A diaspora is the movement of people from their original homeland. Many people are aware of the Jewish diaspora, in which Jews were kicked out or forcibly removed from their homes throughout Europe. What I am going to discuss here is the diaspora of Indians and Chinese outside of their regions, some of which were forced, some of which were voluntary.
Set The Stage: Current Numbers of Indians and Chinese outside of their respective countries (select countries):
India and China – two different histories and immigrant waves
Both India and China have very large diasporas, that is, both countries have significant migrations out of the country over time.
Indian
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Many of the first wave of migrants from India were coerced and moved by force by the British Empire, the colonial power that dominated India. Demand for Indian laborers grew as slavery was phased out, and Britain relocated and recruited many as very low-paid workers. You can see that in some nations' histories, like Guyana, Malaysia, Fiji, Trinidad, and Myanmar.
India also supplied/sold these very cheap laborers to other nations, such as the Dutch in Surinam and the French in many Caribbean colonies.
Today, there are two very different waves of migrants.
The first set of these migrants work as low-skill, low-wage earners in the Middle East. From the table, you can see in many nations that Indians comprise well over 20% of the population, and most of them are employed in low-wage areas.
The second group of current migrants are high-skill employees and students. In sheer numbers, Great Britain, Canada, and the United States have attracted millions of migrants. While some return to India later, in many cases, the migrants stay and build lives in these countries.
Chinese
The waves of Chinese migrants followed a very different pattern from the Indian migrants.
Before the dominance of European powers, China was the most powerful and advanced society in the world. Chinese traders dominated trade and international affairs in Asia, and they spread across South and East Asia and the eastern coast of Africa. The Chinese of this period have since been fully integrated, and we are not looking at them in this post.
In the mid-1800s, many Chinese moved to the United States for economic opportunity, and even those jobs were horrible. Remember, this is when European powers occupied parts of China and removed many opportunities for the indigenous Chinese. In the Western part of the United States (mainly California), they were employed in the gold mines, railroad construction, and agriculture. In the eastern part of the country, many Chinese migrants worked in the laundry sector.[1]
This wave of migrants faced extreme racism and very few civil rights. Laws were passed allowing them to stay in the country, but never allowed citizenship.
There was also a wave of migrants during World War II, the following Chinese Civil War, and the Cultural Revolution who moved to other parts of Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, French Indochina, Hong Kong, and Macau). These migrants have often risen to the top of the economic ladder by managing local and international trade.
In the past 50 years, smaller waves of Chinese students have entered universities in North America and Europe. Many of these students returned to China after graduation to build industry there.
Impact on the Economy: Destination and India
Three distinct effects exist in the countries where ex-pat Indians live and work.
Impact of Low-Cost Labor
In places where Indians perform labor that the residents don’t want to do, Indians tend to participate minimally in the economy. The nations employ many Indians, but they also use other nations' citizens, like Pakistan and the Philippines, among others.
Their chief economic impact is on the workers’ extended families. The workers in low-wage jobs send back money to their families (remittances).
Impact of Highly Skilled Labor
In the United States, Canada, and a few other nations, many Indian nationals (and now Indian immigrants, green card holders, and citizens) work in high tech. These Indians often come to the United States for an education and are sponsored to stay there. They provide technology workers that supplement the local job market. Economically, they support technology companies and local markets where they work and provide remittances to their families. If they become citizens, they will often work to bring in their families, most of which are a boon to this country.
Impact of Residents
In many areas, like England, Surinam, and South Africa, Indians have become a part of the citizenry. In these countries, Indians may be visible and sometimes ostracized, but they are primarily average citizens who participate fully in their new homes.
There are a few places where the Indian population has caused problems in the political arena. Two examples are noted below.
In Surinam, South America, there is a sizeable Indian population. This population is currently a magnet for illegal migration from India to Suriname and fears the Indian population will overwhelm the tiny nation.
In Fiji, Indian descendants of imported laborers from sugar plantations comprise between 33% and 40% of the island residents. However, they are not allowed to own land, and as their leases expire, they are not renewed. There have been two political coups in Fiji since Independence that targetted the Fiji-Indian residents, one in 1987 and the other in 2000. Both of these scapegoated the Fiji-Indian residents and drove significant numbers to move back to India.
Chinese Diaspora
Unlike the Indian Diaspora, the Chinese spread in the Southeast Asian region organically. The local Chinese were often used as bosses and middle managers by colonial overseers in Asia. This was particularly true in the case of the tropical colonies, where England relied on the indigenous people. The Chinese were used as surrogates for the British rulers. These “Chinese natives” were then well-placed when these countries gained independence. They contributed and sometimes dominated the local economies as the colonial rulers were pushed out. They still make up much of the population of some of these ex-colonies and are in power in Singapore.
Impact of Chinese Students
Many Chinese attend Universities abroad, with the dominant destinations being the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, and France. The United States enrolls the most Chinese students, numbering 340,200 students in 2022. However,the number of Chinese students has dropped in the United States by about 20%, from 370,000 in 2019 to 290,000 in 2024. Economic conflict, political conflict, and new executive orders in 2019 were responsible for this. This was exacerbated by the Trump Administration. In 2019l the US administration issued an executive order suspending certain students and researchers from China. This was to deter real and perceived Chinese espionage and to score political points in the United States.
New Chinese Labor
Past waves of Chinese labor were focused on manual labor employment, which was more abundant in other countries as the colonial powers pushed for exclusion zones in the nation.
A current wave of Chinese laborers is based on employment for projects funded by the Belt and Road initiative. This labor often causes conflict in the destination countries, where Belt and Road initiatives were expected to bring employment opportunities. This often doesn’t occur as the manual labor and much of the supporting infrastructure is Chinese.
Economic Impact of the Current Diasporas
The most significant economic impact of current movements is from students and ex-students in both the host and home countries.
Economic benefits continue well after graduation in many countries that host students from India and China. Many students stay, use their degrees, and work in technology or research. They also are instrumental in the start-up culture of host countries. In some countries, like the United States, Indian tech workers are sponsored to work and stay. Sometimes, they are employed with visas that need to be renewed yearly, but often, they are awarded some citizenship or right-to-stay policies. These people frequently remain and then sponsor their families to emigrate. The second generation was raised in the “host” country and are just normal residents
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In China and India, most of these students return and are now critical to the domestic economy. These workers are active in start-ups and fill the roles in export-orientated firms.
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The Future
The world is moving, in fits and starts, towards a more diverse future. Today, not only Chinese and Indians move around the globe often, but Western populations do so as well. High-net-worth individuals skip between nationalities and residences. Technical workers from foreign countries are now sponsored all over the world. An American worker and an Indian worker easily vie for high-tech jobs in Scotland or Australia.
This movement is predicated on a global order that aligns laws protecting the rights of native residents and foreign residents. If the world descends back into regional blocks[2] the easy movement of labor and companies may collapse.
[1] Laws were passed against the Chinese, prohibiting many jobs during economic slowdowns. Before running water, doing the laundry was women’s work. Therefore, when it could be done outside the home, Chinese were allowed to do the work, which was viewed as disgusting and effeminate.
[2] As documented by the Economist article https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/05/09/the-liberal-international-order-is-slowly-coming-apart .