Organization: Central Michigan University
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seasia-l
Date:         Thu, 8 Oct 1992 18:42:24 EDT
From:         Elliott Parker <3ZLUFUR@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU>
Subject:      VN: Book review: Chinese in VN

=======================  Forwarded  Message  ===========================
Date:         Thu, 8 Oct 1992 01:00:59 EDT
Reply-To:     cnd-editor@sdsc.edu
From:         cnd-editor@sdsc.edu
Subject:      CND Books and Journals Review, October 8, 1992
From: XU Ming Yang
Source: F.E.E.R. 7/9/92
Review written by: Diana Martin

"The Ethnic Chinese in Vietnam and Sino-
Vietnamese Relations"  by Ramses Amer. Forum
Petaling Jaya.  US$10

It is often when a minority people is substantially similar to those around
them but is careful to remain differentiated, that its members provoke the
most animosity among the host people. If they happen to be economically
successful as well they are almost certain to attract persecution. The Jews
in Europe are one obvious example of this phenomenon, the Chinese in
Southeast Asia another. It is the situation of the Chinese community in
Vietnam and how it has affected, and been affected by, the shifting
relations between the two nations that the author, Ramses Amer of Uppsala
University in Sweden, describes and analyses in this book.

A brief outline of the thousand years when Vietnam was part of China sets
the subsequent events in historical context. After that period, Vietnam
remained a vasal of China, then colonisation by the French in the 19th
century was followed by the American presence until the last quarter of the
20th century. Finally, a mere 15 years ago, after a stormy and bloody
battle, Vietnam gained national unity and independence.

The Chinese community in Vietnam has always been substantial and for the
most part has successfully engaged in commerce. In addition, Chinese culture
has greatly influenced Vietnamese culture. The resulting friction has meant
that a certain periods the Chinese have been forced to take Vietnamese
citizenship and Vietnamese names.

However, unlike the Jews and other minorities, the Chinese come from a
powerful neighbouring country that could, if it wished, intercede on their
behalf with its Vietnamese counterpart.

For the Chinese community, the division of Vietnam in 1954 and the
reunification under communist rule 20 years later, created complications in
terms of assimilation and assumptions about loyalty. The Chinese population
in the North was small, rural and economically insignificant, and after
division many left for the South. Their economic role contrasted with that
of those already in the South, largely urban traders. As the government in
the South forbade contacts with China, there was a stronger drive to
persuade the Chinese to take Vietnamese citizenship. In 1956 Zhou Enlai
added his voice to this theme against the wishes of many ethnic Chinese.

Given that the Chinese Government has a poor record of protecting its
citizens' rights within its own borders, one suspects that broader issues of
policy, linked to power-play between China and Vietnam, and later among
China, Vietnam and the Soviet Union, determined China's actions on behalf of
its own people.

A lack of information about the larger background is the main weakness of
this well-researched book. Amer documents the fate of the Chinese community
in terms of Vietnamese decrees, and the policies of China and Vietnam with
respect to each other. But he rarely gives insights into what made the
Chinese community wish to resist taking Vietnamese citizenship, or why China
acted as it did. It is understandable that many of the early refugee boat
people were Chinese, but what motivated the Vietnamese departure that began
later? The internal social and economic circumstances of a country and its
people are, after all, often what influence how it treats its minorities.
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