China's development and the Chinese overseas, 1978-1994: State and diaspora in the contemporary world order

There has been considerable debate among analysts over the condition and future of the nation state as states struggle to deal with transnational forces and meet various challenges to state autonomy at both the supranational and subnational levels. While some argue that the nation state is in decline and may soon be supplanted by different forms of organization, others argue that states will maintain their central role in the international environment. This debate has only intensified with changes evident in the post-cold war world. In Asia, the ambiguity surrounding the role of states is reflected in discussions of "Greater China," an imprecisely defined entity whose relationship with existing states is unclear.This project addresses the debate through an analysis of economic interactions between China and Asia's diaspora Chinese business community, with special attention given to Southeast Asia's ethnic Chinese (the Chinese overseas). It is demonstrated that the Chinese state has successfully appealed to ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs for investments throughout the post-1978 reform period. Indeed, China has appealed for such investments since the end of the nineteenth century, but only since 1978 has the government been able to provide an environment that is hospitable to widespread investment. Ethnic Chinese investments during the reform period have made major contributions to China's high economic growth rates, as well as led to the transfer of management skills and technology, demonstrating how a state can use transnational linkages and a diaspora community for its own benefit.Nevertheless, such transnational economic activity also has effects that the state finds undesirable. In the case of China, ethnic Chinese investments have been linked to intensifying regionalism, pressures for liberalization, and possibly corruption. They have also complicated China's relations with the states of Southeast Asia, as well as raised questions in Southeast Asia concerning the position of the Chinese overseas. Thus the Chinese state has been strengthened by transnational economic activities that it has encouraged, but at the same time faces new challenges as a result of such activities.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio