ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we unpack the myriad and specific ways in which the rest of the world – as an array of potential destinations for China’s outbound migration – reacts and responds to China’s rise. Taking Chinese migration to Australia as a case study, we argue that it is insufficient to treat China’s rise as a stand-alone exogenous factor. We first offer a historical account of Chinese migration to Australia in earlier decades from South China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Second, we trace the phenomenal growth of migration from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since the inception of the economic reforms era and China’s open-door policy. Third, focusing on the post-millennium decades, we juxtapose the wildly differing expectations that Australia and China have in relation to Chinese migrants as potential agents of public diplomacy for these nations. Finally, we present some preliminary evidence pointing to the willingness of Australia’s Chinese migrant community to participate on behalf of China in its public diplomacy efforts. Our discussion shows that, in studying China’s outbound migration, China’s rise needs to be considered as intersecting with other structural processes, particularly the racial politics and immigration policies in the host country.
