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Chinese Vietnamese Entrepreneurs


1) What is the history of Chinese in Vietnam? What was their role, how did they gain that role? How was the privileged role eventually a disadvantage?

China and Vietnam have had a long history of warfare, being neighboring countries. The Chinese have always been economically savvy and have functioned well despite being out of their homeland. They acted as middlemen to foreign trade, but were seen as exploitive to the locals. This would eventually force the Chinese to flee as refugees from the country after the Vietnam War. 

2) Gold mentioned the various resources that the Chinese use in their ethnic economies. List two and describe them how they are used to enable success. 

Capital - Although the Chinese-Vietnamese refugees were not able to transfer their capital to the US, they were able to tap into the Asian immigrant support systems. Being ethnically Chinese opened doors to funding from the associations and other ethnic interest groups, albeit at high interest.  

Ethnic cooperation would help settle conflicts and provide credit, allowing for a refugee to start a business.  

3) How are the Chinese Vietnamese entrepreneurs contributing to or hurting the Chinese American communities/local communities? (How and/or why?) 

The Chinese-Vietnamese do what any Chinese entrepreneur would do in terms of wages and benefits: the least possible. As a result, they often hire Hispanics, who are willing to work for less than even the Chinese. On the contributing end, they are tireless mom and pop shops that bring business to the suburbs and enclaves, and they also revitalize dying Chinatowns. 

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