Following the violent crackdown on students demonstrating in Tiananmen Square in
June 1989, tens of thousands of sympathetic ethnic Chinese and nationals of the
People’s Republic of China (PRC) from across the globe (hereafter described as the
Overseas Chinese or OC1) unified in protest against the Chinese Communist Party
(CCP). While some were too afraid to speak out, others were much more critical and
antagonistic by calling for democratic reform on the mainland.2 Fearing an escalation
of anti-CCP sentiment amongst a diaspora crucial to its national interests, Beijing
promptly intensified qiaowu gongzuo (hereafter described as qiaowu or OC work) to
deal with the precarious situation. It employed a foreign legion of diplomats, attaches
from various government ministries and specialist qiaowu cadres to aggressively
manage and control strategic OC communities under a comprehensive set of
influential tools and persuasive techniques.3 Over the next two decades, the CCP
continually developed and improved qiaowu to the extent that it had become more
successful with these methods in the current period than any other era – particularly
so with new migrants and PRC students. Such prowess became apparent in 2008,
when large numbers of the OC again took to the streets in heated protest. This time
their response was not in defiance of the regime, but in strong support of China and its
leaders.
How has qiaowu been able to influence and manage the OC in this way? Why have
qiaowu efforts worked with such success? Why has the CPP become so confident in
advancing OC work since the crisis of 1989? This thesis explains the nature and
development of qiaowu, details its specific work methods, and analyzes the platforms
employed to advance relations with the OC diaspora. By assessing a wide range of
Chinese language references, primary source policy documents and internal
memoranda, this thesis argues that over decades of counter-efforts from rival political
factions, gradual cultural assimilation, changes in OC demographics, technology and
the international geo-political climate, qiaowu has served as an accomplished and
necessary component of the CCP’s modernized propaganda and thought work system
for influencing, managing and unifying a heterogeneous population of OC for
Beijing’s national interests.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:canterbury.ac.nz/oai:ir.canterbury.ac.nz:10092/4288 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | To, James Jiann Hua |
| Publisher | University of Canterbury. Social and Political Sciences |
| Source Sets | University of Canterbury |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic thesis or dissertation, Text |
| Rights | Copyright James Jiann Hua To, http://library.canterbury.ac.nz/thesis/etheses_copyright.shtml |
| Relation | NZCU |
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