China's rise exerts a powerful pull on ASEAN economies and constitutes an impetus for a resinicization of Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. With increasing trade and investment between China and ASEAN countries, the ethnic Chinese economic elites have managed to serve as connectors and bridges between the two sides, and benefited in the process from joint ventures and business investments.
The book provides a contemporary analysis of China's influence on the Mekong Region during a pivotal time in Southeast Asian history. It examines the complexities of economic ties, socio-cultural dynamics, and political issues that shape relations between China and its southern neighbors. The authors explore the implications of China's rapid growth, military modernization, and resource needs, highlighting the challenges and opportunities these present for smaller Southeast Asian countries. Key themes include the impact of Chinese investment, trade, foreign aid, and migration on regional cooperation.
The Thai--Yunnan Project is proud to present this English-language version of Professor Yos Santasombat's fascinating ethnography of the Tai in Daikong, southwestern China. It represents a significant contribution to the ethnographic record of the Tai peoples. The village of Lak Chang is located close to the edge of the Tai world and is increasingly embraced by Chinese influence. Professor Yos skilfully weaves ethnographic and historical writing to chart the course of Lak Chang's incorporation into the modern Chinese state. This has been a painful history but what emerges in this account is a sense of Tai cultural identity that is vigorous and adaptive. "The Tai ethnic category is thus a complex and dynamic construct which takes place within the context of changing power relations and socio-economic conditions where the past is reconstructed to give meaning to the present and hope for the future." In his account of the labours, rituals and beliefs of the Tai villagers of Daikong, Professor Yos brings contemporary ethnic identity to their life. Among the patchwork paddyfields and haphazard laneways of Lak Chang we come to a greater understanding of how global and regional processes of modernisation are managed and selectively incorporated by one local community.