【theage】Chinese urged to unite behind Communist Party

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Chinese urged to unite behind Communist Party
http://www.theage.com.au/world/chinese-urged-to-unite-behind-communist-party-20090726-dxhf.html
John Garnaut, Beijing       July 27, 2009   

BEIJING has called on the global Chinese diaspora to unite around the Communist Party on the basis of "blood lineage" and to spread the "truth" about separatism in Xinjiang.

Wang Zhaoguo, Politburo member and former head of China's United Front Department, congratulated delegates at the 8th National Congress of Returned Overseas Chinese and their Relatives for using "blood lineage", "home-town feeling" and "professional linkages" to achieve "outstanding results in uniting the broad masses of overseas Chinese".

But Mr Wang exhorted them to "do a better job of uniting the force of the circle of overseas Chinese around the party and the Government", according to his speech on the official Congress website. Many of Australia's 700,000 ethnic Chinese are loyal to Australia and ignore Beijing's overtures, or embrace cultural and ancestral links without identifying with the Communist Party's politics.

But many also feel pulled between two homes, particularly since relations between Australia and China have deteriorated sharply this year.

"In Australia we're suspected of being spies for the Chinese Government, but in China we're suspected of being spies for Australia," said Stephanie Wang, an Australian commerce and law student at Melbourne University, who last year attended two Beijing-sponsored trips to China. The Communist Party and its traditional opponents, the Kuomintang, have vied for influence with overseas Chinese groups for nearly 90 years.

Since 1949, the rivalry has been between Beijing and Taipei.

From the late 1970s, Beijing refocused its overseas Chinese efforts towards drawing remittances and investments back to the mainland and mitigating the country's "brain drain", as millions of China's brightest took advantage of open-door policies and went overseas.

In the 1990s its efforts intensified, particular with the new wave of Chinese immigrants and students, and evolved into a broader push for ethnic loyalty irrespective of citizenship.

"This is the dynamic of the transnational China, or virtual China, that has won the allegiance of most of the activists and elite among overseas Chinese communities," said Professor William Callahan, chair in International Politics at the University of Manchester and author of a forthcoming book about Chinese nationalism. "This transnational nationalism gains power from very primordial sources; it is based on Han China's essential bloodline from the Yellow Emperor," he said.

The Returned Overseas Congress was held July 14 to 17 at the Great Hall of the People. Chinese media signalled its political importance by publishing a rare photo of the Politburo Standing Committee in attendance, including President Hu Jintao.

Mr Wang told delegates "to have a broad understanding of the truth that national unity is a blessing and national separatism a disaster".

Policies set at the Congress can filter down to institutions such as the United Front Department, the State Council's Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, Chinese embassies and consulates and the Ministry of State Security, which all organise and monitor overseas Chinese business, student, cultural, media and political networks.

RMIT University head of languages Chen Guosheng said many new Chinese migrants and students grew more patriotic towards China after they left because language barriers and cultural shocks made them feel "lost" and discriminated against.

"But when they attend events like (Chinese) National Day and Chinese New Year celebrations they feel they are back into the cultural environment familiar to them, their pride and dignity restored."
Their China patriotism was enhanced by satellite access to China Central Television, she said.

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