Opinion | From Indonesia to Singapore, China’s rise is affecting ethnic identities in Southeast Asia
- In the 21st century, Beijing’s policy has been to encourage Chinese overseas to be oriented towards China and serve the country’s interests
- This policy can impact ethnic Chinese identities in the region, and cause tensions that undermine domestic political and economic stability
From Zhou Enlai to Deng Xiaoping, Beijing’s policy towards Chinese overseas was luodi shenggen (to take local roots), which encouraged them to take local citizenship and integrate themselves into local society.
In the 21st century, following the rise of China, this policy changed with a new wave of xinyimin (new migrants). Beijing advocated a policy of luoye guigen (return to original roots), thus blurring the distinction between huaqiao (Chinese nationals overseas) and huaren (foreign nationals of Chinese descent), and urging Chinese overseas, regardless of citizenship, to be oriented towards China and to serve Beijing’s interests.
China began calling huaqiao and huaren, especially people in business, to help China support the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the Belt and Road Initiative, and to return and develop closer links with China.
Responses from ethnic Chinese in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand have been muted, as they are localised and are participating in local politics. Beijing’s new policy did not attract the attention of some Southeast Asian governments which were too occupied with domestic issues.
This new policy can impact ethnic Chinese identities in Southeast Asia and cause ethnic tensions which would undermine domestic political and economic stability. It can also make it more challenging for new Chinese immigrants to Southeast Asia to integrate locally. In countries such as Singapore, this policy – if it continues – will cause ethnic tensions and affect the nation-building process.
NEW CHINESE MIGRANTS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND THE WEST
