ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to explore the political dimension of the dynamic relationships between the overseas Chinese and their ethnic homelands in Asia. It is part of a larger project that aims to provide a better account of the political status and participation of ethnic Chinese in the United States in both historic and contemporary times. The role of ethnic homeland in the political participation of majority-immigrant communities in the United States has been a controversial area in the realm of American political behavior research. Is involvement in homeland politics a deterrent to, or a catalyst for, participation in host society politics? How do conceptions of and connections with an ethnic homeland influence individual opinion and behavior regarding the society and government in both places of origin and settlement? And do regime type and international political context matter for this relationship, and if so, why? These are complex research questions that can be answered from many angles. Building on a long line of recent research on international migration that privileges the concept of transnationalism, I argue in this research that ethnic homeland cannot be automatically treated either as a constraint or an asset, or as exerting an essentialist influence on ethnic political behavior. Rather, “homeland” conceptions and functions are unfixed and structured by an intersecting system of local and global dynamics. In this chapter, I use the example of Chinese Americans originated from Taiwan and their role in the island’s liberalization and democratization processes to shed light on the multiple manifestations and meanings of transnational political ties or networks between the Chinese abroad and their personal or ancestral homeland in Asia.
