Original version

BBC World Service Online

From Our Own Correspondent

News

Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers.

Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers from around the world.

From Our Own Correspondent: USA and China: Exiles, Emigres and Migrants

16/11/2012

USA and China: Exiles, Emigres and Migrants

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, USA and China: Exiles, Emigres and Migrants

Correspondents visit California's Vietnamese community and  Africans living in Guangzhou.

Robin Denselow revisits the Vietnamese community of California's "Little Saigon", while Mukul Devichand meets the African traders living in Guangzhou's so-called "Chocolate City".

Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents around the world, introduced by Pascale Harter. This edition focuses on emigrants, emigres and exiles in America and China - and finds two communities, both far from home, with differing concerns. 

In California, Robin Denselow revisits the community called "Little Saigon", made up mostly of people who fled the former South Vietnam before the Vietcong took over in 1975. They're still intimately connected to Vietnamese language, culture and social issues; yet there's controversy over when or whether it's OK to travel back 'home' to Vietnam - even if only for a visit.

Meanwhile, in China, there's a smaller but growing number of African traders and entrepreneurs trying to find a footing and turn a profit in a country not very accustomed to migrants. Mukul Devichand hears their concerns over racism, visa policy - and why some of them feel the need for a Chinese "business wife".

Accessibility links

Programme Index

From Our Own Correspondent

USA and China: Exiles, Emigres and Migrants

Genres

Brand

BBC World Service Online

About BBC World Service