The United States in the World. Ithaca; London: Cornell University Press, 2015. x, 308 pp. (Figures, B&W photos.) US$45.00, cloth. ISBN 978-1-5017-0014-9.
Meredith Oyen has written with impressive craft and depth on the Chinese diaspora, an ethnic group of migrants and their descendants who have long drawn media and academic attention for the role they play within China and internationally. The Chinese diaspora is a subject in need of critical assessment because of the diaspora’s long history, wide geography of settlement, and sustained ethnic connections with China and within the diaspora. This book is a succinct account of how complicated the situation has been as various governments have attempted to better engage or exclude the Chinese diaspora from national agendas and international negotiations.
There are two commendable traits associated with Oyen’s book. First, it covers the period from 1943 to 1972—from the repeal of the Chinese exclusion laws in the United States to US President Richard Nixon’s visit to China. Second, it brings together the surveys of three major policy makers involved in calculating and formulating migration policies for the Chinese diaspora: the governments of the United States, the Republic of China (Taiwan or Nationalist China), and the People’s Republic China (PRC or Communist China). Within the timeframe covered, identity politics surrounding the Chinese diaspora became one of the key indicators of shifting dynamics in power relations, wherein the US first dealt with Taiwan, which claimed rights over the Chinese diaspora, but increasingly had to liaise with the PRC to tackle migration issues in light of an easing Cold War.
The central thesis for this study is “migration diplomacy,” with the author arguing that policy makers make use of migration issues and regulations for diplomatic purposes. In other words, migration can affect international relations. This is a much-needed perspective that augments and challenges the vast body of literature that shows international relations often determine migration trajectories and the lives of migrants. This study invokes three areas of diplomacy where migration policy and practice might be utilized: (a) as a tool to signal developments and potential changes in a bilateral relationship; (b) as a form of public exercise to promote prestige and cultivate networks; and (c) as a device to reshape the Chinese American communities in terms of their relationships with states.
The author has worked extensively with primary sources, largely government records and foreign policy documents. These sources are voluminous, involving libraries and archives in the United States, United Kingdom, Republic of China, and the PRC. Secondary sources have been frequently referenced, particularly where Chinese communities in the United States are concerned.
This book is composed of three parts, each with a main feature and historical events presented chronologically: Migrant Diplomacy at War; Migrant Cold Warriors; and Shifting Exclusions. The lines of inquiry running through these three parts, which have eight chapters in total, reveal how migrants were appropriated in diplomatic bargains amidst shifting geopolitics and power hierarchies.
Part 1 examines Chinese exclusion and shows that the negotiation of migration policy between the United States and Nationalist China was carried out for the benefit of both governments and to the detriment of the migrant population. The author has also traced the reasons why Nationalist China attempted to help the Chinese diaspora during World War II and engaged them for its political and military victory. When transportation reopened and repatriation and new migration occurred during the Chinese Civil War, the Republic of China made use of these migrations to strengthen its status as a member in the United Nations and as an ally of the United States. At the same time, the United States had to deal with pressure to support the Republic of China and the domestic reluctance to accept Chinese immigrants.
Part 2 casts light on the increasing importance of migration in the context of the Cold War, as Chinese migrants had to choose which nation to serve and support. The Chinese diaspora feared the spread of communism and thus supported the cause of “free China,” but the diaspora came to be manipulated by the Republic of China in its efforts to gain diplomatic recognition from the United States. The two Chinas also contended with each other over diasporic Chinese remittances. The Chinese migrants fleeing mainland China to Hong Kong also brought up thorny issues to the United States and Nationalist China regarding the exact definition of “refugee” and “immigrant” and the political consideration of to what extent those two countries should project the humanitarian image of helping and absorbing these migrants.
Part 3 shows how migration policy continued to reconfigure diplomatic relations after the division of China. In the 1950s, Chinese scholars detained in the United States and Americans imprisoned in China became “Cold War hostages.” Their repatriation was heavily contested. In the 1960s, Taiwanese independence activism in the United States disrupted cooperation between the United States and Nationalist China, in terms of “visa diplomacy” and immigration policy. In the sequence of events leading to Nixon’s 1972 visit to China, migration as an issue became insignificant and low risk in the context of the new visa policy and relations between the United States and Communist China.
This book shows how migration discourses were contested in US relations with Taiwan and the PRC. It makes a valuable contribution to the study of international relations and the Chinese diaspora and rightfully places migration policy as a significant factor in determining the dynamics of power and politics between governments and nations.
Yow Cheun Hoe
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore