Chinese Marriage Migrants in Beijing’s Cross-Strait Diplomacy

The role of Chinese communities abroad has become increasingly significant in Beijing's public diplomacy strategy. This is not only the case of Overseas Chinese communities, but also for people who migrate between China and Taiwan. This paper will explore how a group of Chinese migrant women, the mothers, wives and daughters-in-law of Taiwanese citizens, have become a target of Beijing in its cross-Strait diplomacy and how they have responded to Beijing's initiatives. This paper gives a timely account of Beijing's non-traditional diplomacy in the context of cross-Strait relations, as a constructed and gendered process

From bargaining to alliance with patriarchy: the role of Taiwanese husbands in marriage migrants' civic organisations in Taiwan

This paper, by looking at the role of Taiwanese citizens in civic organisations for marriage migrants, explores how women's agency and negotiation occur not only against masculine dominance within patriarchal family arrangements, but also in alliance with it, when oppression is located somewhere beyond the family. In contrast to literature that depicts marriage migration as a women's and migrants' issue, this paper explores the role of Taiwanese citizens (often husbands in cross‐border marriages) in shaping the evolution of the phenomenon in both the private and public spheres. The aim of this paper is to fill a gap in empirical literature on marriage migration in Taiwan and East Asia, as well as contribute to feminist debates on women's agency in the context of masculine dominance. Building on ethnographic data collected through fieldwork in Taiwan, including in‐depth interviews and participant observation within civil society organisations for marriage migrants, this paper reveals how Taiwanese male citizens and Chinese female migrants responded to the challenges brought by their decision to engage in cross‐border unions by creating a new narrative that could explain their condition of shared oppression and by developing joint actions to address the structural discrimination they faced as cross‐border couples in Taiwan

Breast Cancer Meanings [Book Review]

Reviewed by: Lara Momesso Reviewed item: Breast Cancer Meanings: Journeys Across Asia Cynthia Chou and Miriam Kokvedgaard Zeitzen (eds). 2018. Breast Cancer Meanings: Journeys across Asia Copenhagen: NIAS Press ISBN 978877694242

One language, two systems: On conducting ethnographic research across the Taiwan Strait

Mandarin Chinese has been regarded as one of the most influential symbols of the cultural unity and cohesion of Chinese civilisation; however, a rather different picture unfolds when one is in China. Besides the presence of local variations of Mandarin as well as non-Mandarin dialects throughout the country, even the writing system, praised for its unchanged features across places where different dialects or languages are spoken, is not so homogeneous as it is often claimed to be. Building on my experience as a researcher travelling between Mainland China and Taiwan, this chapter will shed light on the challenges a researcher may face when conducting ethnographic fieldwork in a country celebrated for its cultural and linguistic continuity, yet divided by the presence of subordinated groups which use language as a way to assert their political identities. To reach this objective the chapter will look at language not as a mere coding system and manifestation of the culture of a nation but rather as a realm where power and politics intersect to serve the interests of a dominant group, and which may have an impact on the research process and outcomes

A team player pursuing its own dreams: rights-claim campaign of Chinese migrant spouses in the migrant movement before and after 2008

Building on political opportunity theory, this chapter problematises the existing understanding of the migrant movement in Taiwan with a focus on the converging of interests existing within the Alliance of Human Rights Legislation for Immigrants and Migrants (AHRLIM), an umbrella organisation of advocacy groups for migrants and immigrants in Taiwan. Highlighting the role and strategies of the Marriage Association of the Two Sides of China (MATSC) within the alliance, and highlighting the emerging political opportunities as a consequence of the change of the ruling party in 2008, this chapter argues that the migrant movement in Taiwan should be understood not as a unified entity but as a conglomeration of sometimes conflicting interests

The migration–family nexus in East Asia: Chinese family and the invisible within

Rapid economic growth in East Asia brings with it not only a development ‘miracle’ but also increased migration within and from China as well as in the Northeast–Southeast Asia corridors. The expanding migration flows make Chinese families in Singapore, Taiwan, mainland China and Hong Kong one of the most noticeable groups whose life trajectory is punctuated by migration. This special issue is a collective endeavour to explore deeply the internal dynamics between Chinese family members across generations in regard to care, production and reproduction in light of the challenges and opportunities brought about by neoliberal globalisation