The 1980s represents a significant shift in national policy within the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the movement away from Communist ideology toward a new form of "market socialism" which has resulted in intensive economic growth, foreign investment, and political influence for the Chinese nation. Mette Thuno (2001) argues that official government policy has been directed since 1978 to appeal to the national, patriotic cultural attitudes of Chinese overseas; and to provide better treatment for migrants' relatives in the PRC as a refutation of policies implemented during the Cultural Revolution. As such, it has been the demonstrated goal of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to seek investment and support from ethnic Chinese and Chinese nationals living abroad. Conversely, Wang Gungwu (1995) explains that "Chinese overseas" are in fact divided among various groups in terms of their nationality, interests and associations; and these standing divisions could actually stand as counterproductive obstacles to the outreach efforts of the CCP in establishing an international Chinese network. For this essay, the outreach efforts of the CCP described by Thuno (2001) will be compared to the community distinctions in Chinese overseas of Gungwu (1995) in order to evaluate the effectiveness and likely success of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission (OCAC) in establishing business, cultural or political ties with patriotic Chinese overseas.
[...] Segal (1994) writes, power of Hong Kong also derives from the fact that it is essential to the growth of southern China, and growth in southern China is essential for the growth of the country at large. Without this growth, the legitimacy of the Communist Party in Beijing is at risk.” In terms of central and regional rivalries, Hong Kong threatens to displace Beijing in its political hegemony over China as its national economic success depends upon the city. Kuhn (1998) argues that local authorities in China are acting as petty princes (zhuhou) of ancient China, effectively establishing competing Dukedoms in follow their own paths to quick profits irrespective of central orchestration or organization from Beijing. [...]
[...] Many migrants have attained local citizenship, and identify with the political and economic functions of their respective new nations over their ethnic tie to China [Gungwu, 1995]. Consequently, CCP Vice-Chairman Deng Xiaoping sought to implement “overseas Chinese affairs” as part of the government agenda since 1977 a return to policies and practices in place before the Cultural Revolution [Thuno, 2001]. The Cultural Revolution saw Chinese migrants' families persecuted as “foreign conspirators,” and this experience dramatically affected the relationship with Chinese overseas and the PRC. [...]
[...] Ultimately, if China were to renounce its totalitarian regime and to engage in an open democratic society, guaranteeing the rights of its citizens as they are offered by the government in Taiwan, an accord could potentially be reached between the two states. As Rigger (2002) notes the Taiwanese were more interested in their quality of life as opposed to nationalistic goals, which spurred calls and actions for democratic reform, and could “mend fences” with China if it were to also begin to focus upon that issue. [...]
[...] Regions within China are free to compete and to follow whatever policies will ensure the growth and profitability of local business interests. With the growing autonomy resulting from decentralization, regional bureaucrats are able to exert their own influential against the central predominance of Beijing. If the two situations presented by Kuhn (1998) and Segal (1994) are compared with one another they represent a complimentary description of the decentralizing forces at play within the political structure of the PRC. Beijing's ability to maintain its central authority, and to exert control upon its provinces, is challenged by the economic development generated by foreign investment and trade. [...]
[...] This perspective of Chinese nationality proceeds beyond the scope of political ideology which surrounded the 1949 Maoist Revolution in China, and remained in direct conflict as the ROC operated as the de jure government of China (whether in Taiwan or the Communist-controlled areas). Whereas Chinese nationalism is fundamentally identical whether directed by the ROC or the PRC, insofar as the ideology seeks a unified China, it is the practical differences which comprise the Taiwanese nation-state that set it at odds with the CCP. [...]
APA Style reference
For your bibliographyOnline reading
with our online readerContent validated
by our reading committee
