Overseas Chinese (華僑 in pinyin: huáqiáo, or 華胞 huábāo, or 僑胞 qiáobāo) are ethnic Chinese people who live outside of the China. China, in this usage, may refer to Greater China including territory currently administered by the rival governments of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China as per traditional definitions of the term prior to the Chinese civil war, or only to the People's Republic of China by some quarters. In addition, the government of the Republic of China granted residents of Hong Kong and Macau "overseas Chinese status" prior to their respective handover to Beijing rule, so the definition may be said to loosely extend to them. Pinyin (拼音, pÄ«nyÄ«n) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to HànyÇ” PÄ«nyÄ«n (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of romanization (phonemic notation and transcription to Roman script) for Standard Mandarin. ... This article or section should be merged with ethnic group Ethnicity is the cultural characteristics that connect a particular group or groups of people to each other. ... Greater China (Traditional Chinese: 大中華地區; Simplified Chinese: 大中华地区; pinyin: ) is a term refering collectively to the financial markets and economies of mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. ... The Republic of China (Traditional Chinese: 中華民國; Simplified Chinese: 中华民国; Wade-Giles: Chung¹-hua² Min²-kuo², Tongyong Pinyin: JhongHuá MínGuó, Hanyu Pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó, Taiwanese POJ: Tiong-hoâ Bîn-kok) is a multiparty democratic state that today is composed of the island groups of Taiwan, the Pescadores, Quemoy... The Republic of China (Traditional Chinese: 中華民國; Simplified Chinese: 中华民国; Wade-Giles: Chung¹-hua² Min²-kuo², Tongyong Pinyin: JhongHuá MínGuó, Hanyu Pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó, Taiwanese POJ: Tiong-hoâ Bîn-kok) is a multiparty democratic state that today is composed of the island groups of Taiwan, the Pescadores, Quemoy...

Terminology

Strictly speaking, there are two words in Chinese for overseas Chinese: huáqiáo (华侨 / 華僑) refers to overseas Chinese who were born in China, while huáyì (华裔 / 華裔) refers to overseas Chinese born outside of China, with ancestors born in China.

It has to be noted that the usage of the term can be relatively fluid geographically. For example, the ethnic Chinese people of Singapore and Malaysia are occasionally excluded from the above said definition of "overseas Chinese" in view of their close cultural and social affinity with China, despite the geographical divide of the said societies. This view is relatively rare, however.

Current numbers

There are approximately 34 million overseas Chinese mostly living in Southeast Asia where they make up a majority of the population of Singapore and significant minority populations in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. The overseas populations in those areas arrived between the 16th and the 19th centuries from mostly the maritime provinces of Guangdong and Fujian (the Hoklo ethnic group), followed by Hainan. There are incidence of earlier emigration in the 10th centuries to 15th centuries in particular to Malacca and Southeast Asia. Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Guangdong (Simplified Chinese: 广东; Traditional Chinese: 廣東; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kuang-tung; Postal System Pinyin: Kwangtung or Canton Province, Jyutping: gwong2 dung1), is a province on the south coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Fujian (Chinese: 福建; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Fu-chien; Postal System Pinyin: Fukien, Foukien; local transliteration Hokkien from Min Nan Hok-kiàn) is one of the rogueprovinces, which along with Uigher, hopes to leave mainalnd china and become independent like Taiwan. ... Hoklo (pronounced Holo; Chinese ; Mandarin pronunciation--pinyin: Fulao) can refer to an ethnic-cultural group originating in Fujian province, China. ... Hainan (Chinese: 海南; Pinyin: ) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located at the southern end of the country. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... State motto: Bersatu Teguh Capital Malacca Town Governor Tun Datuk Seri Utama Mohd. ...

Recent emigration

More recent emigration has been directed primarily to western countries such as United States, Canada and Australia being destinations. Various sub-ethnic groups include: Chinese American, American-born Chinese, Chinese Argentines, Chinese Australians, Chinese British, Burmese Chinese, Chinese Canadian, Chinese Cayman Islander, Chinese Cuban, Chinese Filipino, Indonesian Chinese, Malaysian Chinese, Chinese Mauritian, Chinese Peruvian, Chinese Puerto Rican, Chinese Singaporean, Chinese South African, and Chinese Thai. Emigration is the action and the phenomenon of leaving ones native country to settle abroad. ... A Chinese American is an American who is of ethnic Chinese descent. ... An American-born Chinese or ABC is a person born in the United States of Chinese ethnic descent. ... The term Asian-Argentine may refer to any Argentines of Asian (usually East-Asian) descent, especially people of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, or other East-Asian descent. ... A Chinese Australian is an Australian of Chinese heritage. ... Chinese British are overseas Chinese born or naturalised in the United Kingdom. ... Lim Chim Tsong Palace, the former residence of a powerful Hokkien businessman in Yangon The Burmese Chinese (緬甸華人; Pinyin: Miǎndiàn huárén; Burmese: ) are a group of overseas Chinese born or raised in Myanmar (formerly Burma). ... A Chinese Canadian is a person of Chinese descent or origin who was born in or immigrated to Canada. ... Chinese Cayman Islanders are overseas Chinese who reside or born in Cayman Islands. ... A Chinese Cuban is an ethnic Chinese born in Cuba. ... Chinese Filipino is an overseas Chinese in the Philippines. ... The Indonesian Chinese are ethnically Chinese people living in Indonesia, as a result of hundreds of years of overseas Chinese migration. ... Malaysian Chinese are overseas Chinese who reside in Malaysia. ... Chinese Mauritian are overseas Chinese who reside in Mauritius. ... Chinese Peruvian is a Chinese person born in Peru. ... A Chinese Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico, but whose ancestors came from China. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Asians in South Africa constitute two per cent of South Africas population, and most are of Indian origin, although there is also a small Chinese community. ... The Thai Chinese is a group of overseas Chinese born in Thailand. ...

Assimilation

Overseas Chinese vary widely as to their degree of assimilation, their interactions with the surrounding communities (see Chinatown), and their relationship with China. In Thailand, overseas Chinese have largely intermarried and assimilated with the native community. In Myanmar, the Chinese rarely intermarry, but have adopted the Burmese culture, maintaining both Chinese and Burmese identities. On the other hand, in Malaysia and Singapore, overseas Chinese have maintained a distinct communal identity, though the rate and state of being assimilated to the local, in this case a multi-cultural society, is currently en par with that of other Chinese communities. In the social sciences, assimilation is the process of integration whereby immigrants, or other minority groups, are absorbed into a generally larger community. ... New York City is home to one of the largest Chinatowns in North America, and is centered around Canal Street in the borough of Manhattan. ...

Waves of immigration

Often there are different waves of immigration leading to subgroups among overseas Chinese such as the new and old immigrants in Cambodia and Indonesia.

The Chinese in southeast Asian countries have often established themselves in commerce and finances. In North America, because of immigration policies, overseas Chinese tend to be found in professional occupations, including significant ranks in medicine and academia. More recent Chinese presences have developed in Europe, where they number nearly a million, and in Russia, where according to the last census, they number three million, concentrated in Russia's Far East. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Finance studies and addresses the ways in which individuals, businesses and organizations raise, allocate and use monetary resources over time, taking into account the risks entailed in their projects. ... World map showing location of Europe When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ...

Relationship with China

Both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan maintain highly complex relationships with overseas Chinese populations. Both maintain cabinet level ministries to deal with overseas Chinese affairs, and many local governments within the PRC have overseas Chinese bureaus. Both the PRC and ROC have some legislative representation for overseas Chinese. In the case of the PRC, some seats in the National People's Congress are allocated for returned overseas Chinese. In the Legislative Yuan, there are eight seats allocated for overseas Chinese. These seats are apportioned to the political parties based on their vote totals on Taiwan, and then the parties assign the seats to overseas Chinese party loyalists. Most of these members elected to the Legislative Yuan hold dual citizenship, but must renounce their foreign citizenship (at the American Institute in Taiwan for American citizens) before being sworn in. The Republic of China (Traditional Chinese: 中華民國; Simplified Chinese: 中华民国; Wade-Giles: Chung¹-hua² Min²-kuo², Tongyong Pinyin: JhongHuá MínGuó, Hanyu Pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó, Taiwanese POJ: Tiong-hoâ Bîn-kok) is a multiparty democratic state that today is composed of the island groups of Taiwan, the Pescadores, Quemoy... The Great Hall of the People, where the NPC convenes The National Peoples Congress (全国人民代表大会 in Pinyin: Quánguó Rénmín Dàibiǎo Dàhuì, literally Pan-Nation Congress of the Peoples Representatives), abbreviated PNCOTPR, is the highest legislative body in the Peoples Republic of China. ... The Legislative Yuan building in Zhongzheng District, Taipei City (the view is blocked by the childrens hospital building of the National Taiwan University Hospital). ... This page is about the philosophical and semantic background of loyalty. ... The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) serves as the de facto embassy of the United States in the Republic of China on Taiwan. ...

During the 1950s and 1960s, the ROC tended to seek the support of overseas Chinese communities through branches of the Kuomintang based on Sun Yat-sen's use of expatriate Chinese communities to raise money for his revolution. During this period, the People's Republic of China tended to view overseas Chinese with suspicion as possible capitalist infiltrators and tended to value relationships with southeast Asian nations as more important than gaining support of overseas Chinese, and in the Bandung declaration explicitly stated that overseas Chinese owed primary loyalty to their home nation. // Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the height of the baby-boom from returning... The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... The Kuomintang (KMT) or Nationalist Party of China (Traditional: 中國國民黨; Simplified: 中国国民党; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo Kuo-min-tang; Tongyong Pinyin: Jhongguo Guomindang) is a conservative political party currently active in the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan. ... Sun Yat-sen (November 12, 1866 – March 12, 1925) was a Chinese revolutionary leader and statesman who is considered by many to be the Father of Modern China. He had a significant influence in the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and establishment of the Republic of China. ... An expatriate (in abbreviated form expat) is someone temporarily or permanently in a country and culture other than that of their upbringing and/or legal residence. ... In common usage capitalism refers to an economic system in which all or most of the means of production are privately owned and operated, and where investment and the production, distribution and prices of commodities (goods and services) are determined by the influence of market forces (in a free market... The Bandung Conference was a meeting of Asian and African states, most of which were newly independent, organized by Indonesia, Burma, Ceylon, India, and Pakistan. ...

After the Deng Xiaoping reforms, the attitude of the PRC toward overseas Chinese changed dramatically. Rather than being seen with suspicion, they were seen as people which could aid PRC development via their skills and capital. During the 1980s, the PRC actively attempted to court the support of overseas Chinese by among other things, returning properties that were confiscated after the 1949 revolution. More recently PRC policy has attempted to maintain the support of recently emigrated Chinese, who consist largely of Chinese seeking graduate education in the West. Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping   listen? (Simplified Chinese: 邓小平; Traditional Chinese: 鄧小平; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Teng Hsiao-ping; pronounced Dung Shyao-ping; August 22, 1904—February 19, 1997) was a revolutionary elder in the Communist Party of China (CPC) who served as the de facto ruler of the Peoples Republic of... // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 60s and 70s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ...

Overseas Chinese have sometimes played an important role in Chinese politics. Most of the funding for the Chinese revolution of 1911 came from overseas Chinese, and many overseas Chinese are overseas for political reasons. Many overseas Chinese are now investing in mainland China providing financial resources, social and cultural networks, contacts and opportunities. The Xinhai Revolution (or Hsinhai Revolution, Chinese: 辛亥革命; pinyin: Xīnhài Gémìng), named for the Chinese year of Xinhai (1911), was the overthrow (October 10, 1911-February 12, 1912) of Chinas ruling Qing Dynasty, sometimes known as the Manchu Dynasty, and the establishment of the Republic of China. ... Exile is a form of punishment. ...

Statistics

World map showing location of Asia Asia is the central and eastern part of Eurasia, defined by subtracting Europe from Eurasia. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Map of the Americas by Jonghe, c. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Census 2001 is the name by which the national census conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday 29 April 2001 is known. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

See also

• List of overseas Chinese
• Asian American
• Asian Canadian
• Chinese Canadian
• Chinese British
• Chinese Singaporean

A list of famous people with Chinese ancestry living outside of China in countries other than the USA and Canada. ... An Asian American is a person of Asian ancestry or origin who was born in or is an immigrant to the United States. ... An Asian Canadian is a Canadian of Asian ancestry. ... A Chinese Canadian is a person of Chinese descent or origin who was born in or immigrated to Canada. ... Chinese British are overseas Chinese born or naturalised in the United Kingdom. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

References

• Pan, Lynn (1998)The Encyclopedia of the Chinese Overseas Landmark Books, Singapore ISBN 9183018925

External links

• Overseas Chinese Affairs Commision, R.O.C.