Who Are “Overseas Chinese Ethnic Minorities”? China’s Search for Transnational Ethnic Unity

This article examines why, how, and with what implications the term “overseas Chinese ethnic minorities” has recently entered the official scholarly discourse and policy discussions on overseas Chinese in the People’s Republic of China. Through examining policy documents, reports, scholarly publications, and interviews with officials and scholars, the article shows that the shaoshu minzu category has permeated the discourse on overseas Chinese to steer the dual efforts of the Chinese authorities to overcome the Han-centricity of overseas Chinese studies in China and to mobilize transnational “ethnic unity” among Han and non-Han overseas Chinese. By way of highlighting a possible response to the government initiatives toward overseas Chinese ethnic minorities, the article also considers a written account of a Kazakh Dungan who took part in a government-sponsored tour to China in search of his “historic roots.” The analysis presented in the article points to a pervasive character of state power directed at totalizing heterogeneous transnational identities and reducing them to fixed categories. These transnational efforts emphasize unity over variety and cohesion over diversity within the Chinese nation. The inherently dichotomous understanding of diversity within the Chinese nation where the Han majority is contrasted to China’s ethnic minorities informs the People’s Republic of China’s transnational nation-building efforts.