Cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/13000698
Beijing often states that there are about 60 million people of Chinese origin living abroad in nearly 200 countries and regions, presumably excluding those living in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, the self-ruled island that the CCP claims as its own. People of Chinese ethnicity can trace their roots back centuries in countries like Malaysia, where they make up some 23 percent of the population, and Thailand and Indonesia.
In the telling of China’s story, Xi has recently highlighted the role that “Chinese sons and daughters at home and abroad” must play in “uniting all Chinese people to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”.
According to Associate Professor Ian Chong Ja, who teaches Chinese foreign policy at the National University of Singapore, Xi’s language suggests that the CCP sees ethnic Chinese across the world as a vehicle to mobilise support and advance Beijing’s interests, even if those people are not nationals of China and have no allegiance to the country.
Define “ethnic Chinese”…
It makes as much sense as “ethnic English”: are they German? Vikings? Jamaican - hence African? Is Joe Biden an “ethnic Irish”, “ethnic French” or “ethnic English”?
Aren’t we all strictly-speaking scatterlings of Africa, like Johnny Clegg said? In which case, aren’t we all “ethnic homo erectus”?
Ethnicity, like race, is one of those terms that has no actual meaning, but consistently comes up in racist and populist utterances. It’s usually a big red flag for me to immediately cut the discussion short with whoever starts invoking those concepts.