Do overseas Chinese consider themselves Chinese or have special emotions towards China?

海外华人是否认为自己是中国人，或者对中国有着特殊的情感？

以下是Quora网友的评论：

Li Pengii

I personally tend to find it helpful to categorise by proxmity.

You’ve got Malaysian Chinese, Thai Chinese, Singaporean Chinese and culturally they keep a lot of their Chinese culture and stuff that’s been ingrained in them for years. Most notably they tend to keep the language ability to varying degrees. Your average Malaysian Chinese is a hell of a lot better than me language wise… though this may well be an old dialect. Their children tend to retain a lot of the culture but absorb a lot of the local culture too.

我个人更愿意根据距离远近进行分类。

马来西亚华人、泰国华人、新加坡华人在文化上保留了很多中国文化和根深蒂固的东西。最值得注意的是，他们在不同程度上努力保持自己的中文能力。马来西亚华人在语言方面比我强多了，虽然这可能是一种古老的方言。他们的孩子大多保留了很多文化，同时也吸收了很多当地文化。

Then you get far overseas Chinese. Ones that go to Europe and North America or South America. These from my own experience looking at our own clan? Tend to be 70–30. As in 70% of them abandon Chinese culture completely and essentially become Chinese looking Europeans or Americans. Once this generation an even smaller proportion retain their cultural ties. Mostly because their parents only had a very loose grasp of what their culture is.

然后再看欧洲、北美或南美的海外华人。根据我自己的观察经验，基本上是70：30。70%的人已经完全放弃了中国文化，变成了长着华人面孔的欧洲人或美国人。主要是因为他们的父母对他们的文化知之甚少。

One of my former friends (he’s a MLM scammer in the UK) Lee Ya Bong who I’ve written about prior his son literally can only say Leng Jai (good looking boy) and that’s it. He can’t write even his name and doesn’t know his clan or family heritage. I know more about his clan and his roots than he does. He eats a lot of bread and McDonalds and his encounters with Chinese food are :

This

I remember way back when we were teens and he’d make this as a ‘Chinese meal’ (despite it being Japanese brand).

我以前有一个朋友(他是英国的一个传销骗子)李雅峰，他的儿子就只会说靓仔了(帅哥)，连自己的名字都不会写，也不清楚自己的宗族和家世。我反而比他更了解他的家族。他非常爱吃面包和麦当劳，他跟中国食物的唯一链接就是：

Of myself?

I’m of the 30% initial group, but my language ability is shit. I know all the clan rituals even our martial art, but my children? They’re most definitely not going to learn my clan language as I’m not exactly fluent myself and my vocabulary lacking. But they’ll be domestic Chinese and absorb other Chinese culture I guess.

至于我自己？

我属于30%那一挂，但我的语言能力实在糟透了。我知晓所有的宗族仪式甚至中华武术，但我的孩子们呢？他们绝对不会学习我的方言，因为我自己说得也并不流利，词汇量不大。但我想他们应该算是中国人，学习其他的中国文化。

David Chen

It depends on their cultural upbringing, their countries of origin, the society they grew up, their exposure to China and Chinese media, so on and so forth.

For the most part, yes, we do consider ourselves as Chinese. Do we have special emotions toward China? For the older generations, it's a definite yes. For the younger ones, it varies. Those who studied in Chinese schools, stayed within Chinese communities, and consume Chinese media will inevitably feel closer to China.

这取决于他们的文化教养、原籍国、成长环境、对中国和中国媒体的接触多少等等。

在大多数情况下，是的，我们认为自己是中国人。我们对中国有特殊的情感吗？对于老一辈人来说，这无疑是肯定的。至于年轻一辈则各不相同。那些在中国学校学习、在中国社区生活、接受中国媒体资讯的人，必然会和中国更亲近。

For many, it's that very first trip to China - seeing many people who “look like themselves” - which serves as an epiphany. Almost all ethnic Chinese I know who have antipathy (or even hatred) toward China and have subsequently visited China will almost instantly transform upon their return to their countries as Sinophiles, taking pride in the accomplishments of China and its people.

So personally, my answer to both questions is a YES. But for others, it depends.

对许多人来说，这是第一次来中国—看到许多“和自己长得很像”的人—会产生的一种顿悟。我认识的几乎所有曾经反感中国（甚至仇恨中国）的华人在访问中国后，几乎全都转变为亲华主义者了，他们都为中国和中国人民的成就感到自豪。

所以就我个人而言，我对这两个问题的回答都是肯定的。但对其他人来说，这要看各人情况。

R.M.L.

If we're not Chinese, are we Japanese? Are we black people?

Btw, do you know that Kevin Skinner is a white Australian who defends China?

People seem to be blind to the fact that many people who aren't ethnic Chinese defend China.

Do you know why they're pro-China?

Because they know what type of country the USA is.

They know about the bullying and wars.

如果我们不是中国人，难道我们是日本人？是黑人？

顺便说一下，你可知道凯文·斯金纳是一个维护中国的澳大利亚白人？

人们似乎忽视了一个事实，许多非华裔人士都愿意捍卫中国。

你知道他们为什么支持中国吗？

因为他们知道美国究竟是一个什么样的国家。

因为他们知道什么是欺凌、什么是战争。

Patrick Khaw

I am ethnically Chinese. As are my wife and our four adult children. We are all Australian citizens and there was a time when five of us were public servants. Four still are.

Our loyalty is to the country that took us in and gave us a place and the rights of a citizen. I was born and raised in Singapore and before I moved to Australia, I was a loyal Singapore citizen. I completed national service as did all male Singapore citizens

我是华人。我的妻子和四个已成年的孩子也都是华人。我们都是澳大利亚公民，曾经有一段时间，我们中有5人是公务员，现在也还有4个公务员。

我们忠于这个接纳我们的国家，它给了我们一个安居之地，给了我们公民的权利。我是在新加坡出生长大的，在我移民到澳大利亚之前，我是一个忠诚的新加坡公民。我和所有新加坡男性公民一样完成了国民服役。

China was where my ancestors originated from. My paternal great-great-great-great grandfather left China which was wracked by floods, famine and fighting. Like many others, he intended to work and hoped to return to China with enough money to help his family.

And like many, he stayed, married. My relatives include Chinese, half-Chinese, Malay, half-Malay, Indians, half-Indians and Eurasians (the descendants of Europeans who had married local women).

中国是我祖辈生活的地方。我父亲的曾曾曾曾祖父离开了饱受洪水、饥荒和战争蹂躏的中国。和很多华人一样，他想要工作攒钱，希望日后能带着足够的钱回到中国帮助家人。

后来他和很多人一样留在当地，成家立业了。我的亲戚中有中国人、一半中国血统的人、马来人、一半马来血统的人、印度人、一半印度血统的人和欧亚人(与当地妇女结婚的欧洲人的后裔)。

While the first couple of generations might have had some lingering emotional attachment to China, my grandparents, my parents and I did not. We were residents of the Straits Settlements, Malaysians, and Singaporeans.

Independent Singapore was wary of Chinese with strong links to China. The Malayan Emergency, an attempt by the Malayan Co unist Party to topple the elected government, Co unist China was said to have supported the MCP, and anti-China rhetoric was rampant.

虽然前几代华人可能都对中国抱有挥之不去的情感依恋，但我的祖父母、我的父母和我已经没有了。我们是海峡定居点的居民，马来西亚人和新加坡人。

独立后的新加坡对与中国关系密切的中国人非常警惕。马来西亚爆发紧急事件，马来西亚的政党试图推番民选政府，反华言论日益猖獗。

I grew up in a mostly English-speaking household (my grandfather was a civil servant who earned an MBE), my uncles were also civil servants, my father was a journalist for the English-language daily, and my mother taught in a Catholic convent school.

My siblings, my cousins and me were all educated in English language medium schools. I had a smattering of Mandarin (as a Straits-born Chinese), and I was allowed to study Malay as a second language. Most Chinese opted for Mandarin.

In fact, Singaporeans were taught to be wary of China because it was com

我成长在一个说英语的家庭(我的祖父是一名获得大英勋章的公务员)，我的叔叔们也都是公务员，我的父亲是《英语日报》的记者，我的母亲在一所天主教修道院学校教书。

我的兄弟姐妹，表兄弟姐妹和我本人都在英语学校接受教育。我能说一点点普通话(作为一个海峡出生的华人)，我可以学习马来语，把它作为第二语言。大多数中国人选择了普通话。

事实上，新加坡人一直被教导要警惕中国，因为中国是那样的国家。

My views changed when in my late teens, when I worked in the newspapers, when I went to university, and when I visited China.

Today, I find myself defending China because of all the Western propaganda hurled at Beiing and it’s leaders. Most, if not all, are based on lies and falsehoods.

Myself, other Chinese, and many Westerners work to redress the imbalance in reporting.

China is not perfect. And when it does wrong, I will be among those who will call it out.

For now, I am watching the shit-show that is America. And not enough Americans are willing to call their government out when it goes awry. Sad ain’t it?

我十几岁的时候，我去报社工作的时候，我上大学的时候，我访问中国的时候，我的看法都发生过改变。

今天，我发现自己会为中国辩护，因为西方对中国及其领导人的宣传大多都是谎言。

我自己、其他中国人和许多西方人都在努力纠正媒体的这个问题。

中国并不完美。当中国做得不对的时候，我也会批评中国。

现在，我在看美国的烂剧。当美国政府出问题时，也没有几个美国人愿意站出来。这不是很悲哀吗？

Andy C

Overseas chinese is a very diverse group .

Some are full blooded, some are mixed

Some can speak Chinese , some can’t

Some can speak Chinese but are very westernized in mindset, some can’t speak but still retain Chinese culture and mindset

Some can speak Chinese , retain Chinese culture and mindset

some cant speak Chinese, dont know or practice Chinese culture , dont even have Chinese name

海外华人是一个非常多元化的群体。

有些人是纯华人血统，有些人是混血。

有些人会说中文，有些人不会说。

有些人会说中文，但思维方式非常西化，有些人不会说中文，但仍然保留着中国文化和思维方式。

有些人既会说中文，也保留中国文化和思维方式。

有些人即不会说中文，也不知道或不接触中国文化，甚至连中文名字都没有。

Depends on what countries they were born too. Those who were born in western countries ,many of them tend to be very westernized in mindset and may view China negatively

Some have special emotion to China, Some think it is a foreign country even if they can speak Chinese fluently

这也取决于他们出生在哪个国家。出生在西方国家的华人，他们多数在思维上非常西化，可能对中国的看法比较负面。

有些人对中国有特殊的感情，有些人即便能说一口流利的中文，也把中国看做别的国家。

Ultimately it is all about self identification (most important ) followed by language and culture (important but less important than the first)

China is a civilization state, the meaning goes beyond than mere Chinese language and culture

最根本的在于，这一切都和自我认同有关，其次是语言和文化，虽然重要但不如第一个重要

中国是一个文明国家，其意义超越了单纯的中国语言和中国文化。

Peter Kaye

Put it this way, my wife is an Aussie, with an Aussie passport, but yes, she still considers herself Chinese, even though she has been here ( in Australia) since 1976, she still watches Chinese news and movies daily for we are pensioners now and don’t work anymore. And yes, she is very proud of what China has achieved,( and rightfully so ) I’m very impressed by them as well. So yes she certainly has emotions towards China, don’t know if you can call them “special “ or not. I think that is just normal.

这么说吧，我的妻子是澳大利亚华人，持有澳大利亚护照，但她仍然认为自己是中国人，虽然她从1976年后就一直生活在这里(澳大利亚)，她仍然每天观看中国的新闻和电影，因为我们已经退休不再工作了。是的，她对中国现在取得的成就感到非常自豪，这是理所当然的。我也对中国的成就印象深刻。所以，没错，她对中国还很有感情，不知道算不算你所说的“特别的”感情。我个人觉得这种情感很正常。

Yuning Chen

What do overseas Chinese feel about the Chinese (PRC) flag?

I quite like this flag. Maybe because I was born in mainland and moved outside later.

Back to the topic, What people described here is not really valid to me for the following reasons:

海外华人对中华人民共和国国旗有什么看法？

我很喜欢中国国旗。也许是因为我出生在大陆，后来才移居海外的。

回到这个话题上，Quora用户说的对我而言并不正确，原因如下：

1: Red— It is our most traditional color. We marry on red, celebrate on red! Is there any more color suits us?

Besides I live in singapore, her flag is also red with stars! Nothing to do with co sm as far as I know.

第1：红色—这是中国最传统的颜色。我们结婚时要红红火火，过节时也红红火火！还有更适合我们的颜色吗？

再说，我住在新加坡，新加坡的国旗也是红色的，上面也有星星！这跟GC主义毫无关系。

2: Stars— Nothing traditional in it. To me it represents HOPE. Hope for a nation in despair.

第2：星星—没有什么传统含义。对我来说，星星代表着希望，为一个绝望的民族带来了希望。

So in all, it’s flag, with tradition and hope! We fight for a better future of our nation and if possible the whole world!

所以，总而言之，这是一面带有传统、希望的旗帜！我们为我们国家更美好的未来而奋斗，如果有可能，也为全世界的未来而奋斗！