Abstract

Chinese migrants are often used as an example of socio-spatial self-segregation, exemplified in Chinatown studies. Drawing on scholarship on citizenship and multiculturalism, I analyze the case study of the ethnic Chinese in Santiago, Chile, to interrogate their perceived reluctance towards social or political integration. Analysis draws on interviews, participation observation, and media coverage of a 2016 Chinese mass protest in the city center, and a 2018 proposal by the Santiago mayor to establish a Chinatown in a multicultural commercial neighbourhood. By discussing Chinese and Chilean interpretations of these events, I highlight the diverse practices of citizenship and identity - between 'old' and 'new' Chinese migrant groups in Chile. These not only challenge views of Chinese migrants as homogenous and/or politically disengaged. It also highlights complex evolving practices and attitudes towards belonging and citizenship in the diversifying overseas Chinese population, in an era marked by tropes about 'the rise of China.'