The Chinese Diaspora in China–Malaysia Relations: Dynamics of and Changes in Multiple Transnational ‘Scapes’

Abstract

This article investigates the dynamics of the Chinese diaspora within the multiple layers of China–Malaysia relations by drawing on the five dimensions—‘ethnoscapes’, ‘mediascapes’, ‘technoscapes’, ‘financescapes’ and ‘ideoscapes’—advanced by the anthropologist Arjun Appadurai in his model of global cultural flow. Certainly, the different labels associated with the ethnic Chinese in Malaysia reflect how their identities vary over time, space and situation. In this article, two case studies—transnational education and second homes—are examined, as they involve contemporary China’s institutions as well as the Chinese diaspora, old and new. In both cases, it is clear that, while racial stereotypes still linger to some extent, economic factors are of increasing importance for all parties involved. This finding is substantiated when the diasporic relations are further considered from an historical perspective, in order to understand how China, Malaysia and the Chinese diaspora are presently positioned within the globalization era.