Across the conceptual divide? Chinese migration policies seen through historical and comparative lenses

• Main Author: van Dongen, Els
• Other Authors: School of Humanities
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Humanities::History; Chinese Migration Policies; Migration State; Global North; Global South; Asian Migrations; Diaspora Engagement Policies
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155484
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This article analyzes Chinese migration policies through historical and comparative lenses in an attempt to cross conceptual divides in existing literature on migration policies. The first part of the article offers an empirically grounded overview of developments in Chinese migration policies in the two decades after the regime changes of 1949 and 1978. A second analytical section brings together literature on the Global North, Global South, and Asian and Chinese migrations and migration policies. The article posits the following three main points. First, literature on the Global South is valuable for theorizing Chinese migration policies in that it highlights emigration and development rather than immigration as in the “migration state” (Hollifield). However, prioritizing economic objectives, it fails to consider Chinese migration policies in relation to identity formation and nation-building under the influence of wars and decolonization processes, what Adamson and Tsourapas have called “nationalizing” policies. Second, the article notes the significance of ethnic return migration in Chinese policies, which is overlooked in literature on the Global South, but examined in literature on Asian migrations. Finally, the article posits that the nexus between internal and external migration in a Chinese context offers critical insights for theorizing migration policies.