Editing Overseas Chinese (section)

==History==
{{Main|Chinese emigration}}

The Chinese people have a long history of migrating overseas, as far back as the 10th century. One of the migrations dates back to the [[Ming dynasty]] when [[Zheng He]] (1371–1435) became the envoy of Ming. He sent people&nbsp;– many of them [[Cantonese people|Cantonese]] and [[Hoklo people|Hokkien]]&nbsp;– to [[Ming treasure voyages|explore and trade]] in the [[South China Sea]] and in the [[Indian Ocean]].

===Early emigration===
[[File:ChineseMigration003.jpg|thumb|right|Main sources of Chinese migration from the 19th century to 1949.]]

In the mid-1800s, outbound migration from China increased as a result of the European colonial powers opening up [[treaty ports]].<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=137}} The British colonization of Hong Kong further created the opportunity for Chinese labor to be exported to plantations and mines.<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=137}}

During the era of European colonialism, many overseas Chinese were [[coolie]] laborers.<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=123}} Chinese capitalists overseas often functioned as economic and political intermediaries between colonial rulers and colonial populations.<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=123}}

The area of [[Taishan, Guangdong Province]] was the source for many of economic migrants.<ref name="pan" /> In the provinces of [[Fujian]] and [[Guangdong]] in China, there was a surge in emigration as a result of the poverty and village ruin.<ref>''The Story of California From the Earliest Days to the Present'', by Henry K. Norton. 7th ed. Chicago: A.C. McClurg & Co., 1924. Chapter XXIV, pp. 283–296.</ref>

San Francisco and California was an early American destination in the mid-1800s because of the California Gold Rush. Many settled in San Francisco forming one of the earliest Chinatowns. For the countries in North America and Australia saw great numbers of Chinese gold diggers finding gold in the [[gold mining]] and [[railway]] construction. Widespread famine in Guangdong impelled many Cantonese to work in these countries to improve the living conditions of their relatives.

From 1853 until the end of the 19th century, about 18,000 Chinese were brought as [[Indentured servitude#Caribbean|indentured workers]] to the [[British West Indies]], mainly to [[British Guiana]] (now [[Guyana]]), [[Trinidad]] and [[Jamaica]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Displacements and Diaspora|jstor = j.ctt5hj582|year = 2005|isbn = 9780813536101|publisher = Rutgers University Press}}</ref> Their descendants today are found among the current populations of these countries, but also among the migrant communities with Anglo-Caribbean origins residing mainly in the [[United Kingdom]], the [[United States]] and [[Canada]].

Some overseas Chinese were sold to [[South America]] during the [[Punti–Hakka Clan Wars]] (1855–1867) in the [[Pearl River Delta]] in Guangdong.

[[File:Chinese women and children in Brunei.JPG|thumb|left|[[Ethnic Chinese in Brunei|Chinese]] women and children in [[Brunei]], {{circa|1945}}.]]
Research conducted in 2008 by German researchers who wanted to show the correlation between economic development and height, used a small dataset of 159 male labourers from Guangdong who were sent to the Dutch colony of Suriname  to illustrate their point. They stated that the Chinese labourers were  between 161  to 164&nbsp;cm  in height for males.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baten |first1=Jörg |title=Anthropometric Trends in Southern China, 1830–1864 |journal=Australian Economic History Review |date=November 2008 |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=209–226|doi=10.1111/j.1467-8446.2008.00238.x}}</ref>  Their study did not account for factors other than economic conditions and acknowledge the limitations of such a small sample.

[[File:Gu family of Chinese-Indonesian.jpg|thumb|1958 old photograph of [[Chinese Indonesians|Indonesian-Chinese]] of [[Gǔ (surname 古)|Gu (古) surname]], first until third generations]]
[[File:Chinese merchants grouped outside their club house on Penang Island, 1881.jpg|thumb|left|Chinese merchants in [[Penang]], [[Straits Settlements]] (present-day [[Malaysia]]), {{circa|1881}}.]]

The [[Lanfang Republic]] in [[West Kalimantan]] was established by overseas Chinese.

In 1909, the Qing dynasty established the first ''Nationality Law'' of China.<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=138}} It granted Chinese citizenship to anyone born to a Chinese parent.<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=138}} It permitted [[Multiple citizenship|dual citizenship]].<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=138}}

===Republic of China===
In the first half of the 20th Century, war and revolution accelerated the pace of migration out of China.<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=127}} The [[Kuomintang]] and the [[Chinese Communist Party|Communist Party]] competed for political support from overseas Chinese.<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=|pages=127–128}}

Under the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republicans]] economic growth froze and many migrated outside the Republic of China, mostly through the coastal regions via the ports of [[Fujian]], [[Guangdong]], [[Hainan]] and [[Shanghai]]. These migrations are considered to be among the largest in China's history. Many nationals of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] fled and settled down overseas mainly between the years 1911–1949 before the [[Nationalist government]] led by [[Kuomintang]] lost the mainland to Communist revolutionaries and relocated. Most of the nationalist and neutral refugees fled mainland China to [[North America]] while others fled to [[Southeast Asia]] ([[Singapore]], [[Brunei]], [[Thailand]], [[Malaysia]], [[Indonesia]] and [[Philippines]]) as well as [[Taiwan]] (Republic of China).<ref name="Sarawakiana">{{cite web|title=Chiang Kai Shiek|url=http://sarawakiana.blogspot.com/2008/08/chiang-kai-shek-or-chiang-chung-cheng.html|publisher=Sarawakiana|access-date=28 August 2012|archive-date=6 December 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121206041057/http://sarawakiana.blogspot.com/2008/08/chiang-kai-shek-or-chiang-chung-cheng.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===After World War II===
Those who fled during 1912–1949 and settled down in [[Singapore]] and [[Malaysia]] automatically gained citizenship in 1957 and 1963 as these countries gained independence.<ref>{{cite web|last=Yong|first=Ching Fatt|title=The Kuomintang Movement in British Malaya, 1912–1949|url=http://www.asianhistorybooks.com/malaysia/the-kuomintang-movement-in-british-malaya-1912-1949/|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|access-date=29 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110140047/http://www.asianhistorybooks.com/malaysia/the-kuomintang-movement-in-british-malaya-1912-1949/|archive-date=10 November 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Tan|first=Kah Kee|title=The Making of an Overseas Chinese Legend|publisher=World Scientific Publishing Company|doi=10.1142/8692|year=2013|isbn=978-981-4447-89-8}}</ref> [[Kuomintang]] members who settled in Malaysia and Singapore played a major role in the establishment of the [[Malaysian Chinese Association]] and their meeting hall at [[Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall|Sun Yat Sen Villa]]. There was evidence that some intended to reclaim mainland China from the CCP by funding the [[Kuomintang]].<ref name="Cham Jan Voon">{{cite thesis|degree=master|last=Jan Voon|first=Cham|title=Sarawak Chinese political thinking : 1911–1963|chapter=Kuomintang's influence on Sarawak Chinese|chapter-url=http://symposia.unimas.my/iii/sym/app?id=6596352876721218&lang=eng&service=blob&suite=def|publisher=University of Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)|year=2002|access-date=28 August 2012}} {{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Wong |first=Coleen |date=10 July 2013 |title=The KMT Soldiers Who Stayed Behind In China |url=https://thediplomat.com/china-power/the-kmt-soldiers-who-stayed-behind-in-china/ |magazine=[[The Diplomat (magazine)|The Diplomat]] |access-date=29 September 2013 |archive-date=10 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110152649/http://thediplomat.com/china-power/the-kmt-soldiers-who-stayed-behind-in-china/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Restaurantechino.jpg|thumb|Chinese restaurant in [[La Coruña]], Galicia, Spain.]]
After their defeat in the Chinese Civil War, parts of the [[Kuomintang in Burma|Nationalist army]] retreated south and crossed the border into Burma as the [[People's Liberation Army]] entered [[Yunnan]].<ref name=":Han2">{{Cite book |last=Han |first=Enze |title=The Ripple Effect: China's Complex Presence in Southeast Asia |date=2024 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-769659-0 |location=New York}}</ref>{{Rp|page=65}} The United States supported these Nationalist forces because the United States hoped they would harass the People's Republic of China from the southwest, thereby diverting Chinese resources from the [[Korean War]].<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=65}} The Burmese government protested and international pressure increased.<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=65}} Beginning in 1953, several rounds of withdrawals of the Nationalist forces and their families were carried out.<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=65}} In [[1960–61 campaign at the China–Burma border|1960, joint military action]] by China and Burma expelled the remaining Nationalist forces from Burma, although [[Kuomintang Chinese in Thailand|some went on to settle]] in the [[Myanmar–Thailand border|Burma–Thailand borderlands]].<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|pages=65–66}}

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 [[capitalism|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{{where|date=June 2020}} that overseas Chinese owed primary loyalty to their home nation.{{dubious|date=June 2020}}

From the mid-20th century onward, emigration has been directed primarily to Western countries such as the United States, Australia, Canada, Brazil, The United Kingdom, New Zealand, Argentina and the nations of Western Europe; as well as to Peru, Panama, and to a lesser extent to Mexico. Many of these emigrants who entered Western countries were themselves overseas Chinese, particularly from the 1950s to the 1980s, a period during which the PRC placed severe restrictions on the movement of its citizens.

Due to the political dynamics of the [[Cold War]], there was relatively little migration from the People's Republic of China to southeast Asia from the 1950s until the mid-1970s.<ref name=":Han2" />{{Rp|page=117}}

In 1984, Britain agreed to transfer the sovereignty of [[Hong Kong]] to the PRC; this triggered another wave of migration to the United Kingdom (mainly England), Australia, Canada, US, South America, Europe and other parts of the world. The [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre]] further accelerated the migration. The wave calmed after Hong Kong's transfer of [[sovereignty]] in 1997. In addition, many citizens of Hong Kong hold citizenships or have current visas in other countries so if the need arises, they can leave Hong Kong at short notice.{{Citation needed|reason=the preceding paragraph is entirely devoid of references|date=June 2018}}

In recent years, the People's Republic of China has built increasingly stronger ties with African nations. In 2014, author [[Howard W. French|Howard French]] estimated that over one million Chinese have moved in the past 20 years to Africa.<ref name="africamove">{{cite magazine |last1=French |first1=Howard |date=November 2014 |title=China's Second Continent: How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/2014-10-17/chinas-second-continent-how-million-migrants-are-building-new |magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]] |access-date=9 August 2020 |archive-date=6 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106081253/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/2014-10-17/chinas-second-continent-how-million-migrants-are-building-new |url-status=live }}</ref>

More recent Chinese presences have developed in Europe, where they number well over 1 million, and in Russia, they number over 200,000, concentrated in the [[Russian Far East]]. Russia's main Pacific port and naval base of [[Vladivostok]], once closed to foreigners and belonged to China until the late 19th century, {{as of | 2010 | lc = on}} bristles with Chinese markets, restaurants and trade houses. A growing Chinese community in Germany consists of around 76,000 people {{as of | 2010 | lc = on}}.<ref name="de-cn1">{{cite web|url=http://www.de-cn.net/dis/zgh/his/de2705231.htm|title=Deutsch-Chinesisches Kulturnetz|website=De-cn.net|language=de|access-date=6 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413070711/http://www.de-cn.net/dis/zgh/his/de2705231.htm|archive-date=13 April 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> An estimated 15,000 to 30,000 Chinese live in Austria.<ref name="eu-china1">{{cite web|url=http://www.eu-china.net/web/cms/upload/pdf/materialien/p35_chinesen_08-09-30.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721171842/http://www.eu-china.net/web/cms/upload/pdf/materialien/p35_chinesen_08-09-30.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-21 |url-status=live|title=Heimat süßsauer|website=Eu-china.net|language=de|access-date=27 May 2018}}</ref>