ABSTRACT
The Pearl River Delta has had a dramatic role to play in the modern history of China. In the past 25 years, it has experienced a notable transformation as a consequence of policy reforms in China and the influx of capital and entrepreneurial skills from, especially, Hong Kong, but also Taiwan and other parts of the Chinese diaspora. There are cultural commonalities within the Pearl River Delta region as a whole but also significant variation as a consequence of history, location, political leadership, and local social values. This chapter raises these issues. It draws attention to the differing roles in the process of change between two broad categories of actors of Chinese origin but external to the Chinese homeland, part of what may be called the “the Greater China complex.” Within the People’s Republic of China, a distinction is drawn between the “compatriots” (tongbao) of Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan; and the “Overseas Chinese” (huaqiao) within the Chinese diaspora. The former category dates from 1949. It was assumed that their separated administrative status would be ultimately resolved, as Chinese sovereignty was extended to these territories in which they resided, separated by historical accident, as it has been in Hong Kong and Macao. The Taiwan issue is more complex.
