Review: General: China and Southeast Asia's Ethnic Chinese
| Published date | 01 March 2001 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200105600121 |
| Author | Michael Szonyi |
| Date | 01 March 2001 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
Reviews
plicating
the
fragile
geopolitical
environment
(Jaffe
and
Olcott).
Meanwhile, different
countries in
the
region
pursue different
strategies
of
economic
transformation
with
various
degrees
of
success
(Kalyuzhnova).
The
same
could
be
said
of
their
attempts
to
broaden
and
diversify
their
foreign
trading partners
(Pomfret).
The
two
chapters
on
the
Czech
Republic
examine
economic
restruc-
turing
since
the
collapse
of
socialism.
Economic
changes have
been
widely
hailed
as
successful,
but
closer
examination
of
privatization
and
financial markets
reveals
significant
problems
(Frait).
These
kinds
of
problems
have
deep socio-economic
roots,
and
it
seems
that
the
coun-
try's
socialist
legacy
has
not
yet been
completely
overcome
(Rychetnik).
All
chapters
are
accompanied
by
extensive
and
well-selected
refer-
ences.
Despite
some
minor
weaknesses,
this
volume
is
highly
recom-
mended.
It
will serve
students
of
central
Asian
geopolitics
and/or
eco-
nomic restructuring
in
the
Czech
Republic
very
well.
Lasha
Tchantouridze/doctoral
candidate,
Queen's
University
CHINA AND
SOUTHEAST
ASIA'S
ETHNIC
CHINESE
State
and
diaspora
in
contemporary
Asia
Paul
J.
Bolt
Westport
CT:
Praeger,
2000,
200pp,
US$57.50,
ISBN
0-275-96647-X
The
media
seems
alternately to
celebrate
Overseas
Chinese investment
as
the
linchpin
of
China's economic
reforms
and
expose
it
as
their
Achilles'
heel.
The
complexity
of
the
issues rarely gets
much
discussion.
Do
the
ethnic
Chinese
of
Southeast
Asia,
billionaires
and
petty
entre-
preneurs,
invest
in
China
for
reasons
of
profit
or
patriotism?
Do
their
growing
economic
activities
in
China
create
tensions
for
them
in
their
home
countries?
And
what
are
the
implications for
relations
between
the
PRC
and
the
smaller
states
of
the
region?
Paul
Bolt,
a
political
scientist
at the United
States
Air Force
Academy, provides
a
useful
and
balanced
introduction
to many
of
these
issues.
There
is
no
over-arching
argument; Bolt
simply
lays
out
the
evidence
for
and
against
the
various
positions
taken
by
scholars
and
statesmen.
Isolating the ethnic
Chinese
of
Southeast
Asia
as
the
ana-
lytic
focus
makes
better
sense
for some
issues
than
for
others. Growing
economic
links
to
a
rising
China
certainly
have
a
great deal
to
do
with
recent
attacks
on
Indonesia's
wealthiest
ethnic Chinese and
the
renewed emphasis
on
Chinese
roots
in
Singapore's
cultural
policies.
180
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Winter2000-2001
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