国外的华人

Clark Atlanta University The Chinese Abroad Author(s): Rose Hum Lee Reviewed work(s): Source: Phylon (1940-1956), Vol. 17, No. 3 (3rd Qtr., 1956), pp. 257-270 Published by: Clark Atlanta University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/272877 . Accessed: 20/02/2013 21:18 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. . Clark Atlanta University is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Phylon (1940- 1956). http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded on Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:18:23 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions By ROSE HUM LEE The Chinese Abroad ANY persons of Chinese ancestry are confronted with suspicion, dis- trust, and hostility since the Communist Government gained con- trol of mainland China. Others are equally suspect because they sup- port the Nationalist Government in Taiwan. Such attitudes are diamet- rically opposite to the favorable, and even sentimental, praises they en- joyed during the Second World War. Since then, the same people's loyal- ties, habit patterns, values, and mental set seem to have become irrevoca- bly altered. It is a truism that minority people have a great difficulty achieving integration within the society of which they are a part. As soon as a crisis faces the society in question - today it is the free world against the slave world - their marginality is affected by changing political events. The fact that the persons themselves are not responsi- ble for the state of affairs, want only to pursue their daily lives, rear their children to adulthood, and die in peace is less important than that they symbolize the group bent on "creating trouble." In most South Asian countries - new nations since the end of World War Two - the Chinese are considered a "problem." The Chinese are the targets of animosities, if not indignities, because they are too firmly entrenched in the economic structure of the society undergoing transition from semi-feudalism to a form of Asian industrialism. More- over, the expansive and aggressive militarism of the Communist Gov- ernment in Peking generates fear and anger. The Chinese abroad are pressured in various ways: declaration of allegiance to the Nationalist or Communist Government; declaration of intention within a specified time of becoming a citizen of the country where they were born; deporta- tion if suspected of the "wrong" ideology; curtailment of civil rights; de- nial of licenses for the operation of new businesses, and so on. In areas where the Western powers have limited immigration for a century and the Chinese are few, the pressures are more indirect. Nev- ertheless, these contribute to the marginal feelings of persons who, as a result of political change and strained diplomatic relations between one of the "two" Chinas, find themselves bearing the onus of the wrong an- cestry. Coupled with the above is the revival of the belief that the Chinese are an unassimilable group; they are "the Jews of the Orient." Their racial uniform causes them to be more noticed, while their in- group interaction - often forced by fear and self defense - contribute to their marginality.1 1 Rose Hum Lee, "The Marginal Man: A Reevaluation and Indices of Marginality," Journal of Human Relations, 4 (Spring, 1956), 27-39. 257 This content downloaded on Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:18:23 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions PHYLON As can be seen, many factors may be responsible for the dilemma facing the persons of Chinese ancestry abroad and the complexity of these factors is as varied as the geographic distribution of the loverseas population scattered throughout the world. The series of articles that follow show how local conditions affect the members of this group, for no single explanation suffices. Too, they indicate the interrelationships between ancestry and the following: (1) size and composition of popula- tion, (2) dual citizenship, (3) receiving country's immigration and nat- uralization policies, (4) manpower needs and the indentured labor sys- tem, (5) mobility orientation of the Chinese, (6) political change in Asia and the rise of independent nations, (7) the emergence of "two" Chinas, (8) retention of cultural traits, (9) racial origin, and (10) intragroup policies toward integration. These articles are more representative than mutually exclusive. They show the extremes of prejudicial treatment in one society as compared with another, where the Chinese after coming to terms with the prevail- ing society's social norms, have achieved accommodation. In the para- graphs below the more salient of the factors affecting the Chinese abroad will be discussed. A historical perspective of Chinese migration to, and settlement in, other lands will provide the basis for understand- ing the genesis, development, and perpetuation of the marginal feelings exhibited by persons of Chinese ancestry as well as the reason for their being a "problem" - particularly in Southeast Asia. Emigration Abroad When the Chinese first migrated to foreign lands is unknown, al- though the most reliable sources indicate that this took place over two thousand years ago.2 Early contacts with the areas adjacent to China were more constant, but Chinese traders were known to have sailed as far south as Indonesia and The Malay States at this time. Chinese junks, following the monsoon winds, conducted trade between China and the countries bordering the South Seas and the Indian Ocean. Occasionally, traders settled at the ports-of-call, intermarried with local women, and laid the beginnings of a new ethnic strain.3 By becoming an integral part of the society - often embracing a new religion, too - the early migrants rose to prominence and affluence. The royal families of Indo- china, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Burma, and Malaya acknowledge, and are proud of, their Chinese ancestry. Countless other families have become so intermixed that their ethnicity is obscured. Hence, the popu- lations of Southeast Asia make a strong distinction between early Chi- nese immigrants and their descendants and the later arrivals, whose settlement coincided with the advent and penetration of Western im- perialism. It is against the more recent immigrants that hostilities are directed today. 2 China Handbook, 1955-1956 (Taipeh, Taiwan, 1955), p. 513. 3 Victor Purcell, The Chinese in Southeast Asia (London, 1952), Introduction. 258 This content downloaded on Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:18:23 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE CHINESE ABROAD- During the Sung, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties (960-1644 A.D.) the Chinese Empire prospered and expanded into Burma, Indochina, Korea, and surrounding undeveloped territories. In the process of settling in these parts of the empire and tributary states, the Chinese diffused their culture, much of which survives to the present. China's decline during the Manchu Dynasty (1644-1911 A.D.) and the penetration of Euro- pean powers into Southeast Asia shifted the balance of power and China lost control over these areas and her subjects. Hence, China's concern for her overseas population in Southeast Asia has historical implica- tions, but this same concern has created resentment and contributed to the extenuation of the "Chinese problem" today. Many new independent nations there regard the attempts of consular officials of either Chinese government to secure the allegiance of former citizens of China as in- terfering with their newly founded sovereignty. It was the arrival of the European powers and their exploitation of the rich natural resources of Southeast Asia and Oceania that stimulated the mass migration and settlement of Chinese there. The need for man- power, of which China had a huge reservoir, and the colonial policy of "holding down" the local population economically, politically, and so- cially opened the flood of Chinese immigration through the indentured labor system. Slavery had been abolished, it must be remembered, but the unceasing search for cheap manpower continued. Chinese laborers were recruited under the indenture system for a minimum of three to a maximum of seven years. Millions of Chinese were cargoed into the countries controlled by Great Britain, France, and The Netherlands. At the expiration of the indentured contract, the Chinese laborers could elect (1) to renew the contract for another indentured period, (2) return to China, or (3) remain in the country as aliens. It was from among the latter that the "new" Chinese settlement took form. Added thereto were the traders, artisans, laborers, professionals, and officials. At the turn of this century women and children joined their menfolk and some eight million Chinese were counted among the Southeast Asian census returns. By then, many males had formed unions with local women so that the term Chinese became a designation of parental an- cestry, genetic mixing, and place of origin. Conditions in China precipitated emigration abroad: civil war, famine, overpopulation, deterioration of the economic system, and the indif- ference of the Manchu throne toward the correction and removal of mounting social problems. Moreover, European powers were penetrating strategic areas within China, making inroads into her political and so- cial organization, and weakening the Manchus' power over the Chinese. Migration abroad became the modus operandi for escaping the harsh rule of the "barbarous foreign Manchus" - so-called because they are ethnically different from the Chinese population they controlled and 259 This content downloaded on Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:18:23 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions PHYLON their "homeland" was Manchuria. Most emigrants left their villages in search of economic betterment and came from the two southernmost seacoast provinces: Kwangtung and Fukien. The Manchu rulers attempted to "save face" by decreeing that mi- grants abroad would be exiled permanently, their families punished, and culprits caught at debarkation ports imprisoned. The failure of these decrees needs no elaboration. In retaliation the Chinese abroad organ- ized, financed, and supported various social movements aimed at over- throwing the Manchu Dynasty. They were successful but these political activities have contributed to their unpopularity abroad. The overseas Chinese are regarded as "The mothers of the Chinese Republican Revolu- tion," the successful culmination of which came in 1911; and the Kuomin- tang Party has up to now maintained offices abroad to "oversee" the welfare of those who helped them achieve a unified, republican China. A special division of the government, known as the Overseas Chinese Commission, has charge of overseas affairs relative to: (1) operation of Chinese schools; (2) preparation of textbooks and propagandistic ma- terials; (3) teacher training for overseas Chinese schools; (4) main- tenance of schools in China for overseas students from the elementary through higher education; (5) encouragement and protection of overseas investment in China's enterprises; (6) patriotic celebrations; (7) repre- sentation of overseas population in the home government and Party Congress, and so on.4 Laudable as these attempts have been, they have contributed to the resentment and fear of the Chinese in other lands. The defection of the Nationalist Government to Taiwan (Formosa) in October, 1949 has caused considerable hardship to supporters of this regime, and the more so, if the country in question maintains diplomatic relations with the Communist Government. Immigration to the United States came during the Gold Rush in Cali- fornia and it is now history how the Chinese helped develop our far Western frontier. To this day, the states there have the largest Chinese population. Migration to other countries of the Western hemisphere oc- curred shortly thereafter, coinciding with the movement of others to Europe, "white" Oceania, and South Africa. In all these regions the Chi- nese are few, as restrictive immigration measures were enacted shortly after their arrival. Size and Composition of Overseas Population The Chinese residing abroad are officially designated as Overseas Chinese by both the Nationalist Government in Taiwan and the Chinese People's Republic in Peking. Both claim their allegiance because their ancestry stemmed from China. Length of residence, country of birth, and degree of genetic mixing are not as crucial as ancestry. The fact 4 China Handbook, 1955-1956, pp. 521-522. 260 This content downloaded on Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:18:23 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE CHINESE ABROAD that many have little interest in, or knowledge of, China has little bearing as to whether they are included or iomitted, for the term Over- seas Chinese is used to classify members of this group in China as well as by country of residence. The United States, for example, recognizes Chinese ancestry. The 1950 Census listed 117,629 persons as being of this origin, over half of whom were native-born second, third, fourth, or fifth generation American citizens. Moreover, Federal and state laws take ancestry into account, as evidenced by immigration quotas, naturalization, ownership of property, and civil rights. The enforcement of statutory measures varies accord- ing to the size of Chinese population and it is well known that California, especially, and our Western states generally uphold them more rigidly than do other states. Estimates of overseas population vary from 11,743,000 (Communist sources for 1950) to 13,722,311 (Nationalist for 1953) .5 The discrepancy between these totals, may be explained by the Nationalist Govern- ment's Overseas Affairs Commission's statement that "the Communist occupation of the Chinese mainland precipitated a mass exodus, and in a year's time no less than two million persons left their native land." 6 This government is warning "peace loving, democratic societies and peoples everywhere" against granting official recognition to the Com- munist regime, pointing to the inhumane purges and "brain washings" of those whose mental set are diametrically and unalterably opposed to Communism. The foundation and survival of the Nationalist Government is inextricably bound with the "freedom loving Chinese abroad" and demonstrations of this fact have elicited political and economic support from governments that espouse the same ideology. It has won our gov- ernment's acclaim, for example; the Nationalist regime is believed to symbolize the aspirations of the Overseas Chinese, many of whom are refugees in the United States, Hong Kong, Canada, and South America. Persons of Chinese ancestry live in different parts of the world and the accompanying table reveals that countries adjacent to, or within Asia, have the largest aggregation of them. Asia and Oceania have 98 percent of them, while the remaining two percent are scattered through- out The Americas, Europe, and Africa. Thailand has the largest num- ber, followed by the combined populations of The Malay States and Singapore. Hong Kong's increase of more than a million and a quarter since 1945 is due to internal and global wars. At the other extreme is Iraq with a lone Chinese. A better gauge of the size of the Chinese population is its propor- tion to the country's total population. In countries of Europe, Africa, Oceania, and The Americas, the ratio is negligible; in the United 5 Statesman's Year Book, 1955, 873 and China Handbook, 1955-1956, p. 513. 6 Ibid. 261 This content downloaded on Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:18:23 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions PHYLON States it is one tenth of one percent. In Southeast Asia, the variations range from a negligible figure (Ceylon) to forty-five percent for the Malay States and Singapore. In the latter, the "Chinese problem" is most intense as the Chinese outnumber the Malaysians, Indians, Eurasians, and Europeans, constituting 79 percent of the total population. Singapore is reputed to be "the largest Chinese city outside China," in much the same manner as San Francisco is said to be "the largest Italian city out- side Italy" and Chicago, the "largest Polish city outside Poland." Too, proximity of the overseas population to the "homeland" height- ens the resentment and fears of the local population and others toward them. This is further complicated by whether a given country officially recognizes the Communist or Nationalist Government. The one that has diplomatic relations with the former suspects, and often deports, the holders of Nationalist passports as well as their officials. Many have been imprisoned before deportation. In contrast to the United States which permits the admission and residence of Nationalist Government sympathizers. At the other extreme is The Philippines where drastic measures are taken to expurge all Chinese, regardless of their political affiliations. Suffice it to say that many persons of Chinese ancestry are caught in a situation, not of their own making, but which affects their lives and futures, nevertheless. Finally, their dual citizenship is equally troublesome. Dual Citizenship Since dual citizenship is recognized both by municipal (internal) and international law, persons having such status may find themselves in perplexing, and often hazardous, situations which impinge upon their liberties, rights, and privileges. A pertinent example is a Chinese born in the United States of Chinese parentage. This makes him an Ameri- can citizen by virtue of birth and allegiance, but he may still be claimed as a citizen of China by the Chinese government, whether Nationalist or Communist. In times of war and political upheavals, or when diplo- matic relations between countries are strained, these claims complicate a person's life and goals. In brief, dual citizenship is related to ancestry, but in the case of the Chinese, race is added to origin. Dual citizenship is by no means confined to the Chinese; most Euro- pean countries uphold this legal concept.7 So long as the person in ques- tion never visits his so-called homeland, claims by the "foreign govern- ment" need not trouble him. While visiting there, however, or as a pris- oner of war, he may be subject to the burdens of its citizenship. He may be forced into military service, retained indefinitely, and his freedom proscribed by local laws. Or he may be expelled at will. These demands supersede those of the country of which he holds real citizenship. The same principle applies to a naturalized citizen. At the other extreme, the 7 Department of State, "When You Go Abroad" (Washington, February, 1956), pp. 41-99. 262 This content downloaded on Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:18:23 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE CHINESE ABROAD Chinese Abroad by Continents (January, 1953*) Locality Asia Thailand Hong Kong Malaya Indonesia Vietnam Singapore Burma Macao North Borneo Cambodia Philippines Japan India South Korea Arabia Timor (Portugal) Laos Turkey Ryukya Islands Ceylon Other Americas United States Canada Cuba Peru Jamaica Mexico Guiana Guatemala Trinidad Nicaragua Panama Venezuela Costa Rica Num