Regionalism and Nationalism in Southeast Asia: Guangxi Province and the Making of the Chinese Nation State, 1924-1949

This thesis ascertains the conceptual margins of the Chinese nation in the early and mid-20th century, by exploring the Guangxi Clique and Overseas Chinese societies in Southeast Asia. Most nationalism and historical writings on Republican China study the Chinese regional cliques and Overseas Chinese separately. However, the integration and interaction between the two sides was crucial, as the nationalist sentiment on both sides developed in mutual influence. This study is situated within historical scholarship concerned with regional histories, institutional histories, and immigrations. It evaluates the policies followed by the Guangxi Clique to mobilize the masses both in Guangxi and Southeast Asia to achieve political goals for itself and the nation. It attempts to account for positive relational changes between regionalism and nationalism under the Guangxi Clique in the making of the Chinese nation state.

Many scholars such as Diana Lary claim that the regionalism of regional cliques undercut the unity of the nation, while some fail to consider the participation of Overseas Chinese in shaping the nation state in the Republican China period. These circumstances existed at the same time, and this is what this study considers and critiques. The argument of this study is that, in 1925, the Guangxi Clique had just finished the reunification of Guangxi, and associated themselves with the GMD to plan the Northern Expedition. The next tasks China needed to complete were national unification, economic construction and resistance against Japan. In order to undertake these tasks, the political elites formulated corresponding theories and feasible strategies to mobilize the masses using mainstream nationalism in rural societies, and strived for overseas cooperation, as they saw the three objectives as indispensable. Under these circumstances, the Guangxi Clique carried out a series of domestic reforms and Overseas Chinese policies in Guangxi in an attempt to find solutions for China that were not limited to the region.