What role does diasporic Chinese media play in the process of Chinese migrants' adaptation to their new home country? With China's rise, to what extent has the expansion of its "soft power" swayed the changing identities of the Chinese overseas? A Virtual Chinatown provides a timely and original analysis to answer such questions. Using a media and communication studies approach to investigate the reciprocal relationship between Chinese-language media and the Chinese migrant community in New Zealand, Phoebe Li goes beyond conventional scholarship on the Chinese Diaspora as practised by social historians, anthropologists and demographers. Written in an accessible and reader-friendly manner, this book will also appeal to academics and students with interests in other transnational communities, alternative media, and minority politics.

Chapter One Introduction China's New Wave of International Migration New Zealand Local Contexts New People, New Approach Diasporic Chinese Media beyond New Zealand Chapter Two Conceptualising New Zealand Chinese Media Central Concepts Towards an Analytical Framework Chapter Three Revisting the History of New Zealand Chinese and Early Chinese Newspapers Chinese Immigration: From Sojourners to Settlers Early Chinese Newspapers Rethinking Early Chinese Newspapers Chapter Four New Chinese Immigrants and Contemporary New Zealand Chinese Media New Zealand Chinese Media A New Wave of Chinese Immigration Making a PRC Chinese Community PRC Chinese and Others' Settlement Evolution of New Chinese Media The New Chinese Community in their Own Media Chapter Five Ethnic Chinese Media during the 2005 New Zealand General Election Research Design and Background Information Phase 1: New Zealand Election in Chinese Media Phase 2: Relationship between Chinese Media and Migrants Phase 3: A Perspective from Media Personnel Summary Chapter Six Recent PRC Migrants in the Diasporic Mediasphere New Zealand Politics in Ethnic Chinese Media Recent PRC Migrants' Affinity with Conservative Parties Patriotic Sentiment Towards China Chapter Seven Conclusions New Insight into the Chinese in New Zealand Expansion of China's 'Soft Power' Chinese Media as an 'Imagined Chinatown'