ABSTRACT
In modern history, China has long been a country of emigration, but it has now become a country of both immigration and emigration. A growing number of Chinese nationals have been migrating overseas through investment abroad, employment of Chinese MNCs, or parlaying their education and skills into visas, while in the other direction, a large number of returned overseas Chinese have been taking up residency in China. The Chinese diaspora has become an increasingly important platform for China’s diplomacy. In recent years, the Chinese government has implemented a series of new policy initiatives to engage the 51-million overseas Chinese around the world in order to advance the country’s foreign policy agenda. Through historical comparisons and policy analyses, this chapter analyses the new roles of the Chinese diaspora in China’s diplomacy.
