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Intra-Asian Chinese Migrations: A Historical Overview

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Contemporary Chinese Diasporas

Abstract

This chapter offers a historical overview of Chinese emigration. Zhou and Benton examine how centuries-old Chinese diasporas were formed to facilitate subsequent migrant flows and migrant resettlement. The authors do so with a focus on intra-Asian migrations to offer some points of reference from which to understand contemporary Chinese migrations across the globe. They argue that distinct streams of emigration from China and remigrations from the Chinese diaspora are contingent upon historical circumstances and influenced by the intersection of nation-state policies, global economic forces, and migrant socioeconomic networks.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Estimates of the total number of people of Chinese descent in the world outside mainland China , Hong Kong , Macau and Taiwan vary widely, ranging from a low of 40 million to a high of more than 50 million (see Office of Overseas Chinese Affairs of the State Council, China, “Demographic Distribution and Development Trends of Overseas Chinese http://qwgzyj.gqb.gov.cn/yjytt/155/1830.shtml, accessed on October 16, 2016). The analysis by Poston and Wong (2016) was based on the extensive data resources collected by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Council in Taiwan (2012) and Overseas Community Affairs Council (2013).

  2. 2.

    This chapter was developed from “The Chinese Diaspora and International Migration” (Zhou 2006).

  3. 3.

    More precisely, the Nanyang refers to the region immediately to the south of China, including the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, Malaya and Borneo , Siam , Burma , Vietnam , Cambodia and Laos (Pan 1999: 16).

  4. 4.

    The Portuguese reached China by sea in 1514 and were believed to be the first Europeans to do so (Pan 1999: 365).

  5. 5.

    The total number of emigrants leaving China between 1801 and 1850 was 320,000. Most went to Southeast Asia, less than 6 % to the USA and 9 % to Cuba and Peru .

  6. 6.

    This number probably included the refugees who walked across the border to Vietnam after the Communist takeover in 1949.

  7. 7.

    The credit-ticket system and labor contracts were also the main means of labor migration to South Pacific, Hawaii, the USA and the Americas.

  8. 8.

    Hong Kong became a special administrative district of China when it was returned to China in 1997. Since it is operated under the “one China two systems” policy, it is treated as a nation-state but only in an analytical sense. Taiwan is also treated analytically as a nation-state despite controversy over its sovereignty.

  9. 9.

    Statistics Singapore , http://www.singstat.gov.sg/statistics/latest-data#16, accessed on October 15, 2016.

  10. 10.

    Singapore Ministry of Manpower, http://stats.mom.gov.sg/Pages/Labour-Force-Summary-Table.aspx, accessed on October 16, 2016.

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  1. University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Min Zhou

  2. Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

    Gregor Benton

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  1. University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Min Zhou

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Zhou, M., Benton, G. (2017). Intra-Asian Chinese Migrations: A Historical Overview. In: Zhou, M. (eds) Contemporary Chinese Diasporas. Palgrave, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5595-9_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5595-9_1

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