Bosco,
Being the eternal optimist that I am, to confuse the issue even further, I hope there are sufficient Chinese abroad who will at some point in time return for the "great commonality", but this time with China as a member of thw world community (can not go back to the Central Kingdom). To use your "anecdotal evidence" support theory, the first example of a returning Chinese who returned to unify China was of course Li Shi-Ming, who returned from exile what is now Xinjiang to found the Tang Dynasty. The Tang dynasty is in fact one of the most open periods in China in terms of cultural and economic exchanges.
The last great upheaval in China was of course also led by overseas educated Chinese (particularly on the Communist side). The fact that the experiment is not going well is because the curtain came down as soon as the Communists succeeded.
There are now over 100,000 Chinese from Mainland Chain studying abroad - many of them will return to China, many will not I wonder how the political, social and economic beliefs of these people are being shaped?
Best,
Steve |
