The concept of the West is intimately linked to European expansion and the migration of its populations to far-flung parts of the world. This is a neglected issue, something that is largely taken for granted and little scrutinized. It was European emigration that led to the creation of the United States as a white-dominated society in the northern part of the American continent, and likewise in the case of Canada. The term “Latin America” derives from the Spanish and Portuguese colonization of South America and to this day finds expression in the fact that the elite in these countries remain predominantly white and is largely descended from the original colonial families. Similarly, British migration created a white Australia – which, together with New Zealand, formed in effect an Asia-Pacific outpost of the West – based on the suppression, decimation and subsequent marginalization of the indigenous Aborigine peoples. But for that, Australia and New Zealand would today be Aboriginal and Maori countries respectively with entirely different names, languages and cultures. If European migration to South Africa had been on a much greater scale, then the large white minority population might have been in a majority, thereby making white rule permanent. The European, or white, diaspora has had a huge impact on the nature and shape of the world as we know it.
Unlike the white diaspora, which was a product of relative European power and wealth, the Chinese diaspora was largely a consequence of hunger and poverty at home, combined with the use of Chinese indentured labour in the British Empire. This notwithstanding, the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia enjoys, relatively speaking, disproportionate economic power, while Chinese ethnic minorities more or less everywhere have experienced increasing economic success in recent decades. From being industrious but poor, the Chinese are steadily rising up the ladder of their respective adoptive homelands in both economic and cultural terms. That process is being driven in part by the growing power of China, which is serving to raise the self-confidence, prestige and status of the overseas Chinese everywhere. The multifarious links between the mainland and the Chinese diaspora, in terms of trade and Mandarin, for example, are predictably helping to enhance the economic position of the overseas Chinese. In some Western countries, notably Australia and also in Milan in Italy, where there have been clashes between the increasingly prosperous Chinese community and the local police, there has been evidence of strong resentment towards the local Chinese. The recent economic success of the Chinese, who have traditionally been regarded as inferior and impoverished, has proved disconcerting for sections of the Milanese population. Similarly, in Prato in Tuscany, local feeling has recently turned against the Chinese community, where the Chinese are estimated to comprise 40,000 of a total population of 180,000, and there was a big crackdown against them by the right wing Lega Nord mayor, backed by the Berlusconi government. Yet, as China becomes steadily wealthier and more powerful, Westerners will have to get used to the idea that growing numbers of Chinese at home and abroad will be more successful and richer than they are. They will not find this easy, given how deeply rooted these preconceptions and prejudices are.
This brings us to China’s attitude towards the overseas Chines. As mentioned earlier, one of the narratives of Chinese civilization is that of Greater China, an idea which embraces the “lost territorities” of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, the global Chinese diaspora and the mainland. The Middle Kingdom has always been regarded as the centre of the Chinese world, with Beijing at its heart and the diaspora at its distant edges. All Chinese have held an essentially centripetal view of their world. The way that diaspora has contributed to China’s economic transformation is an indication of a continuing powerful sense of belonging. The rise of China will further enhance its appeal and prestige in the eyes of the diaspora and reinforce their sense of Chineseness. The Chinese government has sought, with considerable success, to encourage eminent overseas Chinese scholars to work and settle in China, which has been a key plank in its efforts to shift the economy towards more value-added production. Meanwhile, as discussed earlier, Chinese migration is on the increase, notably to Africa, resulting in the creation of new, as well as enlarged, overseas Chinese communities. It is estimated that there are now at least half a million Chinese living in Africa, most of whom have arrived only very recently. There are over 7 million Chinese living in each of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, over 1 million each in Myanmar and Russia, 1.3 million in Peru, 3.3 million in the United States, 700,000 in Australia and 400,000 in the UK; the approximate figure for the diaspora as a whole is 45 million (excluding Taiwan), but this may well be a considerable underestimate.
Historically, imperial China regarded those who left China with disdain, regarding their departure as no less than stepping outside of civilization. Contemporary Chinese attitudes are very different, with the Chinese government encouraging some types of migration and seeking to establish a positive and supportive relationship with overseas Chinese communities. How will this relationship between China and the diaspora develop? Will the mainland at some point consider allowing dual citizenship, which at the moment it does not? Is it conceivable that in the future there might be a Chinese Commonwealth which embraces the numerous Chinese communities? Or, to put it another way, what forms might a Chinese civilization-state take in a modern world in which it is predominant? A commonwealth would no doubt be unacceptable to other nations as things stand, but in the event of a globally dominant China, the balance of power would be transformed and what is politically possible redefined. The impact of any such development would, of course, be felt most strongly in Southeast Asia, where the overseas Chinese are, relatively speaking, both most powerful and most numerous.
Unlike the white diaspora, which was a product of relative European power and wealth, the Chinese diaspora was largely a consequence of hunger and poverty at home, combined with the use of Chinese indentured labour in the British Empire. This notwithstanding, the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia enjoys, relatively speaking, disproportionate economic power, while Chinese ethnic minorities more or less everywhere have experienced increasing economic success in recent decades. From being industrious but poor, the Chinese are steadily rising up the ladder of their respective adoptive homelands in both economic and cultural terms. That process is being driven in part by the growing power of China, which is serving to raise the self-confidence, prestige and status of the overseas Chinese everywhere. The multifarious links between the mainland and the Chinese diaspora, in terms of trade and Mandarin, for example, are predictably helping to enhance the economic position of the overseas Chinese. In some Western countries, notably Australia and also in Milan in Italy, where there have been clashes between the increasingly prosperous Chinese community and the local police, there has been evidence of strong resentment towards the local Chinese. The recent economic success of the Chinese, who have traditionally been regarded as inferior and impoverished, has proved disconcerting for sections of the Milanese population. Similarly, in Prato in Tuscany, local feeling has recently turned against the Chinese community, where the Chinese are estimated to comprise 40,000 of a total population of 180,000, and there was a big crackdown against them by the right wing Lega Nord mayor, backed by the Berlusconi government. Yet, as China becomes steadily wealthier and more powerful, Westerners will have to get used to the idea that growing numbers of Chinese at home and abroad will be more successful and richer than they are. They will not find this easy, given how deeply rooted these preconceptions and prejudices are.
This brings us to China’s attitude towards the overseas Chines. As mentioned earlier, one of the narratives of Chinese civilization is that of Greater China, an idea which embraces the “lost territorities” of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, the global Chinese diaspora and the mainland. The Middle Kingdom has always been regarded as the centre of the Chinese world, with Beijing at its heart and the diaspora at its distant edges. All Chinese have held an essentially centripetal view of their world. The way that diaspora has contributed to China’s economic transformation is an indication of a continuing powerful sense of belonging. The rise of China will further enhance its appeal and prestige in the eyes of the diaspora and reinforce their sense of Chineseness. The Chinese government has sought, with considerable success, to encourage eminent overseas Chinese scholars to work and settle in China, which has been a key plank in its efforts to shift the economy towards more value-added production. Meanwhile, as discussed earlier, Chinese migration is on the increase, notably to Africa, resulting in the creation of new, as well as enlarged, overseas Chinese communities. It is estimated that there are now at least half a million Chinese living in Africa, most of whom have arrived only very recently. There are over 7 million Chinese living in each of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, over 1 million each in Myanmar and Russia, 1.3 million in Peru, 3.3 million in the United States, 700,000 in Australia and 400,000 in the UK; the approximate figure for the diaspora as a whole is 45 million (excluding Taiwan), but this may well be a considerable underestimate.
Historically, imperial China regarded those who left China with disdain, regarding their departure as no less than stepping outside of civilization. Contemporary Chinese attitudes are very different, with the Chinese government encouraging some types of migration and seeking to establish a positive and supportive relationship with overseas Chinese communities. How will this relationship between China and the diaspora develop? Will the mainland at some point consider allowing dual citizenship, which at the moment it does not? Is it conceivable that in the future there might be a Chinese Commonwealth which embraces the numerous Chinese communities? Or, to put it another way, what forms might a Chinese civilization-state take in a modern world in which it is predominant? A commonwealth would no doubt be unacceptable to other nations as things stand, but in the event of a globally dominant China, the balance of power would be transformed and what is politically possible redefined. The impact of any such development would, of course, be felt most strongly in Southeast Asia, where the overseas Chinese are, relatively speaking, both most powerful and most numerous.
