CHAPTER SEVEN LUODI-SHENNGEN1 OR TRANSNATIONAL CHINESE? CHINESE SOUTH AFRICAN REMIGRANTS AND NEW CHINESE IMMIGRANTS

Given the fluid nature of transnational processes, the fact that identity is always situated, under negotiation, and never complete (Hall 1990), the exploration of identity at specific sites and at specific moments of contact was to become more important to me than delineating a fixed geographical site (Louie 2004:9).

Introduction Between 1952 and the late 1970s immigration from to came to a virtual halt, with fewer than 100 Chinese permitted to enter. During these same years Chinese emigration from South Africa, which had started as a trickle, turned into a mass exodus. Then, beginning in the late 1970s and accelerating through the late 1990s, Chinese immigrants from , , and later from mainland China began to arrive in South Africa in large numbers.2 The various causes for these movements have been discussed in previous chapters. These movements have resulted in the creation of new identities, caused existing identities to shift, and further emphasised the multiple, fluid, positional, and layered nature of Chinese South African identities. This chapter seeks to explore the impact of these migrations on existing identities and attempts to understand the new identities being formed.

Many of the Chinese who left South Africa have since made their homes mostly in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, and Australia. These Chinese South African remigrants3 retain, to varying extents, elements of both South African and Chinese identities; they form the focus of the first part of this chapter. The second part of this chapter focuses on the new Chinese immigrants to South Africa. Amongst these

1 Literally, “growing roots where they land” or “planting permanent roots in the soils of different countries”, the concept of luodi-shenngen has been used by scholars since the late 1990s to say that earlier immigrants have sunk deep roots in their adopted homes (G. Wang 1998: viii). 2 These numbers are extremely large relative to the size of the existing Chinese community, particularly given that immigration from China was prohibited until the late 1970s. Table 7.1 shows that as compared to immigrants from W. Europe, U.K, Africa, and E. Europe, these numbers are still quite small; however, Taiwan in 1993 still sent over 1,400 new immigrants (or close to 15% of total immigration) to South Africa. Furthermore, while the numbers of legal immigrants from China appears quite low, most reports indicate that the flow of illegal immigrants into South Africa has been quite high. 3 The term was used by Wang Gungwu (2000, 2002) initially to describe the ethnic Chinese who have moved from their homes in South East Asia to various Western countries in the last three decades. Chapter Seven 296 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities new Chinese immigrants there are legal and illegal, wealthy and working class4. Some have stayed in South Africa and taken citizenship; others have continued to live and work in South Africa illegally, at the fringes of society; still others have moved on to other countries. These new immigrants, in part because of their numbers and in part because of their political, social, and economic activities, have become a highly visible part of South African society. They have also posed interesting challenges to the existing Chinese South African identities, which will be explored here.

Neither population – the Chinese South African remigrants nor the new Chinese immigrants – was part of the initial conceptualisation of this study; however, it became clear in conducting this research that these emerging identities were clearly different from the three cohorts discussed up to this point. These new and divergent Chinese South African identities also provide further evidence of continuing shifts in Chinese South identities in the post- period. It will become increasingly clear that these new identities, shaped in part by state imaginaries and societal perceptions within specific socio-political-historical contexts, are also informed by myths, by essentialist views of culture, and in response to various mirrors that reflect different self-images.

Are these Chinese emigrants and immigrants moving in and out of South Africa luodi- shenngen – now adapted to and rooted in their adopted countries – or are they part of the phenomenon of transnationalism – freewheeling global actors opportunistically moving countries putting on or shedding citizenships as best suits their personal financial interests? Do they form part of a global ‘brotherhood’ or ethnic ‘tribe’ of overseas Chinese economic actors on a global stage, connected by common ancestry, race, and ethnicity (Kotkin 1992, Ong 1999, Pan 1994)? These new Chinese South African identities have been shaped in the larger context of globalisation and transnationalism insofar as (1) some groups of Chinese migrants show indications that they are able to transcend national boundaries in favour of multiply-sited homes, economic activities, and split loyalties and (2) migrations have been made easier, faster, and less permanent. However, not all Chinese migrants of the 21st century can (or

4 There has been very little research into the population of illegal immigrants from southern China; however, based on their illegal status and work in the informal sector one could safely assume that they are not, by any means, financially well-off. Chapter Seven 296 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities should) be classified as transnational subjects. A secondary aim of this chapter will be to critique the tendency in much of the recent literature on overseas Chinese to characterize all Chinese migration taking place in present times as part of a growing phenomenon of transnationalism (Palumbo-Liu 1999, Ong 1999, Wong 1999). I will argue that there are different types of Chinese migrants moving in and out of South Africa. Most of these do not fit the transnational mould. While the transnational, global climate might have some impact on why they move, how they move, and where they move, this study indicates that most of these migrations are neither related to movements of global capital by savvy transnational Chinese operators nor reasonably described as part of a “Greater China” (see Ong 1999, L Wang 1994, and Tu 1994).

Chinese South African remigrants During the course of this dissertation research I conducted interviews with nine emigrated Chinese South Africans.5 Appendix Four at the back of this thesis provides brief summaries of them, including dates of and reasons for emigration, and adopted homes. The eldest of the group (now 70) left South Africa in 1959, while the youngest left just one and a half years before the time of our interview. Identities of these Chinese South African remigrants varied based on why and when they left, how long they had been out of South Africa, and the conditions in their adopted countries, particularly in terms of the treatment of immigrants. The racial climate and a political culture of democracy and meritocracy,6 in particular, proved to be most critical in the re-shaping of identities of remigrated Chinese South Africans.

Why they left South Africa Most Chinese South Africans who emigrated during apartheid, left for apartheid-related reasons: discrimination, political violence and instability, and lack of the security that stems from legal rights. Those who left (and are still leaving) South Africa in the post-

5 Two of these interviews were conducted face-to-face, one in South Africa and one in California. Seven of these interviews were conducted electronically, in a series of e-mail communications. I also managed to have a few telephone conversations with two of the remigrants. I have, since 1999, also kept up my e- mail correspondence with two of the nine remigrants. 6 Despite the flawed nature of the democracies, perceptions of meritocracy and equality in their adopted countries had a tremendous impact on the shifting identities of Chinese South African remigrants; the belief that they were equal in the eyes of the law was particularly important to a growing sense of belonging. Chapter Seven 297 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities apartheid period were leaving primarily for three reasons: (a) concerns about crime and violence, safety and security, (b) concerns about the declining quality of education and healthcare, as well as the long-term impact of these issues on their children, and (c) a desire to explore the world, as discussed in the previous chapter. The more recent immigrants revealed more flexibility in their thinking about emigration; they could be more flexible and opportunistic because they were not necessarily making permanent life decisions but rather temporarily exploring their various options.

Those who had emigrated in the 1960s and 1970s typically had had deeper experiences of apartheid; many retained negative views of South Africa. Alfred, 48, for example, left South Africa just after finishing high school in the mid-1970s. He recalled, “Life in Africa was hard… (even as a child) we were treated in a very hostile fashion by the Africans.” Alfred said both the blacks and the whites treated the Chinese badly. One of his earliest memories, he reported, was of trying to join the YMCA. When he was seven and his brother, ten, his father tried to sign them up for boxing lessons; they were told that Chinese were not welcome as it was a white establishment. He went on to say: Growing up in South Africa, (I) felt a visceral hatred or dislike of Chinese; of difference. It was a very cold reception. I thought, ‘uh oh. I’m Chinese. I must remember that… Of course, things changed in later generations, but that certainly is how I recall things in the 1960s…it was still hard to walk down the street even in my own lousy neighbourhood and have the poorest of the poor or the lowest of the social castes chant quite audibly, “Ching Chong Chinaman, born in a bar.” In many cases, people would throw things at me as I got off the bus and geez, I was only about 12 at the time. I recall many a time when itinerant African labourers would walk past our shop, stare at me, and then mutter something in a very disdainful manner, or maybe it just struck me as disdainful.

He has remained ambivalent about South Africa and has not returned here since emigrating.

Allen (70) is the oldest of the remigrants and was one of the first of his generation to leave South Africa. He recalled what it was like during apartheid: They still looked at us as ‘Johnny foreigners.’ They also used the term ‘Johnny Chinaman.’ We had to go to the Consul-General if we wanted to travel on the train. We even had to make representations to get on the white carriage. Simple

Chapter Seven 298 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities things like train tickets… You know, when I was a lad, we Chinese couldn’t go into a barbershop and be cut by a white barber.

He, too, retains a bitter taste from these experiences under apartheid. Yvonne and Camilla, both in their mid- to late-40s had similar recollections of apartheid-era discrimination. A number of these interviewees spoke of how experiences of apartheid continued to affect their behaviour, even years after they have left South Africa. Clarissa, 46, for example, argued that they were conditioned to be passive; they never made waves. If asked to leave the movies or restaurants, they did so quietly. In her words: That probably accounts for why a lot of Chinese are apathetic – it’s inbred not to get involved or cause any attention to be drawn upon themselves… Because the Chinese in the early days were so afraid to speak their mind or protest, they are very apathetic. As long as there are no great waves of change, they would continue to carry on making a living and leave the politics to someone else.

The imprint of apartheid appears indelible. Despite their negative experiences and their ambivalent feelings about South Africa, many Chinese South African remigrants still viewed themselves as South African.

Still South African Joan (44) still lives in South Africa; she spoke about her relatives who left South Africa. She opined that some experiences are impossible to forget and become forever a part of one’s identity. I don’t think the South African part ever leaves you… But I think your South African identity never leaves you because I think, through apartheid, you know, South Africa was always different from the rest of the world…And I think even when I went to London in the 60s, I even met my cousin…I think he will always remember that he couldn’t find work in South Africa…and that is why he lived in London for so long. And I think he will always have that experience – that under apartheid he couldn’t work. I also have a cousin in Cuba…he went from Germany and England to Canada…and he couldn’t find a job under apartheid and I think experiences (like that) always stay with one.

Many of the Chinese South African remigrants echoed Joan’s sentiments: those who left continue to hold on to their South African-ness. Most of those who left as adults reported that they still feel South African. This country and their experiences here, both

Chapter Seven 299 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities positive and negative, had become an undeniable part of them. Paulette, 34, is now a Canadian citizen, but she asserted that she was still truly South African. She spoke specifically about the impact of race: for good or bad, race coloured all aspects of life in South Africa. Canada is now my adopted country but I am still truly a South African…I’m still a South African Chinese through and through even though I am living in Canada. For twenty-seven years I was brought up in a society where the colour determined your fate. Here in Canada, you are just one of the folks. I think I can say that I was proud to be born in South Africa. I still talk about the relatively good life I once had in South Africa.

James A, 35, is now living in the US and will probably never return to live in South Africa. With two children born in the US, he feels committed to a future there. However, he still had strong feelings about his birthplace and spoke of Africa in almost reverent, primordial terms: Despite the fact that I do feel quite American, I do have very deep South African feelings still. Africa still flows very strongly through my veins and I don’t think I will ever lose that. After all, that is where I grew up and spent more than 80% of my life. All my family is still in PE. My parents still live in Kabega Park, so I still have a strong connection there…

Many emigrants continued to cheer for South African sports teams. Perhaps even more telling were the reports that emigrated Chinese South Africans had re-created Chinese South African communities in their new home countries. Vancouver and Toronto, in particular, received large numbers of Chinese South Africans from the 1960s; so many, in fact, that Chinese South Africans in those two cities were able to re-create their social circles in their new home cities. William, 57, commented that on his visits to family in Canada he noticed that the Chinese South Africans kept to themselves. He also stated that there were so many friends and acquaintances there that he felt at home. He said: But now, if I look at my brothers’ families overseas, they’re all dating Chinese…not , but Chinese South Africans, because there is a bit of difference. They don’t mix with the Canadians but with Chinese South Africans…when we went there for a visit, it was like home for me. We spent two weeks in Vancouver and when I went there, it was like home – we knew everyone. All the people that left from varsity – they were all there…it was the whole generation. It was like a generation drain – they all went over. All of them…They were all from varsity. It was like home for me. I wouldn’t say I was in Canada.

Chapter Seven 300 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities Chinese South African remigrants continued to hold exclusive Chinese South African get-togethers in Canadian cities. While they had left South Africa in a physical sense, they moved their social lives, almost intact, to this third country. Mary, 44, also observed that the overseas Chinese South Africans of her parents’ generation tended to stick together. She ventured some guesses about why they maintained their South African ‘societies’: They still have the annual ones (parties), but it is the older ones, the ones say like my father’s generation … So, it’s usually people in my father’s generation that are still going to these parties … but even the also have their little societies … Maybe they feel more comfortable. And they can talk and they’ve got that same colloquialism (sic) and sayings. You know, because you always throw in these words here and there and only the other South Africans would understand it…

Deborah, 48, also reported on the abiding ‘South African-ness’ of the Chinese South Africans who have emigrated. She, too, had opinions about why South African emigrants tended to maintain their ties to one another. She said: The South Africans who have settled in Australia…were all rooting for the South African team… A friend of my nephew who is emigrating to Australia said, “I will always support the Springboks and the Proteas!” You must get in touch with some Canadians who have been there a while. They’re still very much a South African clique (sic.) I know in Toronto they still have a dance for South Africans – a New Year’s dance. My cousin and those who have been there twenty odd years – now, their main friends are still the South African Chinese, and the same would be true in Vancouver. There are people who emigrated in the 60s, 70s and 80s – they form second South African cliques…do we subconsciously have a loyalty to South Africa? I think you need to explore that one with the overseas Chinese… My perception is the younger you emigrate from here, the less ties (sic) you have to South Africa; the older you are, the greater your ties… Someone like me will always have ties.

The Chinese South African emigrants corroborated the opinions cited above. They reported that their closest friends were other Chinese South Africans with whom they shared common South African experiences. Many Chinese South Africans in South Africa continued to maintain their links to those who have gone overseas. Some of the regional Chinese associations provided assistance; the Chinese Association (TCA), for example, had an “Invitation to Chinese Ex-Patriots” on its website, inviting those who “have emigrated from South Africa in the past and have made new homes for themselves and their families, in countries of their choice” to “share their experiences Chapter Seven 301 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities with friends and acquaintances that they have left behind” (see http://www.tcagp.co.za). The earlier reports of social life in Canada attest to these continued ties to Chinese South Africa. There were also examples of more formalised networks. For example, a web search of ‘Chinese in South Africa’ revealed a website for the Canadian Chinese Association (SA), a “community based organization primarily aimed to foster social contact amongst Chinese from , now living in Canada.” (see http://www.cancosa.org/chinese.htm).

The trans-location of social lives through kinship and community ties is not a new phenomenon; most studies on emigration have identified and explored the nature of chain migration, which provides an explanation for such processes. What is unique here is that these were not simply ethnic Chinese communities that were re-established but specifically Chinese South African communities. The double-barrelled, layered identity of ‘Chinese South African’ had been re-established in the third country and made more complex by the addition of a third ‘coat’ of identity. What was previously a national identity – their South African-ness – had become part of a new, more complex, ethnic identity, which served, then, as part of the double descriptor or adjective to the type of Canadian or Australian or American that they had become.

Would it be appropriate, then, to speak of a Chinese South African Diaspora? Mudimbe and Engel make the following comments about contemporary diasporas: Contemporary diasporas … tend to define themselves systematically in terms of political and cultural actions and responsibilities that are lived locally … diasporas act within national contexts from a position of de-territorialized minorities. They generally advance causes of cultural autonomy and espouse discourses of an imaginary original society. (Mudimbe and Engel 1999:1)

The Chinese South Africans lacked the political element mentioned by Mudimbe and Engel, however, their strongest emotional and social ties were to South Africa and their “ancestral space” (Mudimbe and Engel 1999:4), not based in Canada or Australia. As with other members of diasporas, Chinese South Africans defined themselves in terms of multiple identities. These new identities encompassed the geographically distant spaces of China, South Africa, and their new, third, adopted country. Diasporic identities, as described by Mudimbe and Engel, might be better suited to describe South Chapter Seven 302 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities African exiles during apartheid, but Chinese South African remigrants, at least those who left South Africa during apartheid as adults, also form part of a diaspora insofar as their present continues to be defined by their past. These remigrant communities illustrate the importance and long-lasting impact of South African identity. The weight of their unique experiences, particularly of apartheid, has left a lasting mark on them; one that continues to affect new generations of Chinese South African Canadians and Chinese South African Americans and Chinese South African Australians, some of whom have never been to either China or South Africa.

The Chineseness of Chinese South African remigrants For many of the remigrants their Chineseness is more distant than their South African- ness. In confronting other people of Chinese descent in their newly adopted countries, they concluded that they were different, and ‘un-Chinese’ as compared to these others. Like their counterparts who remain in South Africa, most speak no Chinese. They, too, claimed that their Chineseness had been ‘diluted’ by time and by living amongst westerners for many generations.7 They claimed to be more westernised than the other Chinese they encountered. Many also claimed that their Chineseness was purely a racial identity, and no longer an ethnic identity. Paulette, for example, felt that she had little in common with other Chinese: My strongest sense of being Chinese is that I know I am (of) Chinese descent. Other than that, I can’t say that I feel Chinese. I don’t speak or understand a word of Chinese. I don’t follow any Chinese customs. I do believe that I have some Chinese traits in me, such as emphasis on academic achievement, love of money, gambling. But, generally, I was brought up in a Western environment and thus don’t have a great sense of feeling Chinese. I don’t think I have a great deal in common with my fellow Chinese in China other than we probably both have black hair.8 But to some degree I do feel a certain sense of pride that I am of Chinese origin even though I don’t really know what it is to be Chinese inside

Nagel’s assertions that an individual’s ethnic affiliation at any point in time depends on the ethnic identities available to him or her in a particular situation are particularly

7 In Chapter Five, I argued that Chineseness, both in terms of the boundaries and the content of ethnic identity has changed. There are new purposes for various Chinese festivities and new meanings attached to them. However, my sociological interpretations did not bar the interviewees from their own essentialist evaluations of their Chinese culture and ethnicity. 8 Tajima (1996) makes a similar comment about what she might have in common with the myriad of other immigrants to the U.S.; she concludes: we all eat rice. Chapter Seven 303 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities relevant to the Chinese South African remigrants. She argues that ethnic identity, ethnic conflict, and ethnic organisation are not primordial but non-fixed, fluid, and situational (Nagel 1986:4). Chinese South Africans could be only Chinese in the context of a highly race-conscious South Africa, there were no other options at that time. However, upon emigrating and encountering other Chinese (or other ways of being Chinese), they felt less Chinese and more South African.

Still, even without the outward symbols of Chinese ethnicity, such as language or culture, some of these remigrants have retained a mythical connection to China and their Chinese roots and heritage. Alfred spoke quite eloquently about the Chinese sense of racial and cultural superiority, which was ‘taught’ him by his family and community: I’m not enough of an anthropologist to know how one communicated culture to one’s offspring. Suffice it to say that there were, in fact, things that I learned from my family and their Chinese friends… For lack of a better term, I will talk about our sense of racial and cultural ‘superiority’ over others and how it manifested itself. Now whether that was merely a survival tactic given the extremely harsh racial climate we were living under, or more likely, I believe, because we really did believe it, is up for grabs. But Chinese folks, especially the older generation (my grandparents and their peers) who came over on the boat in the early 1900s) really carried themselves in a way that said: ‘we are better than anyone else. Act like it.’ all the time. You know, the ‘chosen people syndrome.’ Even as a child, I would constantly remind myself that China was the most populous country, had the longest surviving civilization. The greatest man-made artefact (visible from the moon, we were told, even though no one had yet been there to test that theory), etc., etc., ad nauseum.

Camilla, 45, also spoke of the superiority of the Chinese, learned, she said, as a child. From an early age, I had always known that I was Chinese. I was proud to be Chinese and misguidedly probably thought we were the superior race! For example, in Chinese we say we are tong yan.9 Everyone else was referred to as kwai – basically a non-person, a thing. Apartheid probably helped to make me feel more superior – what did white people really know? We had been civilised thousands of years before them and here they were trying to tell us Chinese that we were non-whites. How stupid of them! Those were my thoughts – silent and unvoiced, yet bursting to be allowed an opportunity to reveal all… I still felt that we Chinese were special and I think I still do… I consider myself Chinese first, South African second, and Kiwi third.

9 Tong yan translates in Cantonese to ‘The Chinese’. New Chinese immigrants consider it to be a specifically Cantonese and very old-fashioned term. While it is no longer used in China, it seems to be common amongst overseas Chinese who left over two generations ago. (conversation with Emma Chen 27 September 2005). Chapter Seven 304 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities

James A, 35, while very pro-American, also spoke of some primordial connection to China. He said: “Then, there is also my Chinese descent. Even thought I can’t consciously say I feel very Chinese inside, there probably is something Chinese deep, deep inside me.” According to David Wen-ho Wu these deep-rooted feelings of Chineseness, even amongst overseas Chinese, are common. He writes: To ordinary Chinese, the traditional view of being at the centre of existence has always been an important aspect of being Chinese. This anthropocentric view is based on a deep-rooted sense of belonging to a unified civilisation that can boast several thousand years of uninterrupted history … Such a sense of unity and continuity was, until recently, common among all Chinese, even among those who had moved abroad permanently to settle among non-Chinese people. (Wu 1994:149).

These interviewees – like their counterparts who remained in South Africa – held essentialist and primordial views of culture. They saw themselves as ‘not very Chinese’, particularly in contrast to other ‘more Chinese’ Chinese, and yet, many still demonstrated a primordial connection to a mythical China – a Chinese heritage that gave them a sense of superiority. Their South African experiences also appear to have achieved near-mythical status in their lives and they believe, as James A. stated: that “Africa flows in their blood”. Interviewees showed evidence that both their Chineseness and their South African-ness were positional, contextual, and relative; and with the addition of a third country to call home, the remigrant identities had become more layered, nuanced, and multiply-sited.

‘Luodi-shenngen’ The concept of luodi-shenngen is, according to L. Ling-chi Wang, a shift from the China-oriented, China-centred approach to the study of overseas Chinese, which, in its extreme, views all overseas Chinese as de facto extensions or colonies of the motherland, China. It is also a departure from the assimilationist paradigm, which ignores and sometimes suppresses racial and cultural difference. It means, literally “growing roots where they land” and reflects the view that earlier Chinese immigrants have sunk deep roots in their adopted homes. Wang says, The luodi-shenngen approach … views the Chinese minority to be an integral part of each country’s citizenry, to be treated with equality and justice. This Chapter Seven 305 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities approach also posits the racial and cultural heritage of the Chinese and treats the overseas Chinese as a cultural asset in the building of more enlightened societies in our integrated global economy and shrinking world …(L. Wang 1998:xi).

While they may retain elements of Chinese culture as well as connections to their South African community, many of the remigrants, but particularly those who left as young people or who have been away for over a decade, have become fully integrated into their adopted countries. Their ethnic identity as Chinese South Africans remains (albeit transformed over time); however, citizenship and national loyalties have been transferred to their adopted countries. Today these are more easily transferable and changeable. Anderson writes that: “the goal of the nation-state project to align social habits, culture, attachment and political participation is being unraveled by modern communication and nomadism” (as quoted in A. Ong 1999:2). While transnationalism, to be discussed later, seems to contradict nation-state projects, the concept of luodi- shenngen refers to some level of success on the part of the adopted nation-state in winning over the loyalties of the Chinese remigrants.

Modern, western English-speaking democracies of Canada, the US, and more recently Australia and New Zealand have been the primary destinations of emigrating Chinese South Africans, just as they have been for other Chinese remigrants from South East Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America. This was, according to the interviewees, in part, because immigration policies were relatively open and these countries welcomed the skills of new immigrants. The main draw card, however, was that these countries were working democracies that provided legal guarantees of protection for minority immigrant communities. Wang Gungwu states: Some of the remigrants from South East Asia had chosen the migrant states precisely because they thought those nations’ tolerance, ethnic rights, and style of life could help them conserve the Chinese qualities and values they still believed in. (G. Wang 2000:104)

Perceived notions of meritocracy also appeared to be strong draw cards for Chinese South Africans who, after their experiences under apartheid, valued the notion of being judged not by the colour of their skin or the slant of their eyes, but on their merits. These countries, at least with their multicultural rhetoric, seemed to accept newcomers

Chapter Seven 306 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities and embraced their diversity while simultaneously encouraging unity.10 Several of the remigrants noted the high levels of acceptance that they felt in their adopted countries. James A, after a mere five years in the US, claimed to feel American. When questioned about this, he replied that he had always admired America, its power, success, achievement, and wealth. He had, by his own admission, bought into the ‘American Dream’. He said: So, I embraced the U.S. and its way of life from the moment I landed on her shores. It was the start of the ‘American Dream’ for me… Also, as far as loyalty goes, I feel more loyal towards the U.S. Whenever there is a competition, I always root for the U.S… Of course, I have two American sons. Although technically I am not American (not yet), I feel a sense of pride in anything American…God Bless America…In a nutshell, my patriotism and loyalty lies with the U.S. Up to now, the U.S. has been good to me and I definitely see a future here for myself and my family, so I will make my contribution to making it even better.

Some Chinese South African remigrants, like James A, were seduced into giving up their South African citizenship. Others, because of their negative feelings about apartheid South Africa, attempted to reject their South African-ness. Clarissa, who is a mixed-race Chinese, devalued her connection to both her Chineseness and her South African-ness. She was quite clear that these were just facts of her birth. She considered herself a Canadian but of South African Chinese descent: I do not relate to China or Hong Kong, speak the language very well nor do I write. I have no desire to go to China or to learn Chinese. For me this was just a fact of birth. I was never a proud South African because of the injustices although my accent prompts many people to ask what country I was from. I am not ashamed to have been South African and I have fond memories of growing up in a beautiful country and miss some of the lifestyle and people there…I now consider myself a Canadian of South African Chinese descent – I feel I belong to a country that has accepted me and where I have the same rights as everyone else.

The identities of the remigrants are perhaps best understood in the language of Stuart Hall’s (1992) discussion on the tendency toward ‘translation’, which explain identity formations that cut across and intersect national frontiers and are composed of people who have been dispersed forever from their homelands. He writes:

10 Wiberg’s (1995) discussion of super-identity is applicable here. Chapter Seven 307 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities Such people retain strong links with their place of origin and their traditions, but they are without the illusion of a return to the past. They are obliged to come to terms with the new cultures they inhabit, without simply assimilating completely. They bear upon them traces of the particular cultures, traditions, languages, and histories by which they were shaped. The difference is that they are not and never will be unified in the old sense because they are irrevocably the product of several interlocking histories and cultures, belonging at one and the same time to several ‘homes’ (and to no one particular ‘home’). (Hall 1992b: 310).

The identities of these remigrants are more layered and more complex. To call oneself a Chinese South African Canadian or a Chinese South African Australian may be unwieldy but these monikers reveal of the complexities and nuances of the experiences lived and the influences felt. There was also a distinct separation between their adopted national identity, on the one hand, and their heritage, their race, their roots, their culture/s, and their histories on the other. But even amongst these remigrants there were distinct differences. Identities varied, as mentioned earlier, based on the length of time outside South Africa, the reasons for emigration, the age at departure, and the political historical period and circumstances at the time of emigration.

At least three groups of Chinese South African remigrants are discernible. The first group includes those who left South Africa long ago as adults and have no intention of returning. They planted roots in their adopted countries, but remain tied to South Africa. They might be referred to as luodi-shenngen; however, because of their abiding connection to the land they left, they might better be identified as part of a Chinese South African Diaspora. A second group of remigrants, formed by those who left South Africa as children, have more distant ties to both China and South Africa, and stronger ties to their adopted country. This second group is similar to second generation Asian Americans or the luodi-shenngen, as described by L. Wang (1998). They are similar to Matthews’ Canadian subjects who have roots in both Africa and the Indian subcontinent, “They have negotiated their identity in Canada longer than any other place”11 (Matthews 1999:10). The third group, made up of those who left South Africa in the 1990s, was less committed to being permanent emigrants. They were (and can

11 Matthews states clearly that the length of time in any given country and the age of migration are important to identity. She found that all those who emigrated as children or adolescents now identify Canada as home and consider themselves Canadian (Matthews 1999:10). Chapter Seven 308 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities be) more cautious, hedging their bets, straddling both South Africa and a new, third country. In many ways, this last group had more in common with the Taiwanese who arrived in South Africa in the 1980s and 1990s and subsequently left again some years later (to be discussed). This next section will embark on a description of the new Chinese immigrants to South Africa and preliminary analysis of their impact on existing Chinese South African identities.

New Chinese immigrants In the mid-1970s, relations between South Africa and the Republic of China/Taiwan (ROC) began warming as they found themselves increasingly isolated from the international community.12 This warming of relations was demonstrated by an increase in bilateral trade, visits by trade missions and the exchange of visits by Cabinet Ministers. In 1976 South Africa and the ROC raised their diplomatic representation to ambassadorial level. Reciprocal state visits in 1980 resulted in strengthening of trade, scientific, and technological ties and gave rise to speculations about the position of the South African Chinese.

The steady influx of Taiwanese industrialists into South Africa in the 1980s was one of the most significant results of these warming relations between the two countries. These Taiwanese formed the first wave of new Chinese immigration to South Africa. Generous South African government incentives (including relocation costs, subsidised wages for seven years and subsidised rent for ten years, cheap transport of goods to urban areas, and housing loans) and favourable exchange rates encouraged the immigration of investors and their families from ROC and Hong Kong. According to economist Gillian Hart, these apartheid state subsidies were reputedly some of the most generous in the world (Hart 2002:2).13 Furthermore, South Africa’s long-standing prohibition of non-white immigration was waived in order to accommodate these industrialists.

12 Numerous scholars have pointed out that it was partly due to their shared status as international pariahs that drew South Africa and Taiwan together during the 1980s (Hart 2002: 3; also Yap and Man 1996). 13 Hart explains that at the same time, large numbers of small-scale industrialists in Taiwan came under enormous pressure to leave the country due to rising wages, escalating exchange rates, and high rents. Ironically, these condition, she says, were created by the stunning pace of their industrial investment and export drive (Hart 2002:2). Chapter Seven 309 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities

By 1988, an estimated 2,500 immigrants from Taiwan had arrived. By 1989, these industrialists were reported to have established nearly 150 factories, mostly in remote parts of the country in or near the former ‘homelands’. By 1992 there were about 300 such factories;14 according to the Association of Chinese Industrialists, these factories created over 40,000 jobs and invested capital of approximately one billion Rand (Yap and Man 1996:421, Hart 2002:2-3).

In the 1990s, a second wave of immigration started. On the heels of the industrialists, many other immigrants from the ROC entered South Africa. They came in as entrepreneurs opening import/export firms, restaurants, other small businesses, and as students.15 While the industrialists were based primarily in or near the former homelands, these newer arrivals settled in South Africa’s larger cities. By the end of 1994, there were approximately 300 such businesses and hundreds of Chinese students in South Africa (Yap and Man 1996:423).

The third wave of immigration, which continues today, is immigration primarily from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Starting in the late 1980s and picking up pace in the period leading up to South Africa’s recognition of the PRC 1996, huge numbers of both legal and illegal immigrants have entered South Africa from mainland China, dwarfing the existing South African-born Chinese community. Table 7.1, below, indicates that the number of legal immigrants from China went down in actual numbers from 409 in 1993 to 180 in 1997, but in terms of proportion of all immigrants, there is an increase from 0.2% to 4.4%. Illegal immigration during this period makes up the huge difference and is a far greater proportion of new immigration, especially from

14 Yap and Man state that there were close to 300 while Hart asserts that during the 1980s there were already well over 300. 15 At the University of the the number of first-year foreign students from ROC/Taiwan, mainland China, and Hong Kong, rose steadily from the mid-1980s through the 1990s, from 17 in 1986 to a high of 141 in 1997, and then declining slowly to 53 in 2004. It is also worth noting that between the mid-1980s until the late 1990s there were also large numbers of South African students who reported that they spoke Chinese as a first language. For example, in 1986 there were 45 of these students and in 1997 there were 83. Given the findings of this research project on the limited Chinese language abilities second- and third-generation Chinese South Africans, it is quite likely that these are also foreign-born Chinese who were naturalized South African citizens. If this is the case, then numbers of (likely) foreign- born Chinese students at Wits exceeded 200 in 1997 and has remained between 215 and 230 ever since. Chapter Seven 310 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities mainland China. Conflicts between black hawkers and Chinese street vendors in the late 1980s revealed that many of the immigrants from Taiwan and mainland China had entered the country legally as tourists but remained without requisite residence or work permits.

During the course of the field research it became clear that these three successive and overlapping waves of immigration had brought unprecedented numbers of ‘new’16 Chinese to South Africa; however official figures indicate that the numbers of legal immigrants from China (including Taiwan) have been relatively small and were never more than 15% of the total number of immigrants to South Africa in a given year. Between 1989 and 1991, the total number of new Chinese immigrants more than quadrupled in two years – from 460 to 1,959. Press reports further speculated that the figure of illegal immigrants could be as high as 8,000 (newspaper reports from late December 1992, as quoted in Yap and Man 1996:428). As with numbers of local Chinese, it was virtually impossible to get accurate numbers of new immigrants because of the high incidence of illegal immigration from the PRC; the total number of Chinese in the country in 1999, as I completed the research portion of this PhD project, was estimated to be close to 50,000.

Attempts to gather updated figures during the final stages of this research revealed staggering new (unofficial) numbers. In 2004, the PRC officials reported that there were approximately 80,000 legal immigrants in South Africa, all holding passports and valid visas (telephone conversations with various PRC officials). A prominent newspaperman in the new Chinese immigrant community, however, confidently stated that there are at least 300,000 Chinese in South Africa today. He arrived at this figure through unofficial communications with South African Home Affairs officials, research into unclaimed deposits in emigration offices in the PRC17, and information from police stations and residents’ associations. He stated that there were

16 To distinguish between the various communities I use ‘new’ to describe the immigrants, specifying the country of origin as necessary. The Chinese South Africans are often referred to as ‘local’; I also specify at times that they are South African-born. 17 Prospective temporary visitors from the PRC to South Africa are required to leave a deposit of 20,000 yuan (Interview with G. Feng, China Express, 14 September 2004). Chapter Seven 311 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities currently at least 30-50 illegal Chinese immigrants coming in daily across land borders from Lesotho and Mozambique (interview with G. Feng, China Express, 14 September 2004).18 A 2001 Institute for Security Studies paper confirmed Feng’s estimates. Author Peter Gastrow wrote that there are approximately 100,000 Chinese (including both South African citizens and temporary and permanent residents) legally in South Africa; in addition, he wrote that the police estimate that there are between 100,000 and 200,000 illegal immigrants from China and Taiwan (Gastrow 2001).

Whether 200,000 or 300,000, the growth in the Chinese population in South Africa in the last 20 years has been phenomenal. Of the total estimates only 10,000 – 12,000 are South African-born, and 8,000 – 10,000 are Taiwanese. It is also worth noting that many of the Taiwanese who came in the 1980s have in recent years left South Africa (to be discussed later). According to Feng, in the early 1990s there were approximately 30,000 Taiwanese in South Africa; if his estimates are correct, up to two-thirds of the Taiwanese have since left South Africa (G. Feng, China Express, 14 September 2004).19

Becoming South African? These new immigrants were not only entering South Africa in staggering numbers, but many were applying for and being granted permanent residence and soon thereafter, citizenship. Table 7.2 below shows the number of Chinese immigrants receiving permanent resident status in South Africa from 1961 to 1994.

18 Numerous articles about illegal immigration to South Africa indicate that Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe are the largest sending countries (staff reporter, Migration News 1994). It has also been noted that human trafficking of women from rural China flows through neighbouring countries (Nduru 2004) and that Chinese are buying citizenship from small African countries for eventual passage to North America (Dawson 1999). 19 In the mid-1990s, due to trade liberalisation in South Africa, textiles from China started flooding the local markets at low prices. Hart explains that low-cost imports from mainland China pushed many of the Taiwanese factories, set up in South Africa under apartheid-era incentive schemes, out of business (Hart 2002:183); the same has happened to South African textile factories. Cheap Chinese imports have had a disastrous impact on the local textile industry. Chapter Seven 312 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities

Table 7.2 New Chinese Immigrants Receiving Permanent Residence Status in South Africa Year/s Number Notes 1961 – 1975 69 1976 – 1986 29 1987 133 1988 301 1989 483 1990 1,422 1991 1,981 1992 275 1993 1,971 1994 896 569 from ROC 252 from PRC 21 from Hong Kong Total 7,491 Source: Department of Home Affairs as quoted in Yap and Man 1996:419 Because the ROC permits dual citizenship, many Taiwanese immigrants exercised their option to become naturalised South Africans after the requisite five years of permanent residence. Feng claims that as many as 90% of the Taiwanese in South Africa today hold South African identity documents: they have become South African citizens (G. Feng, China Express, 14 September 2004).

These new immigrants have formed a variety of business organisations as well as social, cultural, and sports clubs. To cater for their spiritual beliefs, the first large Buddhist temple in the country was built in Bronkhorstspruit, about 60 kilometres east of in 1993; it is said to be the largest Buddhist temple in Africa.20 There are Taiwanese and Chinese churches and political organisations, grocery stores and restaurants, and even newspapers to serve the new immigrants. They have formed new Chinatowns and other visibly ethnic enclaves throughout Johannesburg and, to a lesser extent, in other large cities in South Africa.21 In short, those who remain have settled into South Africa and their presence has been felt by not only the existing Chinese South Africans but also

20 Hart explains that Bronkhorstspruit is an example of how white local government officials in small, conservative, mainly Afrikaans-speaking towns adjacent to townships bypassed national government and attempted to lure more Taiwanese into their “fiscal nets” (Hart 2002:4). Her comparative study of Ladysmith and Newcastle in KwaZulu focuses on the impact of Taiwanese investment in those two towns. 21 A cursory glance at the local telephone book for Johannesburg had twenty-nine listings under ‘China’ or ‘Chinese’ and another five under ‘Mandarin’; these included a Chinese radio station, a Chinese newspaper, Chinese translation services, acupuncture, foreign trade services, and travel agencies. Chapter Seven 313 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities throughout South African society. Much of the attention on the new Chinese has been negative press.

Challenging existing constructions of ‘Chinese South African’ In their earliest reports about this influx, both legal and illegal, the media focused on the “malpractices and controversial activities by the Chinese, such as gill-net fishing, seal culling, rhino horn and elephant tusk poaching, credit card fraud, gang warfare, and labour abuse.” (Yap and Man 1996:426).22 All of the adverse publicity created tensions between the local Chinese community and the new immigrants. A marked ‘us’ and ‘them’ attitude developed and the South African-born Chinese community grew increasingly frustrated that most other South Africans could not differentiate between them. These new Chinese pose new challenges to the carefully constructed identity of Chinese South Africans as a law-abiding, quiet, civilized, conscientious, and apolitical people.

Interviewees were most concerned about the impact of the ‘behaviour’ of some of the new immigrants on the reputation and good image of all Chinese people in South Africa. Deborah, 48, quoted below stated that there had been more interaction with immigrants since they moved into the cities in the mid-1990s. She made two critical points: first, new immigrants behaved in ‘un-Chinese’ ways; and second, this behaviour had a tremendous impact on all Chinese because most South Africans could not (and still cannot) differentiate between them. She said: When they first came in the mid-1980s, they all lived in the homelands. Now, since many have moved to cities, there is more contact and interaction. Most of it is negative… There is so much negative publicity. These guys murder each other or shoot each other. There are triads that are here now, gangsterism. I hear also in Cyrildene23, for instance, this protection racket is very rife there…and

22 Peter Gastrow’s paper on activity in South Africa cites that the trade in shark fins is the primary activity of several of the triad societies; however, he also indicates that they are now active in a range of criminal activities including forms of fraud, smuggling of illegal immigrants, tax evasion, large-scale importing of counterfeit goods, drug trafficking, firearms smuggling, extortion, money laundering, prostitution, and illegal gambling (Gastrow 2001). 23 One of the suburbs of Johannesburg, northeast of the city-centre, has become a second Chinatown, the first being in the city-centre. New Chinese immigrants established numerous restaurants, grocery stores, and other service-oriented businesses to cater for other immigrants as well as for general South African society in a small area. Almost overnight, Cyrildene became known as a second Chinatown, it’s brightly painted storefronts and Chinese lettering making it highly visible to outsiders. Chapter Seven 314 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities those Chinese pay protection money. Us South African Chinese (sic.), we don’t do these things to each other. We are not mean to each other. These overseas Chinese are mean to each other…There is also gill netting, hawkers…it is all negative…(I am) embarrassed by the trawlers, street hawkers, illegal immigrants.

Andrew K, 63, also expressed concern about the reputation and credibility of the Chinese. He said he was unhappy to see Chinese “behave so poorly”. He believed that Chinese should “behave better” and live up to a higher standard. He said: I don’t agree with many actions of the new immigrants. I hate when I see a lot of the behaviour is bringing down the reputation of the Chinese in Pretoria. Before, in Pretoria, I guess elsewhere as well, the credibility of the Chinese, the credit worthiness, as well, was very high. Today, it’s not so. We are being questioned because of all the…call it fraudulent dealings that have happened, and all this has come about because of the new immigrants … They ruined the good reputation of the local Chinese who were here… the fact that they are Chinese makes me even more unhappy that Chinese could behave in that way…so the unlawful elements…they have pulled down the general reputation of the Chinese in South Africa.

There was a clear differentiation between ‘us’ and ‘them’, Chinese and Taiwanese, local and foreigner. Tammy, 44, claimed to have nothing in common with the newcomers. The new immigrants? Well, I don’t like them because they are involved in all these illegal activities here and then people think it is all the Chinese people in South Africa who are doing it…when they came out we never identified with the Taiwanese people anyway. They were Taiwanese and we are Chinese. We never identified with them…They came here and had these factories and they didn’t pay their people properly…So, you see, these Taiwanese people gave us a very bad name…and that’s why we didn’t want to identify with them…And now when the (mainland) Chinese come, it is even worse. Now you have all this abalone and the smuggling and things illegal…and no, I don’t want to be identified with them either. We are just different.

Quite a few of the interviewees mentioned the low-class behaviour of some of the new immigrants as embarrassing. Images of Chinese hawkers on the streets; Chinese restaurant owners walking outside in their undershirts, short pants, and slops (or sandals); and Chinese people spitting in public undermined the very respectability that the Chinese South Africans fought for over the last two generations. Carolyn, 26 said: The only thing is, I can’t stand being humiliated or embarrassed and what embarrasses me is seeing a lot of immigrants who are on the sidewalks, with their ironing boards, selling their goods. You know, you only used to see blacks do that, the hawkers. To me, that was a low class thing. I know it might not be Chapter Seven 315 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities nice to say, but it’s the kind of thing that’s very different, because we’re not used to see your own culture (sic.) on the streets selling things…that is an eyesore.

A few had more balanced views and realised that there were both good and bad ‘elements’ coming into South Africa from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. They expressed no objections to new Chinese immigrants; they were concerned, however, with the ‘criminal element’, the ‘peasant class’ and the prostitutes. All these classes of new immigrants were seen as challenging the existing Chinese community’s reputation, their constructed identity, and their sense of ‘proper Chinese’ behaviour and values. These new immigrants were not ‘Chinese’ in the same ways that they had imagined themselves as a community over the past five decades.

Only a few of the Chinese South Africans had anything positive to say about the new Chinese immigrants. Interviewees mentioned that the new immigrants had brought with them a greater offering of Chinese foods both in terms of the numbers and diversity of grocery stores for Chinese provisions as well as restaurants. The influx of Chinese immigrants had also increased the offering of Mandarin language courses for themselves and their children. And finally, with the increased numbers of Chinese, there were more cultural activities and opportunities to (re)learn Chinese customs and traditions. One interviewee also mentioned that with more Chinese in the country there were increased chances that their children would interact with and perhaps eventually marry Chinese thus perpetuating a ‘pure’ Chinese lineage24. Both Deborah and Paul mentioned that the new immigrants were having a positive impact on the local Chinese community in terms of culture. Deborah, quoted earlier, stated: I think the local Chinese were really in danger of losing their Chineseness progressively. With each succeeding generation, they don’t speak Chinese anymore because they’ve been to white schools and all that. And it is good for the younger generation to actually see a lot of other Chinese and mix with them…(so) on Chinese culture, (the) impact (is) positive.

Paul D, 66, agreed:

24 Several of the older Chinese South Africans still held to notions of racial purity as important to carrying on the ethnic line of the ‘Yellow Emperor’; general social taboos against intermarriage and miscegenation can be partly attributed to culture and partly to apartheid’s legal order. These issues were discussed in earlier chapters. Chapter Seven 316 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities So, the impact on the community is in that we’re learning from each other. You know the meaning of the festivities that we go out and celebrate every year – The Moon Festival, the Spring Festival, and all that. Yes, so there’s a contribution from the new immigrants toward that. The culture, the dancing, the music – yes…So, yeah, I think the situation of the new immigrants has had a positive effect on the community.

A few of the interviewees also mentioned that they found many of the new immigrants brave and enterprising, more willing to take risks than the more conservative local Chinese. A few of the interviewees saw the Taiwanese, in particular, as clever, sophisticated, and cosmopolitan.

Generally, however, the South African-born Chinese community spoke of the new Chinese immigrants and their activities as embarrassing and humiliating. They claimed that the new immigrants were “spoiling our good name,” “ruining our reputation,” and affecting the credibility of the local Chinese community. They were concerned about triads, hawkers, racist factory owners, and illegal immigrants. They expressed great disdain for illegal activities including poaching, drug smuggling, fraud, prostitution, and gambling. They described the new immigrants as unkempt, dirty, mean, crude, rude, unsophisticated, materialistic, flashy, dishonest, loud, and low-class. In contrast, they described themselves as honest, hard working, intelligent, well educated, trustworthy, humble, low-key, law-abiding, and quiet. Most South African-born Chinese South Africans were of the opinion that the influx of new Chinese immigrants posed a threat to their hard-earned respectability and tarnished their collective reputation.

Apart from being embarrassed by the new immigrants, tensions between various groups of Chinese had surfaced around community, national and international politics. Three primary issues stood out. These were: (a) challenges to leadership within local Chinese associations, (b) public pronouncements of support for local political parties, and (c) tensions between the PRC and the ROC. In most cases, the tensions were between local Chinese and the Taiwanese. Interviewees reported that the Taiwanese had made attempts to take over the leadership of several of the regional Chinese associations, most notably the Transvaal Chinese Association (TCA) based in Johannesburg, the Kimberley Chinese Association, and the Chinese Association. Several Chapter Seven 317 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities interviewees also made accusations that the Taiwanese government was co-opting Taiwanese association members as spies to report on significant discussions or activities of the local Chinese.

New immigrants have, periodically, made public announcements about political leanings and about crime. Local Chinese have taken issue with publicity around these announcements, arguing that new immigrants could leave if there was any political fallout from their pronouncements, whereas they, as South Africans, must live with any consequences. Deborah stated: The new immigrants make announcements on behalf of the Chinese in South Africa. Meanwhile, we don’t wear our political allegiance on our sleeves, okay? And also, the (local) Chinese feel that a lot of them trade in black areas and you know, to say that “I am DP (Democratic Party) or I am NP (National Party)” is just not on. Because, you know, you lay yourself wide open for victimisation again, because you are identifiable. I mean, for a Greek or an Italian to get up and say “I support the ANC” or “I support the Freedom Front” – nobody is going to recognise that man after he walks down the street.

Andrew K, 63, was concerned that their public political activities were a cover for ‘hidden agendas’. He stated: The new immigrants and the Chinese government representatives are the ones involved in organising most of the protests, marches, petitions. The TCA and other local Chinese organisations are asked to participate at the last minute. Often, there is more to it than meets the eye. For example, (there may be) Chinese mafia involvement or PRC or ROC national agendas.

The ongoing political contest between the two Chinas had also affected the local Chinese South African community. The battle became particularly pitched after 1998, when South Africa officially switched its recognition to the People’s Republic of China.25 Diplomatic representatives of both countries in South Africa had made overtures to the local Chinese South African community and, according to interviewees, attempted to get the local community to cut off contact with representatives of the other

25 The South African Nationalist Party recognised the Kuomintang (Nationalist) government in the late 1920s prior to their ‘exile’ on Taiwan in 1949. After the Communists took control and declared the PRC, South Africa continued to recognise the ROC/Taiwan. As mentioned earlier, relations between South Africa and Taiwan had warmed significantly from the late 1970s when South Africa wooed Taiwanese factories to South Africa. In the early 1990s, there were moves to build and strengthen ties with the PRC, initially with the reciprocal establishment of ‘study centres’ in both countries. This culminated with the switchover in official recognition of the PRC by South Africa in 1998. Chapter Seven 318 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities country. The two China tensions have bled into local Chinese communities, especially in places where in the past the Taiwanese had given generously to community activities and Chinese schools.

Chinese identity contested Interviewees were clear about their feelings for the new Chinese immigrants, but they also claimed that the new immigrants treated the local Chinese with disdain. The new immigrants reportedly held the local Chinese South Africans in low esteem because (a) they did not speak Chinese and (b) because they had not managed to become wealthy despite the many perceived economic opportunities in South Africa.

On the matter of Chinese language abilities, Belinda, 53, stated: Many of the people from China and Taiwan – who are very Chinese – would come across someone like Paul (my son) and laugh. They would equate him with a bird who can’t fly – because he can’t speak Chinese. They don’t respect you because you don’t speak or read Chinese. They tend to look down on you.

Deborah weighed in on the issue of money and wealth arguing that the Taiwanese were judging the local Chinese without any understanding of apartheid history: Most of the new immigrants have money and their first attitude towards the Chinese locals was, “Oh, these guys are so stupid!” First of all they say that, “They are not Chinese. They’ve got all the opportunities and they can’t make money!” Whereas we, because of our history of going through apartheid, we wanted to prove to the whites that we were equal to them, so we went through education instead of money so our values are different… The Taiwanese argue that you can make more money as an entrepreneur… because they couldn’t go in and work the same way. First of all, they don’t have the language skills.

Local Chinese and new immigrant Chinese are contesting local conceptions of ‘Chineseness’. Many of the shopkeepers and the fence-sitters argued that they might not speak fluent Chinese, but they still maintained Chinese values and carried on time- honoured Chinese traditions such as the practice of Ch’ing Ming. Their very character – law-abiding, apolitical, quiet, honest, industrious, low-key, and conservative – was seen as essentially Chinese. The South African-born Chinese had done all they could to keep themselves “within the acceptable definition of Chineseness” (Wu 1994:151). However, the new Chinese immigrants seemed to view the traditional practices and

Chapter Seven 319 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities values of the Chinese South Africans as out-dated and old-fashioned. They appeared, at least to the local Chinese, to embrace wealth, materialism, and other more ‘western’ ways. For the new immigrants, Chinese language was the primary feature of Chineseness and this was lacking in the South African-born Chinese.26 Business savvy, too, was viewed as a key characteristic of being Chinese to the new immigrants – a characteristic that the local Chinese clearly lacked.

As the contest over “Who are the real Chinese” or “who is more Chinese” heated up it became clear that both the local Chinese and the new immigrants held differing but nonetheless essentialist views of Chineseness. Repeatedly the interviews spoke of ‘very Chinese’ or more or less Chinese; often they questioned the authenticity of their own culture; or, as in this case, they felt their values and behaviours to be more authentically Chinese than those of the new immigrants. In studies of overseas Chinese in South East Asia, many scholars have observed that with their long history of settlement some of their members had ‘gone native’ (Wu 1994:160). Peranakan is the Malay word used in Indonesia to refer to native-born Chinese who have gradually lost Chinese language and cultural characteristics. They speak the indigenous language or a creolised version of it and they observe some very old Chinese customs and ceremonies as well as indigenous ones. They are regarded by both unassimilated Chinese migrants (the totok) and the indigenous people as belonging to neither group, however, they see themselves as Chinese. While the ‘pure’ Chinese may question the legitimacy of the ’ claim to being authentic Chinese, the Peranakans themselves are quite confident about the authenticity of their Chineseness. They are often heard referring to themselves as ‘we Chinese’. (Wu 1994:161).

South African-born Chinese South Africans, for over 100 years, have viewed themselves and been identified by other South Africans as Chinese. Within the harsh apartheid terrain, they found solace in their identity as Chinese. Able to retain some semblance of Chinese cultural practice, and set apart, racially, by apartheid laws, they could comfortably assert that they were Chinese. Wang Gungwu states that, “Many

26 As this research was focused on second-, third- and fourth-generation Chinese South Africans, comments about the new immigrants are based primarily on interviews with ‘local’ Chinese and media reports. Chapter Seven 320 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities mirrors, some less distorting than others, intervene when a Chinese living abroad constructs his composite image of what it means to be Chinese” (in Tu 1994:128). All the mirrors, until recently, projected images of non-Chinese, sufficiently different from themselves, that they could construct their Chinese identity without outside challenge. Now, with the influx of large numbers new Chinese immigrants to South Africa, for the first time in almost 40 years, they find their Chineseness questioned. The new Chinese immigrants place before them a different mirror, one that reflects other ways of being Chinese; the reflection in this mirror challenges their established, construction notions of their Chineseness.

South African as compared to the ‘other’ Chinese The bananas were not particularly concerned about contesting Chineseness. It was clear to them that they were not as Chinese as these newcomers. Encounters with new Chinese immigrants brought into focus, rather, their South African-ness. Gary A, 25, stated that many Chinese South Africans of his generation saw themselves as South African first. Because of the new immigrants, he reported, there was some embarrassment about being Chinese. Carolyn indicated that class had become entwined with racial and ethnic identity; whereas South African-born Chinese saw themselves as members of the middle class, they viewed many of the new immigrants as lower class and therefore ‘un-Chinese’.27

Regardless of their feelings about the South African state, when they examined themselves in light of the new immigrants, they were South Africans while these other Chinese were foreigners. Their positional and comparative identity forced them to see themselves as more South African and less Chinese, as well as both South African and Chinese. Laura, 25, said: “As compared to the other Chinese, I feel more South African.” Barbara F, 31, elaborated on similar feelings: We are South African. They (the new immigrants) don’t see us as Chinese. We don’t feel we’re Chinese in their presence. We feel South African…We can talk about the future of this country…as South Africans…We’re South African Chinese. We’re more than just Chinese…(we identify) as South African

27 This despite the fact that most of the Taiwanese immigrants to South Africa were in fact quite well-off. Her comment shows, too, that many of the South African-born Chinese also could not tell the differences between Chinese immigrants from Taiwan, mainland China, or Hong Kong. Chapter Seven 321 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities Chinese. And maybe South African Chinese has actually become a culture…maybe we see ourselves as different from mainland Chinese.

Michael F, 33, was quite adamant: he was a South African; ‘they’ were foreigners. His comment also highlighted the contestation over who were the real Chinese. He said: But do you remember when I was on that reservist course…and they started ragging me about abalone and rhino horn and stuff like that? And I said ‘hey, this is my country. I’ve got nothing to do with that. I’m training to be a policeman and you’re ragging me about stuff like this’ and these are, like, bloody foreigners... Well, you can see the differences between the real Chinese and us. We think of ourselves as real Chinese and then they come here from the motherland… We are still Chinese, but we just happen to be…and we’re South African, as well.

These self-perceptions were not always corroborated by the views of other South Africans. The advent of large numbers of new Chinese immigrants to South Africa from both China and Taiwan has revived the image of Chinese as foreigners. Interviewees complained that many South Africans responded with surprise that they could speak English or Afrikaans so well and without accent. The inability of most South Africans to distinguish between South African-born and immigrant Chinese has caused local Chinese to be treated as outsiders. In the post-apartheid era, when they could finally claim equal rights as South African citizens, these cases of mistaken identity have caused great insult to Chinese South Africans whose families have been in South Africa for at least two or three generations.

Who is a Chinese South African? The influx of large numbers of immigrants from Taiwan and mainland China has challenged the way the Chinese South African community has, for years, viewed itself and was viewed by others. The new demographics form the first challenge; South Africa until the 1980s had anti-Asian immigration policies in place, which strictly controlled the number of Chinese immigrants; between 1953 and 1983 fewer than 100 Chinese were admitted into South Africa (Yap and Man 1996:396). The country was thus able to maintain a tiny and relatively stable population of Chinese. Even with the more conservative figure of 200,000 (half of whom are illegal immigrants), the current population of Chinese in South Africa is twenty times the size of the original Chinese South African population of the 1980s and quadruple the size of the total estimated Chapter Seven 322 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities population in 1999 when I conducted my field research. The sheer numbers of new immigrants have simply overwhelmed any previous images of Chinese in South Africa.

The second challenge came in the form of the highly publicised illegal activities of some of the newcomers. Conflicts with local black hawkers, labour issues in the Taiwanese factories, smuggling of protected resources, human trafficking, and triad activities (now including drug trafficking, prostitution, and a protection racket) have been covered in numerous media stories over the last two decades. As stated earlier, these stories upset the image and identity of Chinese South Africans as well-mannered, law-abiding, and above all, respectable. The real problem, here, for the Chinese South Africans is that the general population cannot differentiate between ‘local’ Chinese and new immigrant. They, too, are seen as foreigners, interlopers, and outsiders who engage in illegal and disrespectable activities.

The challenges to the South African-ness of the Chinese South Africans became absolutely clear with the announcement of four Chinese members of Parliament. After the 2004 national elections the ANC and three of the opposition parties, the , the Democratic Alliance, and the new , each announced one Chinese MP. Significantly, all four are Taiwan-born. As Taiwanese immigrants, some of whom had been in South Africa for over two decades and taken on South African citizenship, they were very different from South African-born Chinese. They have been described as more outgoing, more confident, more willing to get involved and take risks, and they were changing all previous conceptualisations of Chinese South African.28 Apartheid-era constructions of Chinese South African clearly

28 One component of the Chinese South African constructed identity is that they have been avowedly apolitical, shying away from the limelight at various times during apartheid when they became the focus of government and media attention. In earlier chapters I argued that the behaviour of Chinese South African leaders has long been political in that they have consistently fought for greater rights and privileges for Chinese in South Africa. Their tactics, however, have been ‘soft’ in contrast to the political strategies of the anti-apartheid movement; they engaged in letter writing, negotiations, petitions, and held functions for invited members of officialdom in order to win friends and gain respect amongst decision- makers. They avoided involvement in all highly visible political activities, they never joined political parties, they could not vote, and generally they did not take a active role in the struggle against apartheid. They were unassuming and maintained a low profile; so quiet, seemingly detached, and unassuming that they were at times nearly invisible. Chapter Seven 323 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities did not apply to these new and increasingly diverse communities of Chinese in the country.

These new Chinese immigrants present challenges to both their Chineseness and their South African-ness. The tensions between the various groups of Chinese in South Africa today clearly point to the fact that ethnicity is both constructed and contested as well as positional and relative (Nagel 1986, Nash 1989, Wiberg 1996, Brah 1992). Existing conceptualisations of ‘Chinese South African’ will have to become more fluid and incorporate the new immigrants.29 In the meantime, several on-going processes ensure that the meaning of Chinese South African will continue to change in coming years: more and more immigrants continue to arrive from mainland China, while other Chinese, South African-born and Taiwanese, and continue to emigrate.

Taiwanese in (and out of) South Africa: Opportunistic transnationals or new Chinese South Africans? The remigration of new Taiwanese immigrants in South Africa tells a different story altogether, one that perhaps fits better into the larger picture of Chinese transnational economic migrations. At the height of Taiwanese immigration to South Africa in the early 1990s there were some 30,000 in the country, as mentioned earlier. Today this number is estimated to be between 8,000 and 10,000. As early as 1992, the number of factories dropped from 300 in 1990 to 276. According to Yap and Man, this was a reflection of economic recession, political instability, labour problems, and insufficient market research. Since 2000 the key factors pushing Taiwanese industrialists out of South Africa have continued to be labour issues30, crime and corruption,31 and perhaps

29 Tu Wei-Ming (1991) discusses the fluidity of identities. 30 Gillian Hart writes that the highly publicised incident of December 2001 in which a worker in a Taiwanese clothing firm gave birth to and subsequently lost her twin babies during a nightshift in a locked factory resulted in a several Taiwanese factory closures for gross violations of labour laws (Hart 2002:160). 31 My discussion with newspaperman G. Feng was illuminating. He confirmed my observation that Chinese were often targeted for theft because they tend to deal in large amounts of cash. He further stated that there was a great deal of Chinese on Chinese crime as well as the involvement of corrupt police and immigration officials in crimes against Chinese immigrants. Chapter Seven 324 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities most importantly, competition from low-cost Chinese imports.32 It is likely that most of those who left had taken South African citizenship.

According to one source, close to 90% of the Taiwanese in South Africa hold South African citizenship (G. Feng, 14 September 2004). When asked about the loyalties of these Taiwanese South Africans, Feng said, “To them it’s a job, to me, it’s my country.” Close to 60% of those Taiwanese, many with South African citizenship, left South Africa seems to indicate that their South African citizenship was virtually meaningless to them. It was, perhaps, simply a practical way to avoid yearly hassles and annual costs of renewing temporary visas with South African Home Affairs. The remigration of Taiwanese from South Africa is illustrative of Benedict Anderson’s comments about passports as becoming “less and less attestations of citizenship, let alone of loyalty to a protective nation-state, than of claims to participate in labor markets” (as quoted in Ong 1999:2).

Aiwha Ong’s descriptions of flexible citizenship are perhaps best suited to understand the phenomenon of Taiwanese vis-à-vis South Africa. Their immigration, their adoption of South African citizenship, and the subsequent emigration of up to two- thirds of the 30,000 who were here in the early 1990s can be understood as part of these new, more flexible notions of immigration and citizenship. She writes: In the era of globalization… Flexible citizenship refers to the cultural logics of capital accumulation, travel and displacement that induce subjects to respond fluidly and opportunistically to changing political economic conditions (Ong 1999: introduction).

Transmigrants retain ties to multiple societies. This is facilitated by the rapid transformation of travel and telecommunications technology. Transnationalism is defined as: A social process in which migrants establish social fields that cross geographic, cultural, and political borders. Immigrants are understood to be transmigrants when they have developed and maintained multiple relations – familial,

32 Gillian Hart claims that this competition, ironically, comes from other Taiwanese who left Taiwan in the same period as those who came to South Africa, but went to set up factories in coastal areas of mainland China (Hart 2002:195). Chapter Seven 325 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities economic, social, organizational, religious, and political – that span borders. (Schiller, Basch, and Blanc-Szanton 1992: ix in L.Wong 1999:3).

In a later article, they elaborate on the definition of transmigrants as: …engaged elsewhere in the sense that they maintain connections, build institutions, conduct transactions, and influence local and national events in the countries from which they emigrated (Schiller, et al 1995: 48 in L. Wong 1999:3).

Skeldon (1995:72) observes that Chinese transmigrants operate in transnational social networks which will allow them to ‘flow’ from one part of the system to another, depending on conditions of economic boom or recession and political liberalization or repression in any part of that system (in L. Wong 1999:5).

New terms such as ‘new extended family’, ‘diasporic families’, and ‘trans-Pacific networks’ are used to discuss these flows along points in a network. The ‘astronaut families’ of Hong Kong (Chan 1997 in L. Wong 1999) and ‘parachute kids’, and the other terms mentioned above refer to those with the means to set up homes in two or more nation-states, to travel internationally, to affect capital transfers, influence global trade, and impact global capital.33 ‘Transmigrants’ in particular connotes a level of sophistication, affluence, and flexibility not evident in most of my research subjects, with the possible exception of the Taiwanese industrialists; some of the Taiwanese who left South Africa have now re-located their textile factories to the special export- processing zones set aside for such investments in southern China (Hart 2002). These Taiwanese who flowed in and later out of South Africa, as Ong suggests, were responding “fluidly and opportunistically to changing political economic conditions” (Ong 1999:introduction).

33 Hu-de Hart used a much broader definition of transnational. She writes “Given modern technology and communications systems most immigrants today are probably transnational to some degree in that they do not pick up all roots and sever all ties – physical, emotional, economic, social, cultural – to one place before forming new ones in another; nor do they immediately transfer their allegiance from one to the other. Modern transnational migration is inextricably linked to the forces of global capitalism, as capital and labor move, and are moved, constantly across borders” (Hu-de Hart 1999:9). I use a much narrower definition here, closer to what Hu-de Hart and Ong call “bridge-building transnationals” which refers mainly to middle and upper class privileged immigrants “who have the resources to negotiate and exploit the varied conditions of commerce and family residence” in different countries (Ong 1993:753 in Hu-de Hart 1999:9). Chapter Seven 326 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities Still another explanation is required to understand those Taiwanese who have remained in South Africa. Some have now been in South Africa for as long as twenty years or more; perhaps for them, South African-ness holds a greater significance than their ability to participate in this labour market (Anderson in Ong 1999:2). Taiwanese South African Eugenia Shi-Chia Chang, one of the new members of Parliament states, “Chinese MPs have to serve South Africans. South Africa is my country and my home.” Another Taiwanese South African, Emma Chen, has been in South Africa for over twenty years. She runs a successful business in Johannesburg, is married to a white South African, and has brought her parents here to live with her. She has long been a South African citizen, participates in elections, and has become a valued and visible part of the Johannesburg social scene. As one of very few Chinese who speaks English, Mandarin, and several other Chinese dialects fluently, her services as a translator have become an invaluable resource to both the South African government and to the new Chinese immigrants. Her participation, as a translator, in a recent raid led by the South African Revenue Service on Chinese businesses firmly put her in the South African camp, and brought home to her the complex nature of her loyalties. She voiced her concerns to me, saying, “Now they (the Chinese immigrants) think I’m the enemy” (conversation August 2005).

Members of the existing Chinese South African community remain highly sceptical about the motives of the Taiwanese, especially those who have recently entered the political arena. They believe that the Taiwanese will continue to look out for their own interests. There is some justification for their scepticism, based on the historic tensions between the various Chinese communities; the new Chinese immigrants’ lack of comprehension of the South African-born Chinese apartheid experiences; and the fact that close to one-third of the once 30,000-strong Taiwanese community has, indeed, left South Africa. In terms of other possible ulterior motives for becoming South African citizens, there is also the potential financial upside for these new immigrants should the Chinese eventually win their battles for inclusion in EEA and BEE legislation; they, too will likely be included (erroneously, in my opinion) for benefits that accrue under .

Chapter Seven 327 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities Despite these concerns, it is undeniable that many Taiwanese immigrants have legitimate claims to South African identity. People like Eugenia Chang, Gino Feng, and Emma Chen, arrived here as young adults; they have lived most of their adult lives in South Africa, made their lives here, and argue that they are South African. Do they form a new cohort of Chinese South African identity? Amongst the 8,000-10,000 Taiwanese who remain in South Africa, a growing proportion was born here or came as children. They have grown up here. While older immigrants might have a more tenuous South African-ness, certainly these children and young people, who have spent most of their lives here, are becoming Chinese South African, forming yet another distinct identity cohort.

Conclusion: Luodi-shenngen or transnational Chinese? Transnationalism, one of the results of economic globalisation, conjures up images of international capitalists, off shore operations, export-process zones in East Asia and Mexico, the global capitalist economy, and special economic zones. Recent literature on overseas Chinese has placed a great deal of emphasis on high-flying ‘astronauts’ and ‘parachute kids’ (Ong 1999, Palumbo-Liu 1999, G. Wang 2002, Wong 1999). The phenomenon of economic, cultural, and political transnationalism has, without doubt, vastly complicated modern notions of immigration, citizenship,34 and assimilation. For example, Cohen (1997:157) argues that the: “deterritorialization of social identity challenges the nation-state’s claim of making exclusive citizenship a defining focus of allegiance and fidelity, in contrast to the reality of overlapping, permeable, and multiple forms of identity” (in Wong 1999:7).

True transnational subjects are the sojourners of today. However, controversy also surrounds them: while on the one hand these subjects are admired for their opportunistic abilities of jumping borders and extracting the best of the two or more worlds they inhabit, on the other hand, their identities and their activities give rise to questions about loyalties often resulting in the demonisation of ethnic minorities as treacherous foreigners (Palumbo-Liu 1999, Chang in Mudimbe and Engel 1999:139-140).

34 Lloyd Wong’s paper for the Globalization and Identities Conference (1999) delves into the implications for the institution of citizenship raised by transilience, and transnational migrations. Chapter Seven 328 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities Palumbo-Liu, among others, points out the dangers of any upsurge in cultural nationalism brought on by transnationalism in the US: the confusion between Asian and Asian American and the racist reification of both. Conservatives use transnational subjects to conclude that ethnic groups – members of diasporas – are still foreigners who support their home governments (Palumbo-Liu 1999:387).

In the field of overseas Chinese studies, there has been a tendency to label all post- modern Chinese migrations as transnational. Transnational subjects, in fact, form only a small part of present movements of Chinese around the globe. While they make for fascinating subjects of study, the moniker is simply not applicable to the majority of Chinese migrants. In the post-apartheid South African context the only group that might fall into the category of transmigrants are the remigrated Taiwanese South Africans, industrialists who came to South Africa during apartheid under a most attractive incentive scheme and who left once the competition from cheap Chinese imports and burdensome labour laws made their businesses unprofitable. The other Chinese migrants who have moved in and out of South Africa in the last three decades fall short of the current definitions of transmigrant in terms of capital, glamour, sophistication, and flexibility.

There has also been a tendency to assume that all these transnational overseas Chinese formed some sort of closely-knit ethnic ‘tribe’ (Kotkin 1992) who engaged in business relations based ties of kinship. This study has shown that in fact interactions between various groups of Chinese in South Africa have been fraught by cleavages and contestation over authenticity of Chineseness. For the South African-born Chinese South Africans, seeing themselves through this new mirror of Chineseness has focused attention on the differences between ‘us’ and ‘them’, ‘local’ and ‘foreigner’, ‘westernised’ and ‘very Chinese’.

I would posit that beyond the three cohorts of Chinese South African identified in the previous chapters – the shopkeepers, the fence-sitters, the bananas – there are also various identity cohorts of Chinese South African remigrants and new Chinese immigrants. There are at least three types of Chinese South African remigrants: those Chapter Seven 329 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities who left as adults during 1960s and 1970s form a Chinese South African Diaspora of sorts; those who left as children, had particularly harsh experiences under apartheid, or feel particularly welcome in adopted country have become luodi-shenngen; and those who have left recently, who continue to straddle both worlds, uncommitted to becoming permanent emigrants or staying permanently in South Africa. Amongst the remigrants there are now Chinese South African Canadians, Chinese South African Australians, Chinese South African Americans and so forth. While perhaps cumbersome to call them by these names, these various Chinese South African remigrants have layered, nuanced, and complex identities that are sited in at least three geographically distant spaces. Furthermore, the various component parts of their identities shift as one becomes more salient than the others at various times under various circumstances. And, as with the other Chinese South Africans these identities shift over different life stages.

Amongst the new Chinese immigrants there are also several distinguishable identity cohorts. The Taiwanese industrialists who came in, made money, lost money, and left South Africa again fit into definition of transnational Chinese. They are opportunistic immigrants; for them, citizenship is flexible and transferable. The Taiwanese who arrived as children or young adults or who were born in SA may become the fourth Chinese South African cohort after shopkeepers, fence-sitters, and bananas. Some, like Emma Chen, have become South Africans, in their own right; however, they retain a cultural and ethnic identity as Chinese that is different from the ethnic and cultural Chinese identity of the South African-born Chinese.

The impact of recent Chinese immigration on the constructed Chinese South African identities, as described earlier, is also significant. With time, these newer groups and continued migrations will continue to affect the identities of Chinese South Africans. Perhaps time and political circumstances will encourage the eventual construction of a pan-Chinese, multi-generational, multi-cohort Chinese South African identity (see Padilla in Olzak and Nagel 1986, Tajima 1996, Grueso et al 1998, Gomes da Cuhna 1998, and Brah 1992 for discussions on political identity construction) that will serve useful to all these peoples who share both a belief in the myth of a once great China and Chapter Seven 330 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities residence in South Africa. Whether or not this occurs, the influx of the overlapping waves of Chinese immigration into South Africa since the late 1970s has had an indelible impact on both Chinese South African identities and on South African society. And, without a doubt, the remainder of the 200,000 – 300,000 legal and illegal Chinese immigrants from mainland China will continue to change the South African social, economic, and political landscape as well as Chinese South African identities.

Where Tu’s collection of essays in The Living Tree (1994) problematises Chineseness and explores “the fluidity of Chineseness as a layered and contested discourse” (Tu 1994:viii) this chapter has attempted to provide examples of the same, by examining the new and shifting Chinese South African identities of multiple generations of South African-born Chinese, remigrated Chinese South Africans now living in western countries, and new Chinese immigrants in South Africa. Chineseness and Chinese South African-ness are intertwined with race, space, and language; they are mediated by social, political and economic factors; they are affected by the various mirrors held up to self-held images; and they are made more complex, more layered, and more contested by the continuing movements of people of Chinese descent between countries. New Chinese South African identities are being constructed and existing ones are being re-negotiated as different groupings of Chinese confront one another. Globalisation intensifies these encounters and makes necessary these new constructions.

Chapter Seven 331 Chinese South African Remigrants and New Chinese Immigrants Chinese South African Identities