Well I will start off with these intresting article not ussually seen in mainstream western media that are obviously biased. I have been monitoring this situation very closely lately as it seems to draw memories of my childhood being oppressed by Indonesian government. Makes me think why does everyone cares about tibetan so much and yet no one, absolutely no one (including China) cares about overseas chinese being oppressed and suffering a true cultural (and to some extent ethnic)genocide in the last few decades?
To risk going on tangent, why SHOULD the People's Republic care, beyond normal concerns of possible unrest and instability?
'Overseas Chinese' left China, in some cases, their ancestors left China CENTURIES ago. Vast majority are no longer citizens. It's a principle of China's that how a country treats its own is its own sovereign affair. China hs no more business interfering than foreign countries have business interfering in China.
To think otherwise assumes that China has some sort of obligation/ responsibility to anybody of Chinese descent, and that is dangerous assumption not far remove from faschist Germany's assumption that all Germans automatically listen to Berlin.
On a pragmatic front:
-There is not much China CAN do. China does not have power-projection capabilities, not then, and not really now
-Making noises when you have nothing to back it up just makes things WORSE for the Chinese overseas. Especially if they are now suspected of being in league with big scary communist foreign country. Imagine Mao throwing some angry rhetoric at Malaysia's way during the anti-Chinese riots... do you HONESTLY think that'll actually do anything but make things worse?
-And to act this way, ineffectually, China risks undermining the whole basis of its foreign policy doctrine
-It's not good business