China's Globalization from Below: Chinese Entrepreneurial Migrants and the Belt and Road Initiative

Description

This book analyzes the Chinese-centered globalization 'from below' brought about by China's entrepreneurial migrants and conceived of as a projection of Chinese power in the Belt and Road Initiative partner states. It identifies the features of this globalization 'from below, ' scrutinizes its mutually reinforcing relationship with China's globalization 'from above, ' and shows that these two globalizations are intrinsically related to the construction of a Chinese-centered international order. It outlines how the actors in China's globalization 'from below' include Chinese emigrants who are located in informal transnational economic networks. It reveals that Beijing has enacted many laws that concern these emigrants and their duty to contribute to the development of their country of origin; and that China is ready to impose harsh punitive actions on political elites in partner states which fail to protect its migrants or limit their economic activities. Finally, it argues that China's globalization 'from below' is fundamentally different from the non-hegemonic globalization 'from below' represented by, among others, Lebanese and East Indian traders, and that rather China's globalization 'from below' is a self-interested national strategy intended to support the construction of a Chinese-centered international order. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgments Chapter 1 Introduction References Chapter 2 China and the interplay of multiple globalizations 2.1 Setting the framework: two Chinas and five globalizations The two Chinas The two globalizations ‘from above’ Counter-hegemonic globalization ‘from below’: transnational political resistance Non-hegemonic globalization ‘from below’: the informal transnational economy The Chinese-centered globalization ‘from below’ 2.2 Challenging America’s international order 2.3 Normative power China Normative power Normative power China and relationality A note about socialization China’s norms 2.4 China’s globalization ‘from above’: the BRI and the socialization of political elites The Chinese-centered globalization ‘from above’ The Belt and Road Initiative The BRI institutional structure The BRI socialization of political elites Differences References Chapter 3 The Chinese entrepreneurial migrants 3.1 Conquering the Global South Post-Soviet monuments and Jamaican higglers From Sino-Soviet border trade to globalized migration 3.2 Key features Mobility, economies of scarcity, and poor governance A transnational middleman minority Business and social Chinese networks China as source of labor, merchandise, and capital A global system of mobility 3.3 Huaqiao and Huaren: ‘new’ and ‘old’ Chinese migrants References Chapter 4 The state-migrants relationship 4.1 The evolution of China’s emigration policies Dynasties and Maoists: the migrant as traitor A new era: the migrant as patriot New discourse and understandings 4.2 Engines of emigration Local governments Private migration agencies 4.3 The state-diaspora relationship 4.4 The overseas Chinese state 4.5 Overseas Chinese work and united front work Qiaowu United front work Diasporic Chinese organizations Media, public diplomacy, and people-to-people cooperation Youth, language, and Confucius Institutes Chinese students abroad 4.6 The win-win state-migrants relationship The benefits of being Chinese The Chinese state’s expanding role Protecting ethnic Chinese non-nationals 4.7 China’s benefits 4.8 Diaspora policies as projection of normative power Note References Chapter 5 China and Ghana: Globalization from below and social conditionality 5.1 A stable African democracy 5.2 The Ghana-China relationship Renewed partnership The dark side of infrastructure projects Society perception versus elites socialization 5.3 The Chinese entrepreneurial migrants in Ghana Negative attitudes toward Chinese small traders Textile competition and deindustrialization The fragmented Chinese community The perceived vulnerability of Chinese entrepreneurial migrants 5.4 The Chinese migrants in Ghana and the Chinese state 5.5 The Chinese social norm as social conditionality Galamsey China’s social conditionality 5.6 Of pawns and normative power Note References Chapter 6 China and Suriname: The virtuous circle of China’s two globalizations 6.1 A small state on the Wild Coast Military dictatorship Democracy and ambiguity Apanjaht consociationalism 6.2 Suriname’s relations with China Sino-Surinamese cooperation under President Venetiaan (2000–2010) Sino-Surinamese cooperation under President Bouterse (2010–2020) The Chinese socialization of Suriname’s elites 6.3 The ‘old’ and ‘new’ Chinese in Suriname Baihuo Business Economic success and anti-Chinese resentment ‘Colonization,’ ‘conspiracy,’ and the Surinamese ‘soft state’ 6.4 The Chinese migrants as intermediaries between Beijing and the Surinamese state The Chinese migrants and ethnopolitical power-sharing in Suriname The Chinese migrants and the overseas Chinese state China’s social norm 6.5 Two mutually enhancing Chinese globalizations References Chapter 7 China and Kyrgyzstan: Sacrificing one globalization to save the other 7.1 A dictatorship once known as the ‘Switzerland of Central Asia’ Corruption and patronage networks A former oasis of democracy 7.2 Kyrgyzstan and the new ‘Great Game’ The American episode Popular penniless Russians 7.3 The Kyrgyzstan-China relationship China and Central Asia The Sino-Kyrgyz relationship The wider relevance of project failures 7.4 Corruption and socialization 7.5 The short unhappy life of Chinese entrepreneurial migrants in Kyrgyzstan Shuttle traders and bazaars Bazaars and China’s entrepreneurial migrants The Chinese entrepreneurial migrants beyond the bazaars 7.6 Kyrgyz Sinophobia and its consequences China’s charm offensive A dramatic elites-society gap 7.7 Killing a globalization Note References Chapter 8 China and New Zealand: Globalization from below and Beijing’s management of the Chinese diaspora 8.1 New Zealand and the United States: a continuing story 8.2 The forging of the New Zealand-China relationship Embracing China’s rise The dormant dilemma of ‘compartmentalization’ 8.3 Trouble in paradise The reset Recalibration 8.4 Socializing the political elites of a developed country The elites-society gap 8.5 The Chinese entrepreneurial migrants in New Zealand United front work and the Chinese migrants in New Zealand Controlling Chinese students 8.6 The united front instrumentalization of entrepreneurial migrants References Chapter 9 Analysis and conclusions 9.1 Defining the Chinese-centered globalization ‘from below’ China’s policies 9.2 Competing globalizations 9.3 Some further annoying notes about theory Migrants’ autonomy and Constructivism Vulnerability and relationality 9.4 The present and future of the Chinese-centered globalization ‘from below’ Scenarios References Index