prior to becoming a superpower, did Chinese look at South East Asia as a Land of Opportunity (crime, best)

[NJ Brazen_3133]

Prior to the last decade or half the last decade, when China was still a bit rusty, backwards, and awkwards, did the Chinese look at migrating to Thailand, Malaysia, Burma, Indonesia, and the Filipines as a place where they could finally move ahead financially, and have all the freedoms and lifestyle unafforded to them whilst living in Communism? There are many Chinese in Southeast Asia, and they are economically the most successful group.

What about the people of Hong Kong? During those dark years, Hong Kong was the closest escape point for mainlanders. The city was obviously very crowded. Much of the Chinese Americans population actually stopped over in Hong Kong for a few years before moving here. Being as Hong Kong is so small, lots of people had to move on. Did Hong Kongers look to South East Asia as their Williston ND, Klondike Gold Rush land of opportunity?

Or was the english speaking countries like Australia, Canada, and the US always considered the hip and trendy place to immigrate too?

What about Peru? Apparently there is a lot of Chinese there. Also did residents of Macau, and anyone who was able to sneak in to Macau look at Brazil or Portugal as an escape from communism?

Do the chinese still seek to leave China? If so do they look at these places the same way?

[Trimac20]

Most of the so-called 'Overseas Chinese' in Southeast Asia migrated there before 1949: I think Mao pretty much put a stop to legal emigration from China. Anyone who left was basically a defector. The Chinese migrated to Thailand, Burma, Vietnam and Cambodia as early as the 16th century, and were later drawn to the British colonies of Malaya/Straits Settlements to find work, as labourers, mining tin.etc. Some worked as poor fisherman, craftsmen etc, escaping from poverty, famine or oppression.

I'm sure many people in the PRC would've left for places like Taiwan, SE Asia, the West if they could. Some did, but obviously that meant leaving for good.

Hong Kong itself was a sort of haven for Chinese who wanted to escape Communism. There was mass migration there after 1949: in fact like the Straits settlements it was the British who actually spurred people moving to HK, prior to the 1830s it was a sleepy fishing village with a few thousand people. HK does not have the history that Nanjing, Xian or Beijing does.

Chinese did also move to many parts of the New World, Cuba, Jamaica, Peru, Brazil.etc. Of course many were drawn to the US, Australia, Canada etc, by the gold rush and other opportunities. These countries put in place policies aimed at discouraging or forbidding Chinese immigration from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. If not for these policies there'd probably be a lot more people with Chinese ancestry dating back many generations in the US and Australia.

[NJ Brazen_3133]

Hmmmm

I was hoping this thread would get more responses. The wiki states the Chinese are pretty powerful economically and financially in countries like the Phillipines, Thailand, Malaysia, Burma, Cambodia, and Indonesia.

Since Indochina is much closer to china proper than Australia, Canada, or US I was assuming this must be the destination of choice.

[Trimac20]

Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133

Hmmmm

I was hoping this thread would get more responses. The wiki states the Chinese are pretty powerful economically and financially in countries like the Phillipines, Thailand, Malaysia, Burma, Cambodia, and Indonesia.

Since Indochina is much closer to china proper than Australia, Canada, or US I was assuming this must be the destination of choice.

Why, my response not got enough for you? lol

[Smtchll]

Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133

Hmmmm

I was hoping this thread would get more responses. The wiki states the Chinese are pretty powerful economically and financially in countries like the Phillipines, Thailand, Malaysia, Burma, Cambodia, and Indonesia.

Since Indochina is much closer to china proper than Australia, Canada, or US I was assuming this must be the destination of choice.

Yeah, most of the upper-class in the Philippines has Chinese ancestry (along with some Spanish maybe) They're a small minority, but they're powerful

[NJ Brazen_3133]

Originally Posted by Trimac20

Why, my response not got enough for you? lol

You gave a good answer, and I thank, but I was also hoping for a more definitive:

"yes, the chinese control much of the economy, and the mainlanders, and Hong Kongers most definitely expect their fellow chinese to help them out when they arrive. And they cant wait to leave China, or overcrowded hong kong for the greener pastures of Indochina. In fact there are droves and droves of Chinese leaving right now to go to Indochina?

or

" NO the chinese do not like the climate, and there is much resentment towards the chinese in Indochina, and they really do not want to deal with it.

[Trimac20]

Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133

You gave a good answer, and I thank, but I was also hoping for a more definitive:

"yes, the chinese control much of the economy, and the mainlanders, and Hong Kongers most definitely expect their fellow chinese to help them out when they arrive. And they cant wait to leave China, or overcrowded hong kong for the greener pastures of Indochina. In fact there are droves and droves of Chinese leaving right now to go to Indochina?

or

" NO the chinese do not like the climate, and there is much resentment towards the chinese in Indochina, and they really do not want to deal with it.

Like I said there isn't much migration from the PRC to Southeast Asia these days, except maybe Singapore but most do not really settle and are foreign workers. A lot of Indians/Bangladeshis etc also in Singapore. Hong Kong has a higher quality of life than anywhere in SE Asia so I don't see why anyone in HK would want to leave for a place like Thailand? If anything there are more Thais, Vietnamese going to HK for a better life. Many Chinese want to go to HK though, although they're restricted by the Chinese government.

There is some resentment, mainly because the Chinese do control a lot of the wealth in Malaysia and Indonesia. Thailand's Chinese are very integrated and are ethnic Thais now, the King and Prime Minister are part Chinese ancestry. Vietnam, like a lot of Asian countries like Japan, hasn't always had the best of relations with mainland China. There are small communities in cities like Saigon and Hoi An who have been there a long time.

[NJ Brazen_3133]

Before China open up, I cant imagine the quality of life being that much better than in Indochina. As for Hong Kong it is very crowded, and not much opportunity for ambitious entrepreneurs. Now in Indochina, if you have money and connections, I cant see why you couldnt afford a better life than you had in either China pre-economic boom, or Hong Kong before handover.

Since there was already a well established upper class of ethnic chinese in those countries, I cant see anywhere else for an ambitious chinese who is living under communism or living in a cramped city with few resources. But I dont know for sure. So I am hoping people can shed light on the topic.

[Trimac20]

Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133

Before China open up, I cant imagine the quality of life being that much better than in Indochina. As for Hong Kong it is very crowded, and not much opportunity for ambitious entrepreneurs. Now in Indochina, if you have money and connections, I cant see why you couldnt afford a better life than you had in either China pre-economic boom, or Hong Kong before handover.

Since there was already a well established upper class of ethnic chinese in those countries, I cant see anywhere else for an ambitious chinese who is living under communism or living in a cramped city with few resources. But I dont know for sure. So I am hoping people can shed light on the topic.

HK has a wide wealth gap and is very crowded, but the average quality of life there is still higher than Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam. Due to restrictions few Chinese people could leave after 1949.

Many Chinese are moving to countries like Australia now, many of the newly rich heirs to the economic boom.

[NJ Brazen_3133]

Wouldnt you think though that the elite businessmen in Indochina would have an even better quality of life than an average person in HK? The Phillipines, Thailand, and Malaysia for the most part were never really poor, and always had a pretty stable gov't at least compared to Burma, and Cambodia.

Chinese have been escaping the Communist regime since the beginning. There was organized crime involved in it or they somehow ran off to Hong Kong, and took a visit to the US and stayed. Most of the Chinese in America got here that way. I know several chinese expatriates who worked on ships in HK, and sailed to NY harbor, got off, and just stayed. And the Chinatowns here have been expanding. Before, we only had the little Chinatowns in the city centers, but suburban Chinatowns were springing up even before the opening of the chinese market. Towns like Monterey Park in California, and Flushing Queens NY are examples of this expansion.

The thing is I cannot imagine it would be too difficult to cross the indochina chinese border. The whole area is a dense jungle, and very difficult to see past 3 ft if take off the beaten path roads.