GLOBALIZATION, CHINA AND THE ETHNIC CHINESE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

In the last decades of the twentieth century, there have been two significant international developments: the rise of globalization and the emergence of China as an economic power. Globalization has reduced the physical distance of regions and countries all over the world and resulted in intensive interaction. These interactions occurred not only between regions but also between countries. The impact is of course tremendous and multi-dimensional. It is also obvious that smaller and developing countries are likely to receive more impacts than the larger and more developed ones. We in Southeast Asia, a collection of small and medium countries and still developing, have really felt this impact, initially from the West but lately from China.

Our northern neighbour, China, has rapidly become a major economic power. It has become the “dynamo” of Asia and some even see it as the “world factory” for mass production, flooding the Southeast Asian markets. Both globalization and the rise of China have resulted in a profound socio-political and economic change in the region of Southeast Asia and offer an opportunity for scholars to study. The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in Singapore decided to hold a workshop focusing on the rise of China and its economic rather than political and socio-cultural impacts on Southeast Asia, with special reference to the economic position of the ethnic Chinese in general, and ethnic Chinese businesses in particular. The study is put in the context of an era of globalization where changes have taken place. The book that you are reading is the result of the workshop which was held in late April 2005.

About 75 per cent of the ethnic Chinese outside China live in Southeast Asia. They have made significant contributions to the development of the region, particularly in the areas of economy and business. With the rise of China as an economic power, it would be interesting to study what role the ethnic Chinese in the region would play.