On a rainy Saturday afternoon in central Tokyo, around 50 Chinese individuals gathered in a nondescript office that also serves as a bookstore for a seminar on Qiu Jin, a Chinese feminist poet and revolutionary who was executed over a hundred years ago for plotting against the Qing dynasty. Ms. Qiu, like many in the room, had lived as an immigrant in Japan. The seminar titled “Rebuilding China in Tokyo” reflected not only on Ms. Qiu’s life but also on the aspirations of those in attendance.
Public discussions like this used to be common in major Chinese cities but have become increasingly stifled over the years. With the Chinese public discouraged from engaging in civic activities, a new form of Chinese public life has emerged outside of China in places like Japan.
Individuals from the Chinese diaspora are creating an alternative Chinese society in places like Tokyo, Chiang Mai, Amsterdam, and New York. They are establishing Chinese bookstores, hosting seminars, and forming civic groups, redefining what it means to be Chinese.
These immigrants are not overtly political or aiming to overthrow the Chinese government, but they hope to one day return to a democratic China. By engaging in public life, they are learning to live without fear, trust one another, and pursue a meaningful existence.
In the past, China had a public sphere where public conversations and cultural activities were allowed alongside state-sanctioned events. However, under Xi Jinping’s leadership, these initiatives were crushed, leading to a wave of Chinese fleeing their country in search of freedom.
Individuals like Anne Jieping Zhang, a journalist who moved from Hong Kong to Taiwan, are creating spaces like the Nowhere bookstore to facilitate exchanges of ideas among Chinese worldwide. These initiatives aim to build a society without top-down restrictions and envision a better future for the Chinese people.
The Chinese diaspora today is different from previous waves of immigrants, as they are better educated and financially stable. Initiatives like the Nowhere bookstore and events like the Taiwan election discussion in Japan are preparing Chinese immigrants for a potential democratized China and encouraging them to be good citizens in the future.
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