Operationalizing the highly skilled diasporic transnational family: China and India's transnational governance strategies

Abstract

Mass elite or ‘knowledge’ migration from developing countries has led to debate about brain drain and how to convert this loss of human talent into brain gains, or at least into brain circulation. Discussion of migration and diaspora, therefore, is intimately linked to migration as potential leverage for development. In the absence of being able to prevent people from living, countries with increasing levels of outgoing migrants are actively encouraging their talent diaspora to return, as well as to contribute to the ‘motherland’ from afar. This paper will discuss how two of the countries with the largest migrant output in the world – India and China – view and harness the talent potential of their global diasporas. Adopting a historical approach, the paper will first trace the evolution of diaspora policies and infrastructure in each country, showing how historically the level of diaspora engagement varied according to both domestic and international political contexts. China, for example, has gone from considering migration to be an imperial crime, to considering all ethnic Chinese as an integral part of the Chinese nation. It will then compare and contrast the actual policies of diaspora engagement adopted by India and China, evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of each country's policies. While China has promoted the return of its scientific and entrepreneurial elite, India has made it progressively easier to travel and invest in India for people of Indian origin. Despite different policy focuses, India and China are united in using a discourse of ethnic pride – what can be termed ‘emotional citizenship’ in encouraging its ethnic diasporas to cultivate an emotional bond to the country of their ancestors. The diaspora policies of India and China reveal that, in an attempt to attract investment and stem brain gain, developing countries, while stopping short of introducing full dual nationality for geopolitical reasons, are seeking to create new forms of flexible citizenship that enable them to reap an ‘ethnic dividend’ from their global ethnic diasporas.