Journal of Chinese Overseas

May 2006: volume 2, number 1

With the implementation of economic reforms in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the relaxation of restrictions on foreign travel, a new wave of overseas migration from mainland China has taken place. Compared to the earlier waves of Chinese emigrants who were semi-literate peasants and craftsmen, many new Chinese migrants are highly educated professionals and are extremely mobile. While the earlier Chinese migrants were from mostly southern provinces in China and organized their voluntary associations based on native-place or blood ties, new Chinese migrants hail from different regions in China, and would build social organizations of different configurations. Besides setting up voluntary organizations offline, these new Chinese migrants are also forming cybercommunities on the Internet. This article investigates whether virtual communities formed by new Chinese migrants also offer identity options to migrants in terms of ethnicity and national belonging, as offline immigrant associations do. It does so by examining the varieties of Chinese national identities articulated in cyberspace and in the offline activities of two virtual communities formed by new Chinese migrants who are working and studying in Singapore. I argue that virtual communities formed by migrants may or may not offer distinct identity options to their members in terms of ethnic or national belonging. Virtual communities with very diverse user profiles may offer more distinct identity options for their members as a strategy in attracting and retaining members, compared to virtual communities with a more homogeneous membership.

The persistence of memory as a trope in works by Chinese writers in Southeast Asia demonstrates that the sense of identity among Chinese in this area is constantly being interrogated and re-negotiated. This paper argues that literary texts are one important constituent factor of collective cultural memory, a purposeful activity undertaken to influence social reality. Even as they foreground the issue of an individual's memory of Chinese culture, they are themselves a type of memorializing practice which seeks to preserve certain types of cultural memory and thus shape the individual's identity. In comparing the works of Singaporean and Malaysian writers, I find a rather stark contrast between the figures used to conceptualize China, Chinese culture, and memory. I argue that Singaporean writers use certain figures to reify Chinese culture and determine its unchanging essence, whereas Malaysian Chinese often have a more fluid view of culture. I then consider some of the ramifications for the use of natural metaphors by the Malaysian writers, which I see as participating in a type of wishful colonial mentality, quite distinct from the historical reality of indentured labor and political disempowerment of the ethnic Chinese in the modern nation state of Malaysia. I conclude by proposing the use of "trunk" as a metaphor for cultural memory and identity formation.

Transnational Homeland Concerns and Participation in US Politics: A Comparison among Immigrants from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong
Pei-Te Lien

This study addresses the scholarly debate between assimilation and transnationalism through analyses of public opinion data collected mainly in California and from residents of Chinese descent whose families originated from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and elsewhere in Asia. It explores the empirical relationship between Chinese Americans' concern about the political condition of the ethnic homelands in Asia and their patterns of political participation in the United States. Not all transnational concerns are equal. This study distinguishes between the democratic-oriented and nationalist-oriented transnational political behaviour. It also separates voting registration from other types of political participation. A main argument of this study is that the relationship between political assimilation and transnational linkages depends both on the nature of the transnational political concern and on the type of political participation. Transnational political concerns are found to influence the degree of participation in regime-influence (e.g. making campaign contributions) but not regime-support (e.g. voting registration) acts. Also, only those homeland concerns that are consistent with U.S. foreign policy interests such as regarding the democratic future of Hong Kong after the 1997 transition are found to have a positive impact on participation.

This paper focuses on the wartime experiences of Aw Boon Haw who was the renowned billionaire peddler of the Tiger Balm ointment and owner of an influential chain of regional newspapers. After the Sino-Japanese War broke out in July 1937, he traveled from Singapore to the wartime Chinese capital of Chongqing to meet up with Chiang Kai-shek and his Guomindang leaders. But soon after, he opted to stay in Hong Kong throughout the occupation period and became closely associated with the Japanese-sponsored government of Wang Jingwei, even making a trip to Tokyo to meet the Japanese Prime Minister. When the war ended, amidst accusations of him having been a traitor who collaborated with the occupation authorities, he switched his loyalty back to China and the British colonial settlements and resumed his business operations and philanthropic activities.

Chinese in Papua New Guinea: Strategic Practices in Sojourning
Tetsu Ichikawa

This is a study of the Chinese migrants in Papua New Guinea, especially those who have arrived since 1975. While the earlier Chinese migrants were from Guangdong, the recent Chinese new comers have hailed not only from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, but also Hong Kong, Taiwan and various parts of mainland China. The article analyses the strategic practices of these recent migrants in deciding whether to settle down or to re-migrate, especially to Australia. It discusses why some decide to settle, including acquiring PNG nationality to help them avoid the restrictions on foreigners doing business; while others decide to re-migrate. In both cases, the choice is based on strategic decisions and influenced by domestic conditions and transnational considerations.

reports

Gender and Migration Networks: New Approaches to Research on New Chinese Migration to France and Europe
Carine Pina-Guerassimoff



book reviews

Qiaowu yu waijiao guanxi yanjiu: Zhongguo fangqi "shuangchong guoji" de huigu yu fansi (Overseas Chinese Affairs and Diplomatic Relations: Retrospect on China's Abandonment of its Policy of "Dual Nationality") by Cheng Xi
Reviewed by Ning Zhang


The Chinese Diaspora: Space, Place, Mobility, and Identity, edited by Laurence J.C. Ma, and Carolyn Cartier
Reviewed by Haiming Liu


East by South: China in the Australasian Imagination, edited by Charles Ferrall, Paul Millar, and Keren Smith
Reviewed by John Fitzgerald


Ethnic Relations and Nation-Building in Southeast Asia. The Case of the Ethnic Chinese, edited by Leo Suryadinata
Reviewed by Amy L. Freedman