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This article reflects on the representations of overseas Chinese in Chinese political and popular discourses from the late Qing to World War II. It argues that contraly to prevalent views, which credit the success of the Chinese nationalist discourse in mobilizing the overseas Chinese to their re-incorporation into the Chinese nation, extraterritorial Chinese nationalism depended not so much on the rhetoric of inclusion, but rather on the separation of the overseas Chinese as a sub-ethnic group, particularly after they were "rebranded" as huaqiao, or Chinese sojourners. This analysis begins by looking at the key reasons for Chinese political activists' newfound interest in the diasporas - in soliciting huaqiao contributions to China's state-building projects - and argues that they imbued huaqiao with certain positive qualities only insofar as these made them relevant to China. The truth is, prejudices against the emigrants have persisted and Chinese within China continue to view huaqiao as uncouth, uncultured, and even "unChinese." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Autobiography of A Chinese Woman (1947), Yang Buwei (1889-1981) asserted that her husband, Zhao Yuanren, "found his work and his country ... because he found me," that is to say, because Yang, a "thoroughly Chinese" woman, rekindled his interest in Chinese dialects and thus "repatriated" this "English-speaking and American-feeling" man. Yet scrutiny of Yang's representation of their marriage belies her claim to an uncomplicated link between their shared mother tongue and their national identity. To be sure, her narrative gestures and topos widely differed from those of the more "Americanized" Zhao. Rather than looking to a Western model as legitimization of their unconventional marriage, Yang deployed the figure of her female Chinese colleague, a "traditional lady," as a foil against which she painted herself as a liberated and self-reliant modern Chinese woman favored by Zhao. However, she also published different versions of her autobiography in Chinese and English. Thus, despite her linguistic and narrative maneuvers, Yang could accomplish only a partial reconciliation of conflicting gender and national identities through the written word. By telling the story of a happy marriage of Chinese and American values she temporarily acquired a fluidity that enabled her to redefine and cross national and gender boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the assimilation of overseas Chinese in economies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Chinese culture is dominated by a number of attributes which affect economic organization. One is respect for hierarchical position and leadership. Another is a group or collective orientation, directed particularly to family and local community, but coexisting with a strong sense of national identity and respect for the national leader. The traditional Chinese behavior is regulated by Confucian appeals to good conduct. Reculturization is defined in the context of a new breed of Chinese making inroads back into China as it opens its overseas economy to foreign infusions of capital and technology. These younger generations of Chinese from the ASEAN economies have become citizens in their respective countries. They have the advantage of Western education and exposure to Western technology and management practices which add an extra dimension to their role in connecting with each other. Also, many of these new Chinese have learnt about political sensitivities in multi-ethnic settings and implicitly accept the rule of politics which are often discriminatory toward overseas settlers. The driving force of the reculturization effort is essentially economics rather than social or political factors.