Greater China
| Greater China | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 大中华 | ||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 大中華 | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 中華圏 | ||||||||||||||
Greater China is a term used to refer to mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.[1] As a "phrase of the moment", the precise meaning is not entirely clear, and people may use it for only the commercial ties or only for the cultural actions. The term is not specifically political in usage; ties common between the geographical regions, for instance Chinese-language television, film and music entertainment is commonly attributed to be a cultural aspect of "Greater China".[2][3] The term is also used with reference to economic development, such as Focus Taiwan reporting on "economic integration in the Greater China region".[4]. The term Greater China is generally used for referring to the cultural and economic ties between the relevant territories, and is not intended to imply sovereignty.
The term Greater China sometimes includes additional countries. Singapore is sometimes included due to its predominantly Chinese majority population and its wealth of Chinese traditions and culture as well as its extensive commercial and educational connections with China.[5]
History
The term was used at least as far back as the 1930s by George Cressey to refer to the entire Chinese Empire, as opposed to China proper.[6] 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 empire, or geographically to refer to topographical features associated with China that may or may not have lain entirely within Chinese political borders.[6] The concept began to appear again in Chinese-language sources in the late 1970s, referring 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.[6] 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.[6] It is not an institutionalized entity such as the EU or ASEAN. The concept is a generalization to group several markets seen to be closely linked economically and does not imply sovereignty.[7]
Political usage
The term is often used to avoid invoking sensitivities over the political status of Taiwan.[7] For some Asians, the term is a reminder of the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere", a euphemism for the region controlled by Imperial Japan during the Second World War.[8]
See also
References
- ^ "Apple overtakes Lenovo in China sales". Financial Times. 18 August 2011. Archived from the original on 27 November 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ MTV Channels In Southeast Asia and Greater China To Exclusively Air The Youth Inaugural Ball Archived 2009-05-22 at the Wayback Machine - MTV Asia
- ^ June 1, 2008, Universal Music Group realigns presence in Greater China Archived 2017-12-14 at the Wayback Machine, Television Asia
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-04-03. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ William, Yat Wai Lo. "The concept of greater China in higher education: adoptions, dynamics and implications". Retrieved 3 July 2018.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ a b c d Harding, Harry (December 1993). "The Concept of 'Greater China': Themes, Variations and Reservations". The China Quarterly (136, Special Issue: Greater China): 660.
- ^ a b Aretz, Tilman (2007). The greater China factbook. Taipei: Taiwan Elite Press. ISBN 978-986-7762-97-9. OCLC 264977502. Archived from the original on 2009-01-31.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Shambaugh, David (December 1993). "Introduction: The Emergence of 'Greater China'". The China Quarterly (136, Special Issue: Greater China): 654.