Description
Book SynopsisIn The Price and Promise of Specialness, Jin Li Lim revises narratives on the overseas Chinese and the People’s Republic of China by analysing the Communist approach to ‘overseas Chinese affairs’ in New China’s first decade as a function of a larger political economy. Jin Li Lim shows how the party-state centred its approach towards the overseas Chinese on a perception of their financial utility and thus sought to offer them a special identity and place in New China, so as to unlock their riches. Yet, this contradicted the quest for socialist transformation, and as its early pragmatism fell away, the radicalising party-state abandoned its promises to the overseas Chinese, who were left to pay the price for their difference.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Glossary of Chinese Terms List of Abbreviations List of Figures Introduction 1 The Political Economy of Overseas Chinese Policy 2 Historiography 3 Structure and Scope 4 Sources 1 Rights and Interests 1 Introduction 2 New Democracy and the Huaqiao 3 To Do Some Good 4 Openness and Sincerity 5 Common Program 6 Conclusion 2 Screaming for Socialism 1 Introduction 2 Like Another Province Overseas 3 If Only 1% 4 All Huaqiao Have Money 5 Conclusion 3 No Complaints, No Escapes, No Shortfalls 1 Introduction 2 They Will Fervently Leap 3 Rather Left than Right 4 More Money, More Problems 5 Conclusion 4 Fourth-Class Socialism 1 Introduction 2 ‘Is the Overseas Chinese Affairs Bureau Your Daddy?’ 3 Special Circumstances 4 The Great Debate 5 Conclusion 5 Politics in Command 1 Introduction 2 A Great Leap Forward for Qiaowu 3 Keep Left 4 Conclusion Conclusion 1 Political Economy 2 Contradiction 3 Paradox 4 Caveat Emptor Appendices Appendix I: Overseas Chinese Remittances to the People’s Republic of China, 1950–1960 Bibliography
