Engendering Transnational Space: China as a High-capacity Diaspora State and Chinese Diasporic Populations

Abstract

[...]Chinese diasporas are, in gross numbers, among the largest and geographically most widespread in the world. The focus on the dynamic relationship between the Chinese state and Chinese diasporas also fills a gap in the recent "China rising" literature, which has been preoccupied with the Chinese state's role in building soft power or "infiltrating" foreign countries and populations (Hamilton and Joske 2018). By exploring various local approaches to mobilising Chinese overseas within the area of legal affairs and public administration, investment, e-governance, public diplomacy, local urban restructuring, and Covid-19 responses, Martina Bofulin argues that diaspora policy implementation at the local level is undertaken with a high degree of independence from the centre in Beijing. [...]the third contribution by Maggi W. H. Leung investigates the notions, politics, and practices of the caring Chinese transnational state emerging during the Covid-19 pandemic.