The State of China Atlas. Robert Benewick

      Chinese outward migration over the centuries has created some strong overseas communities. The history of Chinese outward migration is complex, but the reasons why people migrated in the 18th and 19th centuries – as indentured laborers, traders, and for education or adventure – still hold true today. Long-term Chinese residency and trade are symbolized in the Chinatowns of major cities such as London, San Francisco, Paris, Havana, and in the ordinary “Chinese” suburbs in other, less famous, places. There are Chinese communities, not only in the heavily populated countries of Europe and South-East Asia, but also in tiny Pacific island nations such as Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands. In most of these communities, people of different generations of migration have vastly uneven levels of “Chinese” identity, and varying access to and knowledge of Chinese languages, of which there are several in common use. In the US census, Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos and others are categorized as “Asian-American”. There are strongly felt arguments about what this means and whether or not the terminology is helpful. The present rise of the Chinese economy has attracted return migration, and also a flow of inward investment from overseas Chinese into mainland businesses.

      see also page 106

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      CHINESE DIASPORA

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      “It is easier to find Chinese-ness rooted in history than in the shared qualities among people known as Chinese.” Wang Guangwu

      Part Two PEOPLE IN CHINA

      China has a huge population and a vast landmass. For many years, this single fact has been the most significant characteristic of both its potential and its challenge. Yet, any understanding of China must also take into account particular sectors of the population: its minority ethnic peoples, its class divisions, and its rural and urban split – those people who dominate the policy agenda and those who are under-represented in the ideological management of the nation’s future. Research into China is usually premised on the differences between rural and urban living – an approach encouraged by the data published in the annual China Statistical Yearbook and in the registration system for residency in different zones. This dichotomy between the urban intelligentsia and the peasantry has a long history and although it is now being challenged by mass inward migration to the towns and cities, it is still true to say that the majority of poorer Chinese are rural, and that privilege is mainly confined to metropolitan areas. In the past 15 to 20 years more attention has been paid to the differences between China’s provinces, which are important units of experience, economy and culture. They are also relevant in central planning mechanisms, which are increasingly mapped across macro-regions. At the 2008 11th National People’s Congress, Premier Wen Jiabao affirmed that the development strategies in the western provinces would be strengthened, with a focus on social support as well as industrial investment. The Premier’s National People’s Congress speech, always crucial to understanding policy directions, also emphasized that rural family planning would be more tightly monitored and that disincentives to have more than one child would be relaxed. This indicates that the problem of gender preference in seeking abortions, and in the differential care of babies born in poor households, has been noted by the government. Gender issues are high on the agenda for many organizations for a number of related reasons. Chinese girls have very uneven expectations within society, depending on their birthright. Educated and well-off families give a daughter great moral and financial support in order to further her education and future career prospects. The poor and ill-educated are more likely to give up on their daughter’s prospects because of poverty, a culture of preference for male interests, or both. Where young rural women are in short supply, this leaves them vulnerable to abuse, and physical danger. Many migrate to the cities and towns for work. These girls generally end up working in factories, as maids (baonü), or in the service industries. Factory conditions in the south of the country are especially harsh, and there are major problems with health and safety in these hothouses of the new economy. The Han Chinese population is in the overwhelming majority, and the term “Chinese” presupposes many Han beliefs and ways of thinking. It also, however, includes many that are originally from other ethnic groups – or that have been entirely made up or re-invented. Indeed, one can argue that “Chinese-ness” is an artificial construct that can be re-negotiated, depending on language, cultural practices and place of residence. Arguably, shared practices are as likely to be found in the border cities of Tibet, Gansu and Xinjiang, amongst people who are ethnically diverse but geographically proximate, as they are amongst Han Chinese across the nation and beyond.

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