Qiaowu yu waijiao guanxi yanjiu: Zhongguo fangqi "shuangchong guoji" de huigu yu fansi (review)

AS THE TITLE OF CHENG XI’S NEW BOOK clearly indicates, the development of contemporary Chinese foreign policy, the Chinese government’s management of overseas Chinese affairs, and the government’s policies toward the issue of dual nationality, are the three main themes that give this work unity. As a researcher and professional who “has been involved in overseas Chinese affairs for many years,” as the author introduces herself, Cheng shows an unmistakable passion and deep interest in these subjects. Essentially Cheng sets out to prove that overseas Chinese affairs is subsumed within the country’s overall strategic planning in foreign policy, yet it can also significantly enhance China’s diplomatic prowess by providing supplementary aid when necessary (p. 27). China’s policies toward dual nationality, especially the decision of the Chinese Communist Party to abandon dual nationality in the mid-1950s, is used as a case study for hypothesis testing in this work. Over different periods of the 20th century, the author argues, policies toward dual nationality signified important moves of the Chinese government in the big chess game of strategic diplomacy. They serve as an indicator of China’s adjustments to the ever-changing power balance in international politics, as well as a tool for Chinese politicians to achieve such a goal. Dual nationality was adopted by the Qing government to curb the outflow of population and resources in an effort to resist and delay its own decline in world politics. The policy was terminated by the PRC government in order to withdraw Chinese influence that had taken root in some other Asian countries for generations, as part of China’s endeavor to better its relations with these countries at a time when it was floundering in deep isolation engineered by the two world superpowers. To substantiate her arguments, Cheng skillfully weaves together a wide range of materials including media reports, memoirs and writings of politicians, and mainly scholarly studies on these three themes over an era of 50 years that witnessed drastic, oceanic changes in world politics. Cheng’s original research, which consists of probing interviews with people involved in overseas Chinese affairs in the 1950s and examinations of archives recently released by the Ministry