Greater China | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 大中華 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 大中华 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Vietnamese alphabet | Đại Trung Hoa | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean name | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Hangul | 중화권 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Hanja | 中華圈 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Kanji | 中華圏 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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"Greater China" is a term describing a geographical area sharing cultural and economic ties with the Chinese people. [1] [2] [3] [4] The notion contains a "great deal of ambiguity in its geographical coverage and politico-economic implications", [5] because some users use it to refer to "the commercial ties among ethnic Chinese,whereas others are more interested in cultural interactions,and still others in the prospects for political reunification" [6] but usually refers to an area encompassing mainland China,Hong Kong,Macau and Taiwan,places where the majority population is culturally Chinese. [7] [8] [9] Some analysts may also include places which have predominantly ethnic Chinese population such as Singapore. The term may sometimes be generalised to encompass "linkages among regional Chinese communities". [10] [11]
The term's usage is contested;some observers in Taiwan characterise the term as harmful or a conflation of distinct polities and markets, [4] while the Chinese government has avoided it,either to allay fears of its economic expansionism or to avoid suggesting Taiwan and the People's Republic of China are on equal footing. Australian sinologist Wang Gungwu has characterised the concept as a "myth",and "wrong" if applied to overseas Chinese communities. [12]
Multinational corporations frequently use the term when naming their headquarters in the region. For example,Procter &Gamble uses the term to name its regional headquarters in Guangzhou that also operates in Hong Kong and Taipei; [13] Apple Inc. uses it when referring to its regional headquarters in Shanghai. [14] [15]
The term is often used to avoid invoking sensitivities over the political status of Taiwan. [16] Contrastingly,it has been used in reference to Chinese irredentism in nationalist contexts,such as the notion that China should reclaim its "lost territories" to create a Greater China. [17] [18]
The term has been used for a long time,but with differing scopes and connotations.
During the 1930s,George Cressey,an American academic who did work for the US State Department throughout his career,used the term to refer to the entirety of the territory controlled by the Qing dynasty,as opposed to China proper. [19] Usage by the United States on government maps in the 1940s as a political term included territories claimed by the Republic of China that were part of the previous Qing Empire,or geographically to refer to topographical features associated with China that may or may not have lain entirely within Chinese political borders. [19]
The concept began to appear again in Chinese-language sources in the late 1970s,referring to the growing commercial ties between the mainland and Hong Kong,with the possibility of extending these to Taiwan,with perhaps the first such reference being in a Taiwanese journal Changqiao in 1979. [19]
The English term subsequently re-emerged in the 1980s to refer to the growing economic ties between the regions as well as the possibility of political unification. [19] It is not an institutionalized entity such as the EU,ASEAN,or AU. The concept is a generalization to group several markets seen to be closely linked economically and does not imply sovereignty. [16] The concept does not always include Taiwan,for instance Cisco uses "Greater China and Taiwan" to refer to the market. [20]
Chinese may refer to:
The special administrative regions (SAR) of the People's Republic of China are one of four types of province-level divisions of the People's Republic of China directly under the control of its Central People's Government, being integral areas of the country. As a region, they possess the highest degree of autonomy from China's central government. However, despite the relative autonomy that the Central People's Government offers the special administrative regions, the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee remains capable of enforcing laws for the special administrative regions.
China proper, also called Inner China are terms used primarily in the West in reference to the traditional "core" regions of China centered in the southeast. The term was first used by Westerners during the Manchu-led Qing dynasty to describe the distinction between the historical "Han lands" (漢地)—i.e. regions long dominated by the majority Han population—and the "frontier" regions of China where more non-Han ethnic groups and new foreign immigrants reside, sometimes known as "Outer China". There is no fixed extent for China proper, as many administrative, cultural, and linguistic shifts have occurred in Chinese history. One definition refers to the original area of Chinese civilization, the Central Plain ; another to the Eighteen Provinces of the Qing dynasty. There was no direct translation for "China proper" in the Chinese language at the time due to differences in terminology used by the Qing to refer to the regions. Even to today, the expression is controversial among scholars, particularly in mainland China, due to issues pertaining to contemporary territorial claim and ethnic politics.
"Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addition to the geographical mainland, the geopolitical sense of the term includes islands such as Hainan, Chongming, and Zhoushan. By convention, territories outside of mainland China include:
The National Day of the Republic of China, also referred to as Double Ten Day or Double Tenth Day, is a public holiday on 10 October, now held annually as national day in the Republic of China. It commemorates the start of the Wuchang Uprising on 10 October 1911 which ultimately led to the collapse of the imperial Qing dynasty, ending 2,133 years of imperial rule of China since the Qin dynasty and establishment of the Republic of China on 1 January 1912. The day was once held as public holiday in mainland China during the Mainland Period of the ROC before 1949. The subsequent People's Republic of China continues to observe the Anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution at the same date but not as a public holiday, which put more emphasis on its revolutionary characteristics as commemoration of a historical event rather than celebration to the founding of the Republic of China.
Chinese federalism refers to political theories that argue that China's central government should share sovereignty with regional entities, under a form of federalism. Such proposals were made in the early twentieth century, in connection with the end of the Qing dynasty, as well as more recently, with a view to providing checks against the power of the central government and settling the relationship between Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and other potential political entities.
Zhōnghuá, Chung¹-hua² or Chunghwa is a term that indicates a relation to, or descent from "China" or "Chinese civilisation", in a cultural, ethnic, or literary sense, derived from the historical concept of Huaxia. It is used in the following terms:
The Chinese people, or simply Chinese, are people or ethnic groups identified with China, usually through ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, or other affiliation.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), also known as Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO), Taipei Representative Office (TRO) or Taipei Mission, is an alternative diplomatic institution serving as a de facto embassy or a consulate of the Republic of China to exercise the foreign affairs and consular services in specific countries which have established formal diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. The PRC denies the legitimacy of the ROC as a sovereign state and claims the ROC-controlled territories as an integral part of its territory. An exclusive mandate, namely One-China policy, requires that any country wishing to establish a diplomatic relationship with the PRC must first sever any formal relationship with the ROC. According to The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, "non-recognition of the Taiwanese government is a prerequisite for conducting formal diplomatic relations with the PRC—in effect forcing other governments to choose between Beijing and Taipei." As a result, these countries only allow the ROC to establish representative offices instead of a fully-fledged embassy or consulate for the purpose of conducting practical bilateral relations without granting full diplomatic recognition.
Shina is a largely archaic name for China. The word was originally used in Japanese and had a neutral connotation, but came to be perceived as derogatory by Chinese people during the course of the First and Second Sino-Japanese Wars. As a result, it fell into disuse following World War II and is now viewed as offensive, with the standard Japanese name for China being replaced by 中国.
Taiwanese nationalism is a nationalist movement which asserts that the Taiwanese people are a distinct nation. Due to the complex political status of Taiwan, it is strongly linked to the Taiwan independence movement in seeking an identity separate from China. This involves the education of history, geography, and culture from a Taiwan-centric perspective, promoting native languages of Taiwan such as Taiwanese Hokkien, Hakka, and indigenous languages, as well as reforms in other aspects. Taiwanese nationalism was described as 'anti-imperialist' in that it opposed Japanese imperialism before 1945, opposed Chinese imperialism in modern times, and supported its own Taiwanese identity, which was distinct from China.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong (TECO) is the representative office of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in Hong Kong. Its counterpart body in Taiwan is the Hong Kong Economic, Trade and Cultural Office in Taiwan.
Taiwanese nationality law details the conditions in which a person is a national of the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan. The Nationality Act is based on the principle of jus sanguinis, children born to at least one Taiwanese parent are automatically nationals at birth. Foreign nationals with permanent residency in Taiwan may naturalize after continuously living in the country for at least five (5) years. Certain foreign immediate family members of Taiwanese nationals may naturalize after continuously living in the country for at least three (3) years.
Hongkongers, Hong Kongers, Hong Kongese, Hongkongese, Hong Kong citizens and Hong Kong people are demonyms that refer to the resident of Hong Kong, although they may also refer to others who were born and/or raised in the territory.
Rugby union in Taiwan is a significant sport. For political reasons, they compete as Chinese Taipei. They are currently ranked 61st, and have 3040 registered players.
A de facto embassy is an office or organisation that serves de facto as an embassy in the absence of normal or official diplomatic relations among countries, usually to represent nations which lack full diplomatic recognition, regions or dependencies of countries, or territories over which sovereignty is disputed. In some cases, diplomatic immunity and extraterritoriality may be granted.
A national without household registration (NWOHR) is a person with Republic of China nationality who does not have household registration in Taiwan. Nationals with this status may be subject to immigration controls when entering the Taiwan Area, do not have automatic residence rights there, cannot vote in Taiwanese elections, and are exempt from conscription. Most individuals with this status are children born overseas to Taiwanese citizens. About 60,000 NWOHRs currently hold Taiwanese passports with this status.
Relations between the government of Hong Kong and the Republic of China (Taiwan) encompass both when the Republic of China controlled mainland China, and afterwards, when the Republic of China fled to Taiwan.
Pakistan–Taiwan relations mainly involves commerce and trade. The relationship between Pakistan and Taiwan is primarily characterized by economic importance rather than political significance, given Pakistan's close alliance with the People's Republic of China. The Pakistani government adheres to a "One-China" policy.
This term can be narrowly defined as referring to a geographic concept that consists of the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macau Special Administrative Region, where ethnic Chinese comprise the majority of the population. In this sense, the term is used to describe the ethnic and the associated political, economic and cultural ties among these Chinese societies (Harding 1993; Cheung 2013).
However, some analysts see the Greater China concept as a way to summarise 'the linkages among the fair-flung international Chinese community', thereby incorporating Singapore and overseas Chinese communities in their usage of the term (Harding 1993, 660; also see Wang 1993).