Within the Four Seas: Compatriots at Home and Abroad

Abstract

Over fifty million Chinese live outside the mainland of China. Nearly half inhabit the island of Taiwan, separated by the Formosa Straits from the province of Fujian. This was the seat of the opposition Nationalist regime that fled the mainland following defeat at the hands of the Communists in 1949, still calling itself the Republic of China and claiming to be the legitimate government of all China. It is now under a democratically elected government and remains opposed to eventual reunification with the mainland. A further six million live in the formerly British administered colony of HongKong, since 1997 a special administrative region of China. These people, and the inhabitants of the former Portuguese administered Macao, are known as ‘tung bao/same womb compatriots’. Although HongKong and Macao are now reunified with China, lifestyle, management and general business practices remain very largely as before. The citizens of these two administrative regions enjoy a different status to their compatriots on the mainland.