Negotiating China's rise: The dynamics of Chinese business associations and the Belt and Road Initiative in Brunei Darussalam

Originated in southern China, nanyin (南音) is regarded as ‘the sound of motherland’ (乡音) performed and loved by the Hokkien dialect speakers in Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and diasporic populations living in Southeast Asia. Having thrived in transnational spaces, nanyin is now celebrated as a shared heritage in China and Southeast Asian countries, such as Singapore. This paper explores the process of heritage‐making, that is, the ways in which the art form and cultural practice of nanyin have been re‐shaped and re‐appropriated by the diasporic communities and the native place to articulate different understandings of the Chinese identity in their distinct nation‐state frameworks. In this ambivalent entanglement, China has re‐appropriated the diasporic history of nanyin to gain international recognition and build soft power through United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. In Singapore, the Siong Leng Music Association has actively engaged in the heritage‐making of nanyin, leading to the creation of a unique Singapore brand that speaks to hybridity and cosmopolitanism, in the same way as the re‐construction of their Chinese identity. Examining the two processes of heritagisation of nanyin along the China‐Singapore ‘heritage corridors’, the paper argues that the two ends are connected in important ways but always seek to maintain distance to articulate their own cultural representations at international stages. Thus, nanyin through a comparative perspective enables a critical examination of issues of centre versus periphery, authenticity, and hybridity in the Sinophone world.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Negotiating Routes and/or Roots: Heritagisation of nanyin in China and Singapore, 1970s to 2010s

Zhang

2023

“…Southeast Asian Chinese associations have been usually organised under the primordial principles of locality (native place), dialect, kinship or occupation. Since the 1980s, globalisation has become a distinctive characteristic of Chinese diasporas' associations, which is manifested in their worldwide organisational networks, with Southeast Asian Chinese associations taking the initiative to position themselves in these networks based on their long history, reputation, financial and organisational strengths (Liu, 1998;Hoon and Zhao, 2023). Entering the twenty-first century and in tandem with China's ascendance in the region, four characteristics have emerged with regards to Southeast Asian Chinese associations' structures and orientations: (i) the revitalisation of locality associations; (ii) the growth of new migrants' pan-China associations; (iii) the internal reorganisation of the Chinese associations; (iv) and the flourishing of business associations including those in China set up by the Southeast Asian Chinese.…”

Section: New Structural Characteristics Of Chinese Voluntary Associat...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Between positionality and nudging: A rising China and Chinese voluntary associations in Southeast Asia

Ren

2023

Drawing upon cases studies from Southeast Asia, especially Singapore and Malaysia, this article addresses the following questions pertaining to the rise of China and its impact upon Chinese voluntary associations (CVAs) in the region over the past two decades. By employing theoretical insights of positionality, nudging and de‐territorialisation and by focusing on various strategies pursued respectively by CVAs and the state, we conclude: (i) the growing economic ties between China and Southeast Asia serve as the platform through which the reconstruction of the CVAs take place; (ii) the reconstitution of the CVAs has been significantly driven by their own initiatives to compete in a new economy, in which knowledge of and connection with a rising China as an expanding market and a culture has advantages; (iii) the states in both China and Southeast Asia have played a part in the reconfiguration of the CVAs, motivated by their respective political and economic agendas; and (iv) it is imperative to go beyond the conventional approaches in understanding CVAs (internal structure and external connections) that have dominated much of the existing literature; and we argue that it is in the interactions and intersections between the internal dynamics and external political economy that a new type of CVAs has emerged.

“…With the rise of a new generation of overseas Chinese communities, new immigrants and old immigrants belong to various communities due to differences in development goals (Hoon and Zhao, 2023). There is a coexistence of 'new' CVAs and 'old' CVAs at present.…”

Section: Differences Between 'New' Cvas and 'Old' Cvasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although much literature has fully affirmed the role of ethnic Chinese networks in attracting FDI in mainland China, with Chinese MNEs becoming the main force of OFDI, whether these networks can promote, assist, and shape Chinese MNEs' OFDI in other countries has received less attention. Southeast Asia is host to the largest ethnic Chinese diaspora, whose social networks are built by kinship, personal, and business relationships connected closely based on shared communities and/or associations (Chen et al, 2023). However, less light has been shed on how these communities and associations, such as CVAs, serving as critical nodes of ethnic Chinese networks in host countries, play a role in Chinese MNEs' OFDI.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond as bridges: The role of the Chinese voluntary associations in Chinese outward foreign direct investment in Southeast Asia

Liang,

Zhou

2023

With the implementation of the ‘Go Global’ strategy and the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese enterprises have gradually grown into the main force of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) around the world. Overseas and domestic Chinese voluntary associations (CVAs) have actively promoted inward foreign direct investment in China, while their role in helping Chinese enterprises invest abroad has not been fully revealed. To address this lacuna, we explore the role of CVAs in the foreign direct investment of Chinese enterprises in Southeast Asia and the heterogeneity of their roles based on different types of associations. Our main argument is that CVAs play an intermediary role in shaping Chinese OFDI by facilitating bilateral information exchange and resource matching to enable enterprises' global–local interactions. This research contributes to verifying the impact of CVAs on Chinese enterprises' OFDI and providing implications for both host countries to attract investment and multinational enterprises from China and other developing countries to achieve internationalisation.