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all combinations and permutations of conflicting and unknown nation- ality laws during the "silent period” and before, will probably “let sleeping dogs lie" and resolve each case as it arises.
III. DUAL NATIONALITY AND OVERSEAS CHINESE IN Southeast ASIA
The current Chinese Government has repeatedly enunciated a three-pronged position towards overseas Chinese (Huachiaos): (1) urg- ing overseas Chinese to voluntarily acquire local nationality and hoping that the host countries treat naturalized Chinese as equal partners of the indigenous people; (2) providing automatic loss of "Chinese citizen- ship" for those who are voluntarily naturalized and (3) encouraging Huachiaos who decline the local nationality to respect the laws, cus- toms and culture of the host countries, as well as cooperate with the local authorities. Consistent with this policy, a basic goal of China's new Nationality Law is to reduce dual nationality of overseas Chinese. The purposes, as stated earlier, are (1) to eliminate the potential ten- sions between China and the Southeast Asian countries where a large number of overseas Chinese reside, (2) to avoid the host countries' fre- quent suspicion of China's potential interference in their internal af- fairs while still acting in accordance with China's constitutional com- mitment to protecting overseas nationals and (3) to encourage overseas Chinese to face the economic and political facts of life in the host countries, because the abandonment of Chinese nationality in favor of the local one is often the only avenue to eliminate the discriminatory policies against alien Chinese.
Historically, in the overwhelming majority of cases dual national- ity of overseas Chinese arose out of conflicts between China's previous nationality laws and those of the host countries. As stated earlier, China traditionally invoked the principle of jus sanguinis and prohib- ited naturalization without government consent." This policy was con- trary to the doctrine of jus soli introduced by t British and Dutch colonial powers and subsequently implemented by emerging indepen- dent Southeast Asian countries. These former colonial countries in- clude Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam, where most of the twenty million (or more) overseas Chinese reside." The widespread use of opposing doctrines in traditional China and the ASEAN countries ensured the continuation of dual nationality problems.
The policies of past Chinese Governments towards overseas Chi- nese have varied considerably, from the early prohibition of emigration
90. See Gong, supra note 20, at 26.
91. See supra § II(B).
92. See Zhang & Lu, supra note 1, at 49.
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