Diasporic Geopolitics and Transnational Repression

This paper examines transnational repression as an aspect of diasporic geopolitics. Diasporic geopolitics can be defined as attempts by states to use populations abroad as a means of strategically exercising power and influence vis-à-vis other states (Adamson and Han, forthcoming). Through a comparative case study of China, India and Turkey we examine how state use of diaspora populations as foreign policy assets has been accompanied by forms of transnational repression, i.e. the targeting, harassment or control of emigrants and exiles living abroad. Building on the growing literature on transnational repression, we show how China, India and Turkey have all crafted differentiated diaspora engagement strategies. In each of these cases, some segments of the diaspora are elevated, some are ignored, and others are repressed. We lay out and explain this variegated treatment of populations abroad by each of these three states, examining factors such as the location and economic clout of the diasporic population; relation to the dominant ethno-national myth or civilizational identity; political orientation; level of securitization; and generational and migration history. We show how the strategies of transnational repression used by states vis-à-vis segments of their diaspora populations can be either direct (e.g. via government targeting, harassment, surveillance and coercion); indirect (e.g. by exploiting tensions within the diaspora, spreading propaganda, fostering mistrust, or even inciting violence between groups) or mediated (e.g. by using mechanisms of interstate cooperation, intelligence sharing and policing). Our research sheds light on why and how states engage in transnational repression, and its geopolitical and human impacts. The paper also raises important theoretical reflections regarding the entangled nature of international relations, whereby the lines of national jurisdiction and sovereignty become increasingly blurred, and actions taken by a state can have direct and significant impacts on individuals who are no longer living within its territorial boundaries but still de facto tied to it through ethnic or national identity.