ABSTRACT
At the Eighth National Congress of Returned Overseas Chinese and their Relatives, held July 14, 2009 in Beijing, Chinese Politburo member and former head of China’s United Front Department Wang Zhaoguo congratulated delegates for using “blood lineage”, “home-town feeling” and “professional linkages” to achieve “outstanding results in uniting the broad masses of overseas Chinese” (Garnaut 2007). Coming shortly after the July 5-7 protests by Turkic Uyghurs that resulted in the death of approximately 200 people, Wang exhorted Chinese people living abroad to “do a better job of uniting the force of the circle of overseas Chinese around the party and the Government” (Garnaut 2007).
