Reasons .............................................................................................................. 98 5.2 Motivations for Chinese Men to Marry Vietnamese Women ............................................. 99 5.2.1 Difficulty of Finding a Local Chinese Woman .......................................................... 101 5.2.2 Low Cost of Marrying Vietnamese Women .............................................................. 108 5.2.3 Disadvantages of the Chinese Men ............................................................................ 111 5.2.4 Other Reasons ............................................................................................................ 113 5.3 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 114 Chapter 6 - The Roles of Social Networks in Cross-borer Marriage Migration ......................... 117 6.1 How Do Couples Get to Know Each Other ...................................................................... 117 6.2 Courtship and Marriage Rituals ........................................................................................ 123 Chapter 7 - Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 126 References ................................................................................................................................... 131 Appendix A - Questionnaires...................................................................................................... 150 iv List of Figures Figure 1.1 An Advertisement for Vietnamese Brides ..................................................................... 2 Figure 2.1 Economic Status of Households before and after their Daughters’ Marriages. .......... 26 Figure 2.2 Provinces of Origin of Vietnamese Women Marriage Migrants to Taiwan, 1994-2002. ............................................................................................................................................... 43 Figure 3.1 The Map of the Study Sites. ........................................................................................ 46 Figure 3.2 The Front of the Official Border Checkpoint in Longbang, Jingxi, China. June 2011. Longbang, Guangxi, China. Photo: Lianling Su ................................................................... 48 Figure 3.3 The Back Side of the Official Border Checkpoint in Longbang, Jingxi, China. June 2011. Longbang, Guangxi, China. Photo: Lianling Su ......................................................... 49 Figure 3.4 The Official Border Checkpoint in Cao Bang ,Vietnam. June 2011. (Photo was Taken from Longbang, Guangxi, China.) Photo: Lianling Su ......................................................... 50 Figure 3.5 Border Mark between China and Vietnam. June 2011. Longbang, Guangxi, China. Note the Dirt Trail to the Left (see also Figure 3.6). Photo: Lianling Su ............................. 51 Figure 3.6 A Dirt Road that People Use to Commute between China and Vietnam. June 2011. Longbang, Guangxi, China. Photo: Lianling Su ................................................................... 52 Figure 3.7 Yu (Right) from the Longbang Village with Her Vietnamese Friend (Left). June 2011. Longbang, Guangxi, China. Photo: Lianling Su ................................................................... 54 Figure 3.8 A Chinese Man from the Longbang Village with His Vietnamese Wife. June 2011. Longbang, Guangxi, China. Photo: Lianling