Understanding Influence in the Strategic Competition with China for More Information on This Publication, Visit

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Understanding Influence in the Strategic Competition with China for More Information on This Publication, Visit C O R P O R A T I O N MICHAEL J. MAZARR, BRYAN FREDERICK, JOHN J. DRENNAN, EMILY ELLINGER, KELLY EUSEBI, BRYAN ROONEY, ANDREW STRAVERS, EMILY YODER Understanding Influence in the Strategic Competition with China For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RRA290-1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication. ISBN: 978-1-9774-0642-2 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2021 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions. The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org Preface Over the past two decades, China’s role in the geopolitical landscape has grown, particularly as a result of the country’s rising economic and military power. Thus, U.S. leaders now view China as a strategic competitor—one that seeks to upend the post–World War II liberal inter- national order. An integral part of this competition is the contest for influence in the interna- tional system. This report examines China’s drive for power and influence around the world and the results of those efforts. More specifically, we assess China’s ability to use various mech- anisms of influence to shape the policies and behavior of the 20 countries examined, as well as the lessons that these examples offer for the wider issue of influence in the United States’ strategic competition with China. With this study, we aim to produce a transferable frame- work and other tools of analysis that can provide reliable means of assessing bilateral influence relationships in other cases. The research to assess the factors described in this report was completed in mid-2020. The analysis here does not evaluate developments after that time. However, as of June 2021, we continue to believe that the basic findings in the report remain valid. The research reported here was completed in June 2020 and underwent security review with the sponsor and the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review before public release. This research was sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. It was conducted within the International Security and Defense Policy Center of the RAND National Security Research Division (NSRD), which operates the National Defense Research Institute (NDRI), a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant Commands, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, and the defense intelligence enterprise. For more information on the RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center, see www.rand.org/nsrd/isdp or contact the director (contact information is provided on the webpage). iii Contents Preface ........................................................................................................... iii Figures and Tables .............................................................................................vii Summary ........................................................................................................ ix Acknowledgments ............................................................................................xiii Abbreviations ...................................................................................................xv CHAPTER ONE Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER TWO Defining Power and Influence ............................................................................... 5 Modern Conceptions of Power ................................................................................. 5 Types and Categories of Power ................................................................................. 9 Power in International Relations ..............................................................................10 Concepts and Definitions: Influence .........................................................................12 Existing Literature on Influence ..............................................................................14 Theoretical Review: Lessons and Implications ..............................................................17 CHAPTER THREE Framework for Assessing Chinese Influence .............................................................19 Framework Components and Variables ......................................................................19 Methodological Challenges to Measuring Influence ...................................................... 23 CHAPTER FOUR Measuring Chinese Influence: Inputs .....................................................................25 Economic Variables: Trade and Foreign Direct Investment ...............................................25 Security Variables: Security Cooperation and Military Posture .......................................... 34 Diplomatic Variables: Programs and Activities ............................................................. 38 Informational Variables: State-Supported Broadcasting and Social Media Activities ..................41 Cultural Variables: Language Prevalence and Entertainment ............................................ 44 People-to-People Variables: Education ....................................................................... 48 CHAPTER FIVE Measuring Chinese Influence: Intervening Factors .....................................................51 Shared Values and Cultural Experiences ....................................................................52 Common Interests, Purposes, or Perceived Threats ........................................................55 v vi Understanding Influence in the Strategic Competition with China Implicit Societal Influence, or Soft Power .................................................................. 60 Mastery of the Local Context in the Targeted State ........................................................62 Vulnerability of the Targeted State to Outside Influence ................................................. 66 Domestic and International Context .........................................................................72 Conclusions ......................................................................................................73 CHAPTER SIX Measuring Chinese Influence: Outputs ...................................................................75 Public Opinion Variables .......................................................................................75 Output Analysis .................................................................................................78 CHAPTER SEVEN Case Studies of Chinese Influence-Seeking ..............................................................81 Australia ......................................................................................................... 84 Greece ........................................................................................................... 87 Japan ..............................................................................................................89 Maldives ..........................................................................................................91 Mongolia ........................................................................................................ 94 New Zealand ................................................................................................... 96 Norway .......................................................................................................... 98 The Philippines ................................................................................................ 101 South Korea ................................................................................................... 103 Sri Lanka ....................................................................................................... 106 Taiwan .......................................................................................................... 108 Thailand........................................................................................................ 111 CHAPTER EIGHT Historical Influence Case: Finland in the Cold War .................................................. 115 The Foundations of Soviet Influence in Finland .......................................................... 115 Degree of Soviet Influence ..................................................................................
Recommended publications
  • Popular Movements and Violence in East Asia in the Nineteenth Century: Comparing the Ideological Foundations of Their Legitimation
    Popular Movements and Violence in East Asia in the Nineteenth Century: Comparing the Ideological Foundations of their Legitimation Hang-seob Bae Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies, Volume 17, Number 2, October 2017, pp. 233-260 (Article) Published by Duke University Press For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/678111 [ Access provided at 6 Oct 2021 19:55 GMT with no institutional affiliation ] Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies Vol.17 No.2 © 2017 Academy of East Asian Studies. 233-260 DOI: 10.21866/esjeas.2017.17.2.006 Popular Movements and Violence in East Asia in the Nineteenth Century: Comparing the Ideological Foundations of their Legitimation Hang-seob BAE Sungkyunkwan University ABSTRACT In the nineteenth century, people in China, Korea, and Japan actively participated in popular protests. The rebellions in those countries had much in common, but one of the most striking differences is the degree of violence inflicted by these popular movements on their opponents. Chinese popular rebels were much more likely to kill or injure others than their counterparts in Korea and Japan. Such differences seem to be closely associated with the question of whether the rebel forces fought due to conflicting interests within the polity, or were seeking to build a new kingdom by pursuing a newly-risen religion while rejecting the existing ruling system and ideology that legitimized it. This paper will examine how the rebel forces based the legitimacy of their actions in relation to each country’s “political culture.” While popular movements in the West or the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were based on the idea that God was more powerful than the secular ruler, popular movements in Korea or Japan did not have a transcendent source of authority that was superior to the monarch.
    [Show full text]
  • Shipbreaking # 43 – April 2016
    Shipbreaking Bulletin of information and analysis on ship demolition # 43, from January 1 to 31 March 31, 2016 April 29, 2016 Content Novorossiysk, the model harbour 1 Overview : 1st quarter 2016 11 Bulk carrier 46 Ports : the Top 5 2 Factory ship / fishing ship 13 Cement carrier 76 Ships aground and cargoes adrift 2 Reefer 14 Car carrier 77 In the spotlight 5 Offshore 15 Ro Ro 80 Yellow card and red card for grey ships 6 General cargo 19 Ferry 80 From Champagne to the blowtorch 8 Container ship 30 The END : Italy is breaking 82 Tsarev the squatter 9 Tanker 42 up migrant carriers The disgrace of German ship-owners 9 Chemical tanker 45 Sources 85 Dynamite in Indonesia 10 Gas tanker 45 Novorossiysk (Black Sea, Russia), the model harbour 1 Novorossiysk : detentionstorm in the Black Sea The port of Novorossiysk plays in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean a major role of watchdog. The Russian port has a long tradition in the control of merchant vessels. Within the framework of international agreements on maritime transport safety, inspectors note aboard deficiencies relating to maritime security, protection of the environment and living conditions of crews and do not hesitate to retain substandard ships as much as necessary. Of the 265 ships to be broken up between January 1st and March 31 2016, 14 were detained in Novorossiysk, sometimes repeatedly, and therefore reported as hazardous vessels to all states bordering the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. At least 4 freighters, the Amina H, the Majed and Randy, the Venedikt Andreev and the Med Glory had the migrant carriers profile.
    [Show full text]
  • Manchus: a Horse of a Different Color
    History in the Making Volume 8 Article 7 January 2015 Manchus: A Horse of a Different Color Hannah Knight CSUSB Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/history-in-the-making Part of the Asian History Commons Recommended Citation Knight, Hannah (2015) "Manchus: A Horse of a Different Color," History in the Making: Vol. 8 , Article 7. Available at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/history-in-the-making/vol8/iss1/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the History at CSUSB ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in History in the Making by an authorized editor of CSUSB ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Manchus: A Horse of a Different Color by Hannah Knight Abstract: The question of identity has been one of the biggest questions addressed to humanity. Whether in terms of a country, a group or an individual, the exact definition is almost as difficult to answer as to what constitutes a group. The Manchus, an ethnic group in China, also faced this dilemma. It was an issue that lasted throughout their entire time as rulers of the Qing Dynasty (1644- 1911) and thereafter. Though the guidelines and group characteristics changed throughout that period one aspect remained clear: they did not sinicize with the Chinese Culture. At the beginning of their rule, the Manchus implemented changes that would transform the appearance of China, bringing it closer to the identity that the world recognizes today. In the course of examining three time periods, 1644, 1911, and the 1930’s, this paper looks at the significant events of the period, the changing aspects, and the Manchus and the Qing Imperial Court’s relations with their greater Han Chinese subjects.
    [Show full text]
  • Contemporary Literature from the Chinese Diaspora in Indonesia
    CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE FROM THE CHINESE 'DIASPORA' IN INDONESIA Pamela Allen (University of Tasmania) Since the fall of Suharto a number of Chinese-Indonesian writers have begun to write as Chinese-Indonesians, some using their Chinese names, some writing in Mandarin. New literary activities include the gathering, publishing and translating (from Mandarin) of short stories and poetry by Chinese-Indonesians. Pribumi Indonesians too have privileged Chinese ethnicity in their works in new and compelling ways. To date little of this new Chinese-Indonesian literary activity has been documented or evaluated in English. This paper begins to fill that gap by examining the ways in which recent literary works by and about Chinese-Indonesians give expression to their ethnic identity. Introduction Since colonial times the Chinese have been subjected to othering in Indonesia on account of their cultural and religious difference, on account of their perceived dominance in the nation’s economy and (paradoxically, as this seems to contradict that economic - 1 - dominance) on account of their purported complicity with Communism. The first outbreak of racial violence towards the Chinese, engineered by the Dutch United East Indies Company, was in Batavia in 1740.1 The perceived hybridity of peranakan Chinese (those born in Indonesia) was encapsulated in the appellation used to describe them in pre-Independence Java: Cina wurung, londa durung, Jawa tanggung (‘no longer a Chinese, not yet a Dutchman, a half- baked Javanese’).2 ‘The Chinese are everywhere
    [Show full text]
  • (12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2014/0127716 A1 Longo Et Al
    US 2014O127716A1 (19) United States (12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2014/0127716 A1 Longo et al. (43) Pub. Date: May 8, 2014 (54) BENCHMARKS FOR NORMAL CELL (60) Provisional application No. 61/240,613, filed on Sep. IDENTIFICATION 8, 2009. (71) Applicant: Nodality, Inc, South San Francisco, CA (US) Publication Classification (72) Inventors: Diane Longo, Foster City, CA (US); (51) Int. C. Alessandra Cesano, Redwood City, CA GOIN33/50 (2006.01) (US); Garry P. Nolan, South San G06F 9/72 (2006.01) Francisco, CA (US) (52) U.S. C. CPC ............ G0IN33/5041 (2013.01); G06F 19/12 (73) Assignee: Nodality, Inc, South San Francisco, CA (2013.01) (US) USPC ............. 435/7.21: 435/29: 435/7.24; 435/7.4 (21) Appl. No.: 14/072,623 (22) Filed: Nov. 5, 2013 (57) ABSTRACT Related U.S. Application Data Provided herein are methods, compositions, and kits for (63) Continuation of application No. 13/821,539, filed on determining cell signaling profiles in normal cells and com Oct. 2, 2013, Continuation-in-part of application No. paring the cell signaling profiles of normal cells to cell sig 12/877,998, filed on Sep. 8, 2010. naling profiles from a test sample. Patent Application Publication May 8, 2014 Sheet 1 of 37 US 2014/O12771.6 A1 SC: Z 2 N 2 29:NS Patent Application Publication May 8, 2014 Sheet 2 of 37 US 2014/O12771.6 A1 Patent Application Publication May 8, 2014 Sheet 3 of 37 US 2014/O12771.6 A1 se|duesque?e),TWV Patent Application Publication May 8, 2014 Sheet 5 of 37 US 2014/O12771.6 A1 FLT-WTAML that signal FLT-WTAML that signal like Healthy BMMb like FLT3-ITDAML O Healthy BMMb S FLT3 ITDAML O FLT3 WTAML -0.2 O.O 0.2 0.4 DOnOrS With OW mutational load Principal Component 1 FIG.
    [Show full text]
  • James J. Fox Distinguished Professor/ Professor Emeritus Research
    Curriculum Vitae: James J. Fox Distinguished Professor/ Professor Emeritus Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies The Australian National University Academic Qualifications: 1962 : A.B. (Summa Cum Laude) Harvard University 1963 : Diploma (Distinction) Oxford University (Social Anthropology) 1965 : B.Litt. Oxford University (Social Anthropology) 1968 : D.Phil. Oxford University (Social Anthropology) Previous Academic Positions: 1968-69 Duke University: Visiting Assistant Professor 1969 Cornell University: Visiting Summer Lecturer 1969-75 Harvard University: Assistant/Associate Professor 1971-72 Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford 1972-73 Nusa Cendana University, Kupang: Honorary Visiting Lecturer 1975 -- Professorial Fellow/Professor, The Australian National University 1977-78 Fellow, Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study, Wassenaar 1981 University of Bielefeld: Visiting Professor 1986 École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales: Directeur d'Études Associé 1986-87 University of Chicago: Visiting Professor 1988 Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden: Hoogleraar Wisselleerstoel Indonesische Studien 1993 Fellow, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore 1996 Senior Visiting Fellow, International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden 1998-2006 Director, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, ANU 2001 Distinguished Visiting Professor, National University of Singapore 2006-07 Visiting Professor, Australian Chair, Harvard University 2007 Jensen Memorial Lecturer, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of
    [Show full text]
  • Owned Enterprise Reform
    3/22/2019 China is blocking World Bank report calling for changes in economy - The Washington Post The Washington Post Asia & Pacific China is blocking joint World Bank report that calls for state- owned enterprise reform By Anna Fifield March 1 BEIJING — China has delayed the publication of a report on its economy, written in conjunction with the World Bank, as it tries to tone down recommendations about reforming its state-owned enterprises and allowing more market-led principles to reign. The report, titled “New Drivers of Growth in China,” has been ready for a year, according to four people involved in drafting it, but Chinese authorities have not allowed it to be published. The delays underscore the Chinese Communist Party’s extreme sensitivity about its economy as growth rapidly slows, particularly amid a protracted trade war with the United States. Many of the core recommendations of the report echo calls from the United States and other industrialized countries for China to make its trading practices more fair. Beijing’s objections to the report underscore just how difficult it will be for Washington to persuade China to change. “We were trying to put out a road map that would provide China with a sustainable growth path,” said one academic involved in the drafting of the report who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect his ongoing work in China. The report was jointly written by the World Bank and the Development Research Center, an influential think tank under China’s State Council, or cabinet. It was designed to be a follow-up to “China 2030: Building a Modern, Harmonious, and Creative Society,” a 2012 report published before President Xi Jinping took power.
    [Show full text]
  • Religion in China BKGA 85 Religion Inchina and Bernhard Scheid Edited by Max Deeg Major Concepts and Minority Positions MAX DEEG, BERNHARD SCHEID (EDS.)
    Religions of foreign origin have shaped Chinese cultural history much stronger than generally assumed and continue to have impact on Chinese society in varying regional degrees. The essays collected in the present volume put a special emphasis on these “foreign” and less familiar aspects of Chinese religion. Apart from an introductory article on Daoism (the BKGA 85 BKGA Religion in China proto­typical autochthonous religion of China), the volume reflects China’s encounter with religions of the so-called Western Regions, starting from the adoption of Indian Buddhism to early settlements of religious minorities from the Near East (Islam, Christianity, and Judaism) and the early modern debates between Confucians and Christian missionaries. Contemporary Major Concepts and religious minorities, their specific social problems, and their regional diversities are discussed in the cases of Abrahamitic traditions in China. The volume therefore contributes to our understanding of most recent and Minority Positions potentially violent religio-political phenomena such as, for instance, Islamist movements in the People’s Republic of China. Religion in China Religion ∙ Max DEEG is Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Cardiff. His research interests include in particular Buddhist narratives and their roles for the construction of identity in premodern Buddhist communities. Bernhard SCHEID is a senior research fellow at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on the history of Japanese religions and the interaction of Buddhism with local religions, in particular with Japanese Shintō. Max Deeg, Bernhard Scheid (eds.) Deeg, Max Bernhard ISBN 978-3-7001-7759-3 Edited by Max Deeg and Bernhard Scheid Printed and bound in the EU SBph 862 MAX DEEG, BERNHARD SCHEID (EDS.) RELIGION IN CHINA: MAJOR CONCEPTS AND MINORITY POSITIONS ÖSTERREICHISCHE AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFTEN PHILOSOPHISCH-HISTORISCHE KLASSE SITZUNGSBERICHTE, 862.
    [Show full text]
  • European Development Days
    2006 European Development Days 8 years of policy debates from the European Consensus to the post-2015 agenda /1 3 European Development Days 2006-2013 Eight years of policy debates from the European Consensus to the post-2015 agenda Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union. Freephone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) Certain mobile telephone operators do not allow access to 00 800 numbers or these calls may be billed. More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2014 Paper version ISBN 978-92-79-38970-2 doi: 10.2841/47722 PDF ISBN 978-92-79-38969-6 doi: 10.2841/47692 © European Union, 2014 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Printed in Belgium Printed on elemental chlorine-free bleached paper (ECF) European Development Days 2006-2013 Eight years of policy debates from the European Consensus to the post-2015 agenda Forward by José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission. This book has been published by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation - EuropeAid in August 2014. European Commission FOREWORD by JOSÉ MANUEL BARROSO President of the European Commission I have always passionately believed in a Europe that I fought hard to preserve our high aid levels in our is open; a Europe that is committed to the values of multi-annual budget 2014-2020. In addition, my freedom, development and global solidarity. These Commission has stepped up special measures for the values have been central to the European project poorest, like the EUR 1 billion Food Facility or our ever since its inception and continue to inspire our strong support for the United Nation's Sustainable Union today.
    [Show full text]
  • Dams and Development in China
    BRYAN TILT DAMS AND The Moral Economy DEVELOPMENT of Water and Power IN CHINA DAMS AND DEVELOPMENT CHINA IN CONTEMPORARY ASIA IN THE WORLD CONTEMPORARY ASIA IN THE WORLD DAVID C. KANG AND VICTOR D. CHA, EDITORS This series aims to address a gap in the public-policy and scholarly discussion of Asia. It seeks to promote books and studies that are on the cutting edge of their respective disciplines or in the promotion of multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary research but that are also accessible to a wider readership. The editors seek to showcase the best scholarly and public-policy arguments on Asia from any field, including politics, his- tory, economics, and cultural studies. Beyond the Final Score: The Politics of Sport in Asia, Victor D. Cha, 2008 The Power of the Internet in China: Citizen Activism Online, Guobin Yang, 2009 China and India: Prospects for Peace, Jonathan Holslag, 2010 India, Pakistan, and the Bomb: Debating Nuclear Stability in South Asia, Šumit Ganguly and S. Paul Kapur, 2010 Living with the Dragon: How the American Public Views the Rise of China, Benjamin I. Page and Tao Xie, 2010 East Asia Before the West: Five Centuries of Trade and Tribute, David C. Kang, 2010 Harmony and War: Confucian Culture and Chinese Power Politics, Yuan-Kang Wang, 2011 Strong Society, Smart State: The Rise of Public Opinion in China’s Japan Policy, James Reilly, 2012 Asia’s Space Race: National Motivations, Regional Rivalries, and International Risks, James Clay Moltz, 2012 Never Forget National Humiliation: Historical Memory in Chinese Politics and Foreign Relations, Zheng Wang, 2012 Green Innovation in China: China’s Wind Power Industry and the Global Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy, Joanna I.
    [Show full text]
  • MEDIA RELEASE June 26, 2017 CHINA RELEASES 2010 NOBEL
    MEDIA RELEASE June 26, 2017 CHINA RELEASES 2010 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE AND FREEDOM NOW CLIENT LIU XIAOBO ON MEDICAL PAROLE Liu reportedly has terminal liver cancer; he and his wife Liu Xia must immediately be given access to counsel and international community Washington, D.C. – Liu Xiaobo, China’s most prominent dissident and recipient of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, has been released on medical parole after he was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. Dr. Liu is receiving treatment in the north-eastern city of Shenyang after receiving the diagnosis in May, according to his local lawyers. “We are grateful for Dr. Liu’s release, but are deeply disturbed by the circumstances under which the Chinese government granted him parole,” said Jared Genser, Founder of Freedom Now and pro bono international counsel to Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia since mid-2010. “It is unconscionable that the government neglected Dr. Liu’s health, despite repeated calls from the international community to ensure proper care. The Chinese authorities must provide Liu Xiaobo open access to his counsel and to the international community so that his wishes at this difficult time can be ascertained and honored,” he added. Liu Xiaobo is a scholar and pro-democracy activist imprisoned for his role in drafting Charter 08, a political manifesto that calls for increased rule of law, greater respect for human rights, and the end to one-party rule in China. The Chinese government detained Dr. Liu on December 8, 2008 — two days before the official release of Charter 08. The government held him in solitary confinement and denied him access to his lawyers.
    [Show full text]
  • “Kung Flu” Fighters: Illuminating Resilience & Solidarities Among The
    “Kung Flu” Fighters: Illuminating Resilience & Solidarities Among the Chinese Diaspora Sabrina Lin | Amherst College | Spain, South Africa, USA | Summer 2021 OVERVIEW: T he Chinese diaspora is bonded by shared phenotype and some sense of a faraway homeland—an arbitrary designation in some ways, but one rendered especially fraught by the pandemic. The pandemic has most obviously wreaked havoc on world’s health and brought about reports of racist hate crimes for the Chinese diaspora in particular, but it has also inspired burgeoning movements for solidarity and social change. The viral hashtag #IAmNotAVirus, for example, has found success in translation in Spanish-speaking and French-speaking countries around the world. In South Africa, Chinatown communities have participated in successful mutual aid efforts to support local businesses impacted by lockdown and xenophobic avoidance. For all their differences, many Chinese diasporic communities are finding new or renewed connections in the midst of the pandemic. This raises the question: how might both the diaspora's diverse experiences and emergent solidarities create more understanding and empathy in an increasingly divided world? In order to highlight resiliencies across distinct global communities, I propose to create a podcast: an auditory collection of personal histories as told by members of the Chinese diaspora, who have very different upbringings, but who face a pandemic that has flattened their ethnic identities into “dirty bat eater.” Traveling to Chinese diasporic communities in Spain and South Africa, I will explore how the pandemic has affected identity and resilience across the Chinese diaspora—by not only collecting these stories, but also participating in the community work that sustains these networks and recording my own experiences.
    [Show full text]