Chinese In The United States

According to historical linguists, Sino-Tibetan Chinese is more like a language family than a single language made up of a number of regional dialects. However, Chinese people often prefer to use the generic term Chinese when collectively referring to the various languages used in the country. This entry will adhere to that convention except as otherwise noted.

Usually, the Chinese language can be disaggregated into seven major dialect groups, called Fangyan: Mandarin, Wu, Gan, Xiang, Hakka, Yue, and Min. The northern varieties of Chinese are known as the Mandarin dialects. These dialects are spoken by more than two thirds of the Chinese people. Almost all of the Mandarin dialects are mutually intelligible.

Cantonese, which is widely used in Hong Kong and the Guangdong province, falls under the Yue dialect group. In 1956, Mandarin Chinese was adopted as the official language of the People's Republic of China (PRC). After the founding of the PRC in 1949, the country faced the problem of a very low literacy rate. To eliminate mass illiteracy, the government actively supported the simplification of Chinese traditional characters. Currently, simplified Chinese characters have been adopted in the PRC and Singapore, although in Taiwan, traditional characters are still widely used.

In Chinese instruction overseas, both traditional and simplified Chinese characters are taught, depending on whether the textbooks were published in Taiwan or the PRC. The Chinese people and their various languages have a long history in the United States. According to the decennial census, conducted in April 2000, the Chinese immigrant population in the United States exceeded 2 million persons, thus making up 0.8% of the total population.

This group has been growing rapidly and constitutes a significant ethnic and linguistic group. Many of the children of recent immigrants, especially in New York and California, participate in bilingual education programs. The history of Chinese immigration to the United States occurred in three major waves. The first wave of immigration started in the mid-19th century but was stopped by the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This U.S. federal law arose from fears that too many Chinese immigrants would somehow damage the fabric of American culture.

Public sentiment against Chinese immigrants of the times was similar to what is now being expressed against Spanish-speaking immigrants, especially Mexicans. A large proportion of Chinese immigrants from the first wave were poor peasants from Guangdong Province (Canton). Most of them spoke Cantonese. The second wave of immigration started in the mid-20th century but decreased during the 1970s. This group of immigrants included anti-Communists from mainland China, bureaucrats, businessmen, and intellectuals, as well as some professionals from Taiwan and Hong Kong.

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Is China a Friend Or Foe of the United States?

China is on a first name basis with the President of the United States and they are a priority trading partner, a status that only a few nations are able to claim. China has bought up much of the US Debt, and provides low cost goods to our citizenry. Still, some feel the Chinese have taken advantage of our good graces and free markets without reciprocating as they should. There are debates on either side of this issue.

Not long ago, I had the privilege of discussing this issue a length with Guang Wu, author of the new book; "China: Has the Last Opportunity Passed by!?" Our debates have run the full gamut, starting from an interview like conversation to barraging him with all the critique of China from the political and economic analysts to the conspiracy lunatic fringe.

For instance, some believe that China is lying to the World Financial community, when they claim that they have secured 8% positive GDP growth this year, and this is why the Shanghai Index took a 20% hit recently. Additionally, when China gave money in stimulus to its various regions, a few of these cities took that money and played oil futures, driving up the cost of oil, which many say is unforgivable, and ask whose team is China on?

Is China a Friend, if so, whose team are they on?

They are on their own team of course, and some say; "they are using the United States as their piggy bank, and cash cow; after all we have done for China, what a slap in the face." When it comes to friend or foe status some retired military strategic planners point to the stealing of our P-3, the hostile actions with our US Navy Ships, the complaints of US Navy ships docking in Taiwan or Hong Kong, the threats of the highest ranking Chinese military men of using nuclear weapons in a Taiwan unification controversy, all way out of line for a nation that is supposed to be our friends.

Others talk about the 6000 spies in our country, the tests of bio-weapons (Bird Flu) on the Chinese rural farmers, the weapons sold to Iran, which were given to Hezbollah, all unacceptable; all issues and part of the conflicts, chaos and controversy concerning China, the world's next Super Power. Please consider all this.

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