Volume 1 of The Cambridge History of Global Migrations documents the lives and experiences of everyday people through the lens of human movement and mobility from 1400 to 1800. Focusing on the most important typologies of preindustrial global migrations, this volume reveals how these movements transformed global paths of mobility, the impacts of which we still see in societies today. Case studies include those that arose from the demand for free, forced, and unfree labor, long- and short-distance trade, rural/urban displacement, religious mobility, and the rise of the number of refugees worldwide. With thirty chapters from leading experts in the field, this authoritative volume is an essential and detailed study of how migration shaped the nature of global human interactions before the age of modern globalization.

The diverse communities that inhabit the Pacific Ocean and its many islands, continental coastlines, and immediate hinterlands face a variety of natural hazards. These natural hazards vary in frequency, intensity, and locations affected, but are so diverse that most Pacific communities can expect to encounter one or more each generation and have therefore adapted their lifestyles to accommodate them. This chapter surveys the impact of the main natural hazards across the Pacific Ocean, and how Pacific communities have adapted to these challenges over time, from first colonization to the current threat of rapid global warming. It discusses geological hazards of earthquakes and volcanic activity; tsunamis; the climate hazards of typhoons, floods, landslides, drought, and El Niño–La Niña cycles; and more recent human-induced rapid global warming, as well as pestilence and disease. We largely focus on the archipelago of the Philippines and the Pacific Islands as the two Pacific locations most vulnerable to natural events, but also note that many natural hazards interconnect the Pacific and the wider globe. The Pacific Rim of Fire is a belt of volcanic activity that circles the entire Pacific, while tsunamis generated in one corner of the Pacific can touch shores on the other side of this vast ocean with devastating impact. Major volcanic eruptions can affect global climate and global food production for years. The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate patterns alternating between El Niño and La Niña variations span the entire Pacific and also affect climate in the Indian Ocean and Africa, while monsoonal weather affects the western Pacific and the Indian Ocean, as well as maritime Southeast Asia and much of continental Asia. The Pacific Ocean is now a key frontier in climate change mitigation as both a frontline for mitigating rising sea level inundation of low-lying Pacific Island nations as well as one of the world’s largest carbon sinks in the ocean itself.

There has never been a more appropriate time for a comprehensive history of the Pacific Ocean as we attempt in this collection. The dramatic rise of East Asian economies in the decades after World War II has given rise to one of the most rapid realignments of global economic and political influences in world history. Energy resources and raw materials flow into East Asia from Australia, South America, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean world to fuel the new workshop of the world in the People’s Republic of China. China has become the fulcrum point of the global economy in what has been deemed to be the Pacific Century.1 The massive flow of trade goods across the Pacific Ocean between the United States and China lies at the heart of this Pacific-centred realignment, accompanied by increasing tensions over rival spheres of influence in the Pacific between these two superpowers. Recent maritime confrontations in the Pacific have largely been analysed by international relations experts and legal scholars with limited reference to the rich but fragmented history of cultural exchanges across and within the Pacific Ocean.

This chapter outlines the evolution of the People’s Republic of China’s (China) interactions with the Pacific Ocean since its formation in 1949. China inherited a long history of engagement with Pacific oceanic environments and other nations that inhabit its shores. After briefly outlining the post-war legacy of these interactions through maritime trade, fishing, diplomacy, and migration, the chapter details the history of China in the Pacific since 1949. It is a story of two distinct eras. Until 1978, China focused inwards to repair and restructure a nation torn apart by war, disunity, and neglect of the majority of the population. Its Pacific interactions focused largely on defending its sovereign waters and harvesting its coastal fishery, while its diplomatic stance further afield espoused solidarity for the decolonization and sovereignty of fellow developing nations. From 1978, China increasingly focused on economic reform, involving greater engagement with the overseas economy as it rapidly rose to become a global powerhouse of manufacturing. Two engagements with the Pacific are explored for this period. The first is China’s engagement with the Pacific Ocean as an environmental space, and especially a fishery and sea lane resource. The second is the expansion of China’s diplomatic and strategic engagement with the wider Pacific community from the 1970s. The final section looks at present and future engagements with Pacific Island nations in particular, as the nations that are under the most immediate threat of climate change damage. China has competitive advantages in skills and technologies vital to its Pacific allies and a long history of productive partnerships with them.

There has never been a more appropriate time for a comprehensive history of the Pacific Ocean as we attempt in this collection. The dramatic rise of East Asian economies in the decades after World War II has given rise to one of the most rapid realignments of global economic and political influences in world history. Energy resources and raw materials flow into East Asia from Australia, South America, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean world to fuel the new workshop of the world in the People’s Republic of China. China has become the fulcrum point of the global economy in what has been deemed to be the Pacific Century.1 The massive flow of trade goods across the Pacific Ocean between the United States and China lies at the heart of this Pacific-centred realignment, accompanied by increasing tensions over rival spheres of influence in the Pacific between these two superpowers. Recent maritime confrontations in the Pacific have largely been analysed by international relations experts and legal scholars with limited reference to the rich but fragmented history of cultural exchanges across and within the Pacific Ocean.

Despite its relatively late development, Pacific Island history has nevertheless produced a large body of published studies, and developed a distinct character. Most of its studies have been on intercultural relations between Pacific Islanders and Europeans over the last two and a half centuries.2 Pacific historians have largely focused on the impact of Western products, peoples, and ideas on Pacific Islanders, with much emphasis placed on presenting Pacific Islanders as rational, active agents in this process. The majority of Pacific Islanders’ millennia of history was recorded and conveyed orally, which has meant that much Pacific history has become multidisciplinary to incorporate non-literate sources such as oral traditions, linguistic patterns, and material remains.