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ties with the family-lineage and China had been very different after the Land Reform. First, many Chinese migrants abroad seriously doubted the advisability of returning to China, especially when their investments in China might be nationalized, and private ownership of land was virtually abolished in favour of agricultural communes. Against such unfavourable conditions at home, Chinese migrants began to settle permanently abroad, and tried to bring their wives and families out from China. Return movements, either for visits or settlement,

which were so characteristic of early Chinese migration, became difficult, partly because of strict immigration- emigration control of the Communist Chinese government and partly because of the fear of being persecuted as landlords. Some of these fears received confirmation when it was known that rich Chinese migrants were forced

to remit large sums of money to pay ' f i n e s ’ on behalf of their landlord-relatives

Second, the strong hostility towards Communist China on the part of many countries affected China's capacity of improving the status of Chinese settled there. This was specially true, for example, in Malaya after the

'emergency' 1948-60, in Thailand and Indo-China as a whole, in India after the Sino-Indian War, 1962, and in Western countries such as the United States and Australia where communist sympathizers were suspected.

1 This campaign of extracting remittance from Overseas Chinese seems to be world x^ide. For some accounts of this, see Robert S. Elegant, The Dragon's Teeth (New York, 1959), pp. 22-6. Also Lu Yu-sen, op .cit . ,

Third, and perhaps most important, the Chinese

Communist Government did not have a policy of protection of the Overseas Chinese, and this cast serious doubts on the real interest of the Peking Government. The general trend, at least until the 'Cultural Revolution' in the early 1 9 6 0 's, had been the encouragement of the a s s i m i l ­ ation of Overseas Chinese to local populations. Liao Shao-chi and Chou En-lai were reported to have asked overseas compatriots to obey local laws, to respect the customs and habits, to learn local languages and to

intermarry.^ In the same vein, the Communist Government abandoned the doctrine of .jus s a n g u i n i s , as instance the 1956 treaty between Peking and Jakarta to resolve the question of Chinese dual nationality in Indonesia. This policy seemed to indicate a desire of Communist China to disasso c i a t e herself from local politics involving O v e r ­ seas Chinese instead of actively participating to protect

. 2

them .

1 Chiao-wu Cheng-Chih Wen-ti (Political Problems of Overseas Chinese Affairs) (Peking, 1957 ), pp . 44-6. Jen-min Je - Pao (People's Daily) (Peking, August 13, 1957), editorial.

2 This desire is also indicated in the attempt to repatriate those who were discriminated and wished to return to China. Beginning in 1959 when Indonesia banned alien retail traders and accelerated by the 1962 Sino-Indian War and the 1965 Indonesia coup - d'etat, the programme of repatriation has brought thousands of Overseas Chinese back to Kwangtung and Fukien. The settlement of these repatriats became a major item in the administ r a t i o n of O v e r ­ seas Chinese affairs.

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The policy of carrying the Chinese revolution to her

neighbouring countries too was not welcome by the local

government nor by the Chinese communities.

All these contributed to a definite alienation of

Overseas Chinese from China. While the Nationalist

Government in Taiwan gradually lest the support from

Chinese communities, the Communist Government was not

able to resolve the conflict arising from their policy

of internal reconstruction, especially the Land Reform

and the nationalization of private enterprises, and

from their policies of aiding communist activities

abroad. The Overseas Chinese now faced an enormous prob­

lem if they wished to stay being 'Chinese' not assimilated

to the local society. Mainland China had greatly changed

since they left. The rural villages were no longer the

same as before. If they returned, they would' be facing

a problem of adjusting to this new environment which

might be even more difficult than adjusting to the

countries in which they resided. The hope that the

Nationalist Government would return to mainland China

seemed remote and unrealistic as time passed; and even

if this did happen, the old familiar China was only a

part of history that would never return. In the mean

time, their children were being brought up and educated

abroad. There was every reason to stay permanently in

their place of residence and be assimilated into local

P o s t - W o r l d War II C h a n g e s in A u s t r a l i a n I m m i g r a t i o n R e s t r i c t i o n

E n c o u r a g e m e n t for the C h i n e s e to r e m a i n p e r m a n e n t l y in A u s t r a l i a came not o n l y from p o s t - w a r c h a n g e s in C h i n a but also from a r e l a x a t i o n of the A u s t r a l i a n i m m i g r a t i o n r e s t r i c t i o n p o l i c y t o w a r d s the Ch i n e s e .

P o l i c y c h a n g e s a f t e r W o r l d War II and e s p e c i a l l y in 1956 i n v o l v e d not o n l y the c u r t a i l m e n t of the entry of a s s i s t a n t s and s u b s t i t u t e s but also the i m p r o v e d

t r e a t m e n t of the w a r - t i m e r e f u g e e s and t h o s e on e x e m p t i o n who did not w a n t to r e t u r n to C o m m u n i s t China.

P a r t l y b e c a u s e of the p r a c t i c a l d i f f i c u l t i e s of d e p o r t i n g C h i n e s e to C h i n a and p a r t l y b e c a u s e of c u r r e n t d e m a n d s for a m o r e h u m a n i t a r i a n a p p r o a c h to s t r a n d e d m i g r a n t s , the A u s t r a l i a n G o v e r n m e n t d e c i d e d on the one hand to l i b e r a l i z e the t r e a t m e n t of t h o s e who were a l r e a d y in A u s t r a l i a , but on the o t h e r hand to t i g h t e n the fresh

entry of n o n - E u r o p e a n s .

The f i r s t g r o u p to be a f f e c t e d by these c h a n g e s was the w a r - t i m e r e f u g e e s - some 800 of them, m o s t l y C h i n e s e who did not w i s h to r e turn. The L abor G o v e r n m e n t , w i t h A r t h u r C a l w e l l as M i n i s t e r for I m m i g r a t i o n , s t r e n u o u s l y a t t e m p t e d to d e p o r t them. H a v i n g e n c o u n t e r e d d i f f i c u l t i e s in the O ' K e e f e c a s e / C a l w e l l i m m e d i a t e l y i n t r o d u c e d the c o n t r o v e r s i a l W a r - t i m e R e f u g e e R e m o v a l Act in J u n e 1949 to e n a b l e d e p o r t a t i o n . The g e n e r a l e l e c t i o n was near. 1 For a d e s c r i p t i o n of the case, see A .C .Pa 1 f r e e m a n ,

The A d m i n i s t r a t i o n of the W h i t e A u s t r a l i a n P o l i c y (Melbourne, 1967) , p p . 8 7 - 8 , 1 0 2 .

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