China Vietnam And The Chinese Minority In Vietnam

Economic reforms in Vietnam have allowed its ethnic Chinese citizens to prosper, but growing Chinese economic strength harbours the seeds of political problems. The topic is also meshed with the larger concern of Sino-Vietnamese relations, which in the best of times can be coloured by a suspicion which goes back centuries. In the worst of times, as in 1978/79, both sides were engaged in open warfare. To understand the current situation, this book delves into the origins of Chinese settlement in Vietnam, tracking the flow of history through the major events which have shaped the Chinese mercantile community and made it what it is today. The most significant feature of this work is that it draws on Western, Russian, and Vietnamese sources, as well as the writer's own familiarity with the actual situation on the ground.

The mountainous borderlands of socialist China, Vietnam, and Laos are home to some seventy million minority people of diverse ethnicities. In Moving Mountains, anthropologists, geographers, and political economists with first-hand experience in the region explore these peoples' survival strategies, as they respond to unprecedented economic and political change. Although highland peoples are typically represented as marginalized and powerless, this volume argues that ethnic minorities draw on culture and ethnicity to indigenize modernity and maintain their livelihoods. This unprecedented glimpse into a poorly understood region shows that development initiatives must be built on strong knowledge of local cultures in order to have lasting effect.

In February 1979, China launched a full scale attack on Vietnam bringing to the surface the deep tension between the two socialist neighbours. The importance of the resultant war is often overlooked. Millions of people throughout the region were affected, and the frictions that remain in the wake of the war threaten the prospects for peace not only in Southeast Asia, but also the whole Asia-Pacific region as well. This is a full scale examination of the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War - the events that led to it, the Cold War aftermath, and the implications for the region and beyond.

This analysis emphasizes Chinese ethnicity as a significant factor motivating exodus from Viet Nam and as an explanation of the deteriorating conditions within Viet Nam. It also explains the reception accorded to refugees by most Southeas t Asian countries, as they reach areas where ethnic Chinese populations are already living uneasily with indigenous peoples. The paper presents the colonial origins of Chinese separateness and the reasons for the endemic insecurity and vulnerability of the Overseas Chinese in South East Asia. The climate of ethnic relations throughout the region is sensitive and volatile and indigenous élites everywhere are seeking ways of achieving economic development and ethnic stability (nation-building). The author discusses the possibility of a relationship between the outbreak of ethnic conflict in one part of the region and the potential for heightened tension elsewhere, a 'demonstration effect'. The paper examines trends in Indonesia and Malaysia and suggests that the general climate of racial tolerance in those countries may be deteriorating. This possibility, and its implicit connection with the Vietnamese expulsion of ethnic Chinese, must be acknowledged if it is to be counteracted.