Author: Lois Mitchison

Publisher:The Bodley Head

Publishing year:1961

Call number: DS732.M682

Description: There are some twelve million Chinese in South-East Asia and their importance to the countries they live in is even greater than their number suggest. The majority of South-East Asian traders and artisans are Chinese; so is a large proportion of the town populations. In Malaya the Chinese are the biggest racial community, and Singapore is almost wholly a Chinese town.

The problem of these overseas Chinese is a problem of divided loyalties, and local opinion about them is sharply divided. They are sometimes seen as most valuable members of their communities– law-abiding, hardworking and intelligent. Or, they can be seen as ‘China’s fifth column’– loyal to China only and not to the countries in any future struggle in Asia.

Can the Chinese be assimilated in the countries where they are living? Have the measures already taken by South-East Asian countries helped or hindered assimilation? What policies in Asia and the rest of the world can help assimilation? Does the Communist leadership in China regard the overseas communities as a help or a hindrance in its attempts to gain the friendship of other Asian nations? These questions, so vital to the future of Asia, are all fully discussed.