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Well of course, because they're Malaysians or whatever first (well most feel this), why would they feel more loyal to China the nation? Are most Italian Americans more loyal to Italy than America?
That would be the ideal situation, for many oversea Chinese in western countries, though, this is not the case.
There's a part of annoying Chinese immigrants in the west who refused to integrate into the local community, or more untolratablely, often claim how 'patriot' they are to China even after they've taken the oath to pledge loyalty to their new home, and thereby criticize the democrats, liberals and secessionists within the PRC (as well here in HK) about how they betrayed the GREAT CHINA by not following the PRC's rule, which's a very ironic statement by people who are enjoying their freedom and wealthy life in the west.
As ive expected they are taken as traitors to china, by nationalist especially. But the general population of china as far as ive known are very indifferent towards the overseas
once i was in guangzhou, im not sure whether they recognize us as chinese or not. They seem to be very curious about us from Indonesia, one of the waitress tried to make as much conversation with us as much as she can with her poor english, which i find very friendly of her.
That would be the ideal situation, for many oversea Chinese in western countries, though, this is not the case.
There's a part of annoying Chinese immigrants in the west who refused to integrate into the local community, or more untolratablely, often claim how 'patriot' they are to China even after they've taken the oath to pledge loyalty to their new home, and thereby criticize the democrats, liberals and secessionists within the PRC (as well here in HK) about how they betrayed the GREAT CHINA by not following the PRC's rule, which's a very ironic statement by people who are enjoying their freedom and wealthy life in the west.
You're referring mostly to the recent immigrants from China? I think most of the Chinese community in Malaysia considers themselves Malaysian first, but since the country is so race-conscious and many stay in their community their Chinese identity looms large. Before independence, however, there were many pro-PRC Chinese in Malaya with communist sympathies. That was largely stamped out in Singapore by the PAP and LKY.
I guess some come here to make money and funnel it back to China. Many Chinese are buying up houses etc too. Yes, these people should not be welcomed if they are like that.
Eventually, it all comes down to self-identification. If you consider yourself Chinese or not, people can sense and see that. From my experience, whether you are inside the "inner circle" or not will also depend on your relationship. If you are dealing with mainland Chinese tour guide or waitress or someone is trying to sell you something, they are quick to point out the similarities and praise you for still being able to speak the "mother" tongue.
I once had a job trying to check the quality of Chinese-made products. If they did a good job and I acknowledge that, I became "one of them" (although I can have a different skin color and still be regarded as "one of them" in these cases). If a lousy job was done and I wrote that in the reviews, I suddenly became an outcast and can never understand the Chinese way and hardships, blah, blah...
Anyway, it's a huge country with more than a billion population. And even people from different provinces have their own stereotypes. Of course the two provinces with the most overseas Chinese are Fujian and Guangdong, and most people from there do have more favorable views with regards to overseas Chinese. That's because there had been a lot of donations (before China opened up) and investments (after the China economic boom) to those areas. Of course if your boss is an overseas Chinese, then it makes sense that one has a more favorable view of them (except when there's resentment of anything at work). People from Southern China also share more common traits, and I can't help laughing when a tour guide in the Jiangnan (Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai) area was telling me that Southern Chinese are warmer and more hospitable than the Northern Chinese. This was overheard by a local tourist from Henan, and she opposed this view.
I guess some come here to make money and funnel it back to China. Many Chinese are buying up houses etc too. Yes, these people should not be welcomed if they are like that.
I am Vietnamese and I have friends that are Vietnamese Chinese American (born in VN to Chinese Parents who Immigrated to VN during the Chinese Civil War but now they live in the US) and they speak Cantonese at home. Last year they went to Hong Kong for a vacation and they were excited to be speaking Chinese to people in Hong Kong. However, their Cantonese accent probably sounds weird or something but the Hong Kong people laughed at them and told them that they are Vietnamese, and not Chinese. The outright rejection became so bad that the husband wanted to cut the vacation short and go back to the US. And this is not the first time I see Chinese born in VN get disrespected by Chinese from HK. I suspect that is because VN is a poor and backward country. It is funny that the husband wanted to be Chinese so bad that he even changed his last name from Ly to Lee when he moved to the US. Ly is the Vietnamese version of Lee, there is no need to change it but he did. He also dropped his Vietnamese first name for an American one.
I am Vietnamese and I have friends that are Vietnamese Chinese American (born in VN to Chinese Parents who Immigrated to VN during the Chinese Civil War but now they live in the US) and they speak Cantonese at home. Last year they went to Hong Kong for a vacation and they were excited to be speaking Chinese to people in Hong Kong. However, their Cantonese accent probably sounds weird or something but the Hong Kong people laughed at them and told them that they are Vietnamese, and not Chinese. The outright rejection became so bad that the husband wanted to cut the vacation short and go back to the US. And this is not the first time I see Chinese born in VN get disrespected by Chinese from HK. I suspect that is because VN is a poor and backward country. It is funny that the husband wanted to be Chinese so bad that he even changed his last name from Ly to Lee when he moved to the US. Ly is the Vietnamese version of Lee, there is no need to change it but he did. He also dropped his Vietnamese first name for an American one.
Really, I didn't know many Chinese immigrated to Vietnam during the Chinese Civil War. I understand there are Chinese Vietnam or 'Hoa', but that they have lived in Vietnam for a long time. Do most speak Vietnamese or Cantonese at home? Yeah people in HK are pretty snobbish, also to mainlanders.
Eventually, it all comes down to self-identification. If you consider yourself Chinese or not, people can sense and see that. From my experience, whether you are inside the "inner circle" or not will also depend on your relationship. If you are dealing with mainland Chinese tour guide or waitress or someone is trying to sell you something, they are quick to point out the similarities and praise you for still being able to speak the "mother" tongue.
I once had a job trying to check the quality of Chinese-made products. If they did a good job and I acknowledge that, I became "one of them" (although I can have a different skin color and still be regarded as "one of them" in these cases). If a lousy job was done and I wrote that in the reviews, I suddenly became an outcast and can never understand the Chinese way and hardships, blah, blah...
Anyway, it's a huge country with more than a billion population. And even people from different provinces have their own stereotypes. Of course the two provinces with the most overseas Chinese are Fujian and Guangdong, and most people from there do have more favorable views with regards to overseas Chinese. That's because there had been a lot of donations (before China opened up) and investments (after the China economic boom) to those areas. Of course if your boss is an overseas Chinese, then it makes sense that one has a more favorable view of them (except when there's resentment of anything at work). People from Southern China also share more common traits, and I can't help laughing when a tour guide in the Jiangnan (Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai) area was telling me that Southern Chinese are warmer and more hospitable than the Northern Chinese. This was overheard by a local tourist from Henan, and she opposed this view.
I had an ex GF in college who was Chinese American and grew up in SF's Chinatown. She credited all of her personal successes to her Chinese heritage, and believed that she'd made it as far as he had in spite of society's crushingly pervasive desire to see Asian women fail (which I guess was why she was dating a white guy). Basically, she was more of a nationalist than nearly any of the people I've met in China... well, she'd never been here, and she went to visit her family for the first time, in Hebei province, West of Beijing. When she came back, she was literally a changed woman - she viewed herself as being American, and had a particularly bileful opinion of modern China, probably because she'd idealized it so much prior to coming there. Family members criticized her pronunciation, would mock her for acting or sounding "too American," and she was snubbed by people in public when they discovered that she was an overseas Chinese. When I told her I was moving here - we're still FB friends - she was like, "WHY??"
In Guangzhou, there's an "overseas Chinese village" in Taojin, where the schools, houses, etc were built by the families of overseas Chinese who sent their money back. The public schools are considered "elite," most of the houses are built to upscale Western standards and are quite large, and when I went there, people were exceptionally friendly to me, encouraging their kids to go say hi to me or using whatever English skills they had to try to converse with me. I've had coworkers talk of distant family members who emigrated to the US or Australia fondly... one of the women who used to work there married an American and went back to the US with him, and they speak of her with friendly jealousy... I've had everyone from coworkers to store clerks to airport security guards tell me that I'm "lucky" I'm an American and that they wish they could move to the US and start businesses, because so many people from Guangdong have done just that and send their money back home. It's a lot like people in the US saying that they wish they could go to Harvard or Yale - they view entrance there as basically being a ticket straight into success.
Most Chinese people know that Chinese Americans are generally quite well-educated, are proportionately overrepresented in business, science, and medicine, and this is a source of pride to many. Chinese people are very curious to hear from a white American how Overseas Chinese/Chinese Americans in the US integrate into society, what Americans think of them and think of Chinese culture...
But you certainly have an inverse element. I'll freely admit that being a foreigner, and one of limited Chinese speaking abilities at that, I end up with a fairly skewed perception of peoples' opinions since most Chinese who speak English have at least some interest and sympathetic views towards the US/UK/AU/CAN, if not an out-and-out infatuation and goals towards living there someday... however, I've encountered people who have a great deal of pride in China and don't take entirely kindly to us foreigners coming here, or have rosy views of Overseas Chinese. But I'd be lying if there aren't similar sentiments in the US towards immigrants and expats as well.
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