“Dragons in the Land of the Long White Cloud”: The Factor of Chinese Diaspora in New Zealand (An Essay on Interaction in a Multicultural Society)
https://doi.org/10.46272/2587-8476-2025-16-2-11-29
Abstract
The article dwells on the factor of Chinese diaspora in New Zealand. It makes the review of the key Russian and foreign studies on the issue. The artlicle also reflects the historical background of Chinese immigration to New Zealand and specifies the formation of Chinese diaspora. The article highlights tendencies of Chinese activity in New Zealand in the late 20th – early 21st centuries. The peculiarities of embedding Chinese migrants in the multicultural New Zealand’s society and the specifics of their interaction with indigenous Maori are shown. The article finds that there is a conflict between the Chinese, acting as an “intermediary minority”, and different parts of the host society. This conflict is caused by both economic differences and the factor of cultural identity. This article examines the debate about Chinese influence, which is an important component of New Zealand’s domestic and foreign policy. The debate about Chinese influence through immigrants and the diaspora influences the positions of New Zealand political parties. In their election rhetoric, political forces often resort to populism and play the “China card” using the discourse of Chinese influence on the state’s domestic and foreign policy. As a small state, New Zealand is interested in trade and investment preferences in its relations with China, as well as in the formation of security guarantees while maintaining a soft non-aligned status.
About the Author
I. V. Oleynikov
Irkutsk State University; Baikal State University
Russian Federation
Competing Interests:
Russian Federation
Ilya V. Oleynikov, PhD (Hist.), Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, History and Regional Studies; Associate Professor, Department of International Relations and Customs,
1, Karl Marx street, Irkutsk, 664003;
11, Lenin street, Irkutsk, 664003.
Competing Interests:
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
References
1. Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Moscow: Kuchkovo Pole, 2016 [In Russian].
2. Anokhina, Elena S. “Novaya” kitaiskaya migratsiya i politika KNR po ee regulirovaniyu. Tomsk: TGU, 2012 [In Russian].
3. Bauman, Zygmunt. “From Pilgrim to Tourist.” Sociologic Journal, no. 4 (1995): 133 –154 [In Russian].
4. Dyatlov, Victor I. Predprinimatel’skie men’shinstva: torgashi, chuzhaki ili poslannye Bogom? Simbioz, konflikt, integratsiya v stranakh Arabskogo Vostoka i Tropicheskoi Afriki. Moscow: Natalis, 1996 [In Russian].
5. Zhbanov, Sergey V. “Kitaiskaya immigratsiya v Novuyu Zelandiyu.” In Diaspory v istoricheskom vremeni i prostranstve. Natsional’naya situatsiya v Vostochnoi Sibiri. Tezisy dokladov mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii 6–8 oktyabrya 1994 goda, 69–72. Irkutsk: IGU, 1994 [In Russian].
6. Kovalyova, Tatyana A., Viktor D. Nestyorkin, Vasily S. Nechayev, Vladimir I. Linder, Sergey V. Panov and Irina A. Zvegintseva. “New Zealand.” In Bol’shaya rossiiskaya entsiklopediya. Tom 23. Nikolai Kuzanskii – Okean, edited by Yury S. Osipov, 113–127. Moscow: Bol’shaya Rossiiskaya Entsiklopediya, 2013 [In Russian].
7. Krastev, Ivan, and Stephen Holmes. The Light that Failed: A Reckoning. Moscow: Alpina Publisher, 2020 [In Russian].
8. Malakhovsky, Kim V. Britaniya yuzhnykh morei. Moscow: Nauka, 1973 [In Russian].
9. Malakhovsky, Kim V. Istoriya Novoi Zelandii. Moscow: Nauka Press, 1981 [In Russian].
10. Nechaeva, Valentina S. “Vneshnepoliticheskie ustanovki partii Novoi Zelandii skvoz’ prizmu kontseptsii «malogo gosudarstva».” In Klio-2022: Materialy Vserossiiskoi ezhegodnoi nauchnoi konferentsii studentov, aspirantov i molodykh uchenykh, Irkutsk, 24–25 noyabrya 2022 goda, edited by Elizaveta A. Matveeva, 214–218. Irkutsk: IGU, 2023 [In Russian].
11. Oleynikov, Ilya V., Nikolay N. Puzynya, and Anna A. Suchkova. Novaya Zelandiya i strany Vostochnoi Azii: vzaimootnosheniya v sfere politiki, ekonomiki i kul‘tury. Irkutsk: Izdatel‘stvo IGU, 2014 [In Russian].
12. Oleynikov, Ilya V., and Vladimir P. Oltarzhevsky Problema kul’turnoi identichnosti kitaiskoi diaspory v Novoi Zelandii.” Vestnik Irkutskogo universiteta, Special Issue (2008): 195–197 [In Russian].
13. Portyakov, Vladimir Ya. “Conference in New Zealand on Overseas Chinese.” Far Eastern Affairs, no. 1 (2010): 165–168 [In Russian].
14. Puzynya, Nikolay N. “Politika «beloi Avstralii» i yaponskii faktor.” In Britanskie dominiony: istoriya i sovremennost’. Vypusk 2. Sbornik nauchnykh statei, edited by Elchin A. Babaev, 32–54. Krasnoyarsk: KGPU, 2009 [In Russian].
15. Savelieva, Ludmila P. “Pereselencheskaya koloniya Novaya Zelandiya v kontekste problemy diasporal’nosti.” In Diaspory v istoricheskom vremeni i prostranstve: natsional’naya situatsiya v Vostochnoi Sibiri, edited by Viktor I. Dyatlov, Lev M. Dameshek, Alexandr A. Magleev, Boleslav S. Shostakovich, and Viktor Kh. Kharnakhoev, 66–69. Irkutsk: IGU, 1994 [In Russian].
16. Svedentsov, Vladimir L. “Chinese Diasporas in Australia and New Zealand in the Context of Beijing’s Relations with Canberra and Wellington.” National Strategy Issues 1 (2022): 74–99. https//doi.org/10.52311/2079-3359_2022_1_74 [In Russian].
17. Stefanchuk, Ludmila G. “The Chinese in the New Zealand (the First Acquaintance and Immigration).” Southeast Asia: Actual Problems of Development, no. 23 (2014): 98–116 [In Russian].
18. Shain, Yossi, and Aharon Barth. “Diasporas and International Relations Theory.” In The Modern Science of International Relations Abroad. The Textbook, edited by Igor S. Ivanov, 3: 961–995. Moscow: NP RIAC, 2015 [In Russian].
19. Beattie, James. “Growing Chinese Influence in New Zealand: Chinese Gardens, Identity and Meaning.” New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies 19, no. 1 (2007): 38–61.
20. Bernardelli, Harro. “New Zealand and Asiatic Migration.” Population Studies 6, no. 1 (1952): 39–54.
21. Bonacich, Edna. “A Theory of Middleman Minorities.” American Sociological Review 38, no. 5 (1973): 583–594.
22. Butcher, Andrew. “Demography, Diaspora and Diplomacy: New Zealand’s Asian Challenges.” New Zealand Population Review 36, no. 1 (2010): 137–157.
23. Fong, Ng Bickleen. The Chinese in New Zealand: a Study in Assimilation. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1959.
24. Ip, Manying. “Chinese Immigration to Australia and New Zealand: Government Policies and Race Relations.” In Routledge Handbook of the Chinese Diaspora, edited by Tan Chee-Beng. London; New York: Routledge, 2013.
25. Ip, Manying. “Maori-Chinese Encounters: IndigeneImmigrant Interaction in New Zealand.” Asian Studies Review 27, no. 2 (2003): 227–252.
26. Ip, Manying. “Returnees and Transnationals: Evolving Identities of Chinese (PRC) Immigrants in New Zealand.” Journal of Population Studies, no. 33 (2006): 61–102.
27. Jacobi, Stephen. “Dancing with the Dragon.” New Zealand International Review 43, no. 3 (2018): 20–23.
28. Liu, Liangni S. “New Chinese Immigration to New Zealand: Policies, Immigration Patterns, Mobility and Perception.” In Contemporary Chinese Diasporas, edited by Min Zhou. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. https//doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5595-9.
29. Liu, Liangni S., and Xiaoan Wu. “New Chinese Migrants from China to New Zealand: Pathways, Mobility, Multigenerational Families and Policy Implications.” In New Chinese Migration: Mobility, Home and Inspirations, edited by Koh Sin Yee, and Chan Yuk Wah. London: Routledge, 2017. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315163239.
30. McKinnon, John. “New Zealand’s China – Past, Present and Future.” New Zealand International Review 44, no. 2 (2019): 2–6.
31. Roy, William T. “New Zealand Immigration Policy and External Affairs.” International Migration Review 1, no. 1 (1966): 33–43.
32. Scott, John. “Recognising China.” In New Zealand in World Affairs. Volume 2. 1957–1972, edited by Malcolm McKinnon, Wellington: New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, 1991.
33. Sedgvick, Charles P. “Persistence, Change and Innovation: the Social Organization of the New Zealand Chinese 1866–1976.” Journal of Comparative Family Studies 16, no. 2 (1985): 205–229.
34. Smith, Anthony D. Ethno-Symbolism and Nationalism: A Cultural Approach. London; New York: Routledge, 2009.
Review
For citations:
Oleynikov I.V. “Dragons in the Land of the Long White Cloud”: The Factor of Chinese Diaspora in New Zealand (An Essay on Interaction in a Multicultural Society). Journal of International Analytics. 2025;16(2):11-29. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.46272/2587-8476-2025-16-2-11-29
Views:
57
Email this article 