ABSTRACT

More than three-quarters of the Chinese diaspora – estimated to be around 60 million – reside in Southeast Asia today. Due to geographical proximity and trading ties, the Chinese diaspora has a long history in Southeast Asia. Ethnic Chinese have played an important role in the region’s economic, social and political developments and its interactions with China. Even though the Chinese diaspora is unique in many ways, it can also illustrate some of the broader concerns and changing contexts pertaining to the Asian diaspora. These include questions of identity and homeland ties; the various factors that contribute to divisions within diasporas; the attempts of governments to incorporate diasporas; and the changing relationship between states and diasporas in different historical periods and geopolitical contexts. This chapter provides an historical overview and theoretical framework of the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia in the context of changing meanings of diaspora – namely identity, difference, and homeland linkages – from the beginning of Chinese settlement in the region to the present.