ABSTRACT

China’s transformation from a poor and underdeveloped country into a global market power has profoundly altered its socioeconomic power relations with the other countries in the Greater China region, namely, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Indeed, this economic shift has resulted in the massive flow of capital and people from Taiwan as well as Hong Kong to China, to seek business opportunities and new lifestyles. These flows have in turn completely transformed longstanding borderlines in the region.

This book examines the transformation of Taiwan and Hong Kong’s socioeconomic relationships with China as their economies have become more deeply integrated into Greater China. Across three key sections, it explores the impact of increasing social interaction and the shrinking of existing borderlines to ask whether these changes will bring about a convergence of identity among the people involved. "Production" examines how investments from Taiwan and Hong Kong to China have transformed production networks; "Community" explores the impact of cross-boundary mobility and the integration of migrants into Chinese communities; and finally, "Identity" engages with what is one of the most important issues in contemporary Taiwanese society.

Border Crossing in Greater China contributes not only to theoretical debates on border crossing issues, but also provides valuable insights on the practical concerns regarding social and political integration and tensions in the region. As such, it will be of great interest to students and scholars of Taiwan studies, Chinese studies, Chinese society and Chinese economics.

chapter 1|18 pages

Introduction

Crossing borders in Greater China – a multidimensional perspective

part I|96 pages

Production

chapter 2|19 pages

Managing cross-border innovation networks

Taiwan's IC design industry

chapter 3|21 pages

Embedded trust and beyond

The organizational network transformation of Taishang's shoe industry in China

chapter 5|14 pages

Establishing guanxi in the Chinese market

Comparative analysis of Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese expatriates in mainland China

chapter 6|24 pages

Local response of “growth” and “dependency”

A case study of Taiwan businessmen in Suzhou, China

part II|72 pages

Community

chapter 7|16 pages

Lifestyle migrants

Taiwanese women in China 1

chapter 8|16 pages

Marginal mobilities

Taiwanese manufacturing companies' migration to Inner China

chapter 9|24 pages

Cross-Strait economic exchanges by night

Pleasure, work, and power in Chinese karaoke hostess bars

chapter 10|14 pages

Class, gender and globalized intimacy

The second-wife phenomenon in Greater China

part III|72 pages

Identity

chapter 11|13 pages

How do identities matter?

Taiwanese cultural workers in China

chapter 12|17 pages

Class or identity matters?

The social assimilation of Taiwanese sojourners in China

chapter 13|21 pages

Ethnic identity of Hong Kong people

An academic question turned political 1

chapter 14|19 pages

Hong Kong and diasporic China