Chinese Presence Grows in Russian Far East – Burt Herman

From AP, via Newsday.com:

In the mosquito-infested fields of Russia’s Far East, Chinese pick tomatoes. In the markets, they sell cheap jeans and backpacks and fix shoes. At construction sites, they rebuild cities.

As China and Russia embark on a new stage of cooperation by holding joint military exercises launched from the Pacific port of Vladivostok, the Chinese presence is growing in this hardscrabble region thousands of miles from Moscow.

It’s too early to talk of an imminent Chinese takeover, local experts say, despite such worries by some Russian politicians. Still, they acknowledge that China’s hunger for resources and territory as its population and economy boom could eventually make the Far East an alluring target.