Search

Hong Kong is an epicentre of identity conflicts in China. While numerous accounts have been proposed to explain the rise of "localism", few have explained why many Hong Kong Chinese have maintained their ethnic identification with China. Based on an original survey of a representative sample of the population and an experiment conducted among college students, this article advances a novel explanation, arguing that people who perceive the core character of groups as shaped by context (i.e. it is malleable) are more likely to have a higher level of Chinese identification. The explanation is that in the face of deep cultural and political differences between mainland and Hong Kong Chinese, the belief induces the latter to understand those differences as stemming from people's current situations rather than from some unchangeable national traits, thus reducing their need to adopt an alternative identity. The findings have important implications on (ethno) nation-building policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation of a Chinese identity through symphonic music is an indispensable part of the overall cultural landscape in China. This article takes the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra – the oldest symphony orchestra in Asia – as a case study to examine the formation of a contemporary identity in China's cultural field, especially after the ten-year Cultural Revolution. Identity is a complicated and fluid concept for it concerns both individual and collective, and moreover, it is a concept that needs to be negotiated and communicated in spatial and temporal dimensions. This new Chinese identity formed through symphonic music not only involves the tension between local Chinese culture and Western bourgeois culture but also triggers argument with regards to the past, present and future Chinese self. The identity is also formed and confirmed through cultural consumption of symphonic music, a form of cultural capital which later defines social classes. Musical production at Shanghai Symphony Orchestra also affords identity formation and acts of cultural consumption. Materials collected from the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Archive are used to illustrate the process of identity formation and relevant issues. The concept of cultural capital is also applied to address some of the examples that illustrate how contemporary identity is formed via symphonic music. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insertion/deletion polymorphisms (InDels) have been used in population genetics, anthropology, archaeology and forensic. Chinese Han population with 1.3 billion people is the largest homogeneous ethnicity in the world. Here, we reanalyzed the allele frequency distributions and forensic parameters of 30 InDels included in Qiagen Investigator DIPplex kit in a Meta-Han Chinese population and then explored the genetic affinity between Meta-Han group and other 31 Chinese ethnic populations belonging to different administrative divisions using F st genetic distances, multidimensional scaling (MDS), phylogenetic analysis and Structure. The values of CPD and CPE in Han Chinese are 0.999999999984 and 0.9879 respectively, which indicating this panel is informative in Han Chinese and can be used for forensic individual identification, while just be served as a supplementary tool for parentage testing. The comprehensive population comparisons reveal that Han Chinese have the genetically closer relationship with Fujian She and Zunyi Miao. Findings from pairwise genetic distances, MDS and phylogenetic analysis demonstrate that genetic affinity is related to ethnic origin, geographical distribution and linguistic background. STRUCTURE analysis indicates that the same language or ethnic origin populations or geographically adjacent groups have similar ancestry composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the grave markers and associated mortuary rituals of Newfoundland's Chinese immigrants, especially those who came before 1949, in order to understand them in the religious context of Newfoundland. The goals of this article are, firstly, to demonstrate emergent creolized diasporic identity and culture by presenting how early Chinese immigrants used Christianity to gradually gain social acceptance and, secondly, to challenge the popular idea that conversion by Chinese immigrants was only strategic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars tend to overlook the overseas Chinese press as a communicative tool for Chinese nationalism. This paper takes media history as its focal point to demonstrate the contextual influences that shaped the operations of Chinese print media and gave rise to the manifestation of the overseas Chinese (huaqiao) identity in Japan. In particular, it emphasises that the mobilisation of the modern Chinese nationalism movement of the time was not the sole determinant of Chinese identity. It was also influenced by the way in which Chinese ethnic boundaries came to be shaped and reshaped in different historical periods through the dynamics between overseas Chinese communities and Japanese society. I use two overseas Chinese publications from different periods to illustrate the impacts of modern Chinese nationalism and the changing social and political context of Japan on the Chinese press. Finally, I present a synthetic narrative to account for the history of the overseas Chinese press in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese people first settled in Australia in the late nineteenth century, yet the history of Japanese Australians remains mostly unknown. In fact, many contemporary people of Japanese heritage often feel alienated from their own ethnic history, even actively rejecting any connection to the Japanese diaspora. This article examines the reasons behind this phenomenon and how the group Nikkei Australia grew out of a need to explore these issues of ambivalent identity. Nikkei Australia is group of researchers and individuals with an interest in rediscovering and retelling Japanese Australian diasporic stories. Drawing on personal narratives and reflections, this article charts the inception of Nikkei Australia and the group's academic, artistic and cultural activities to date, as well as the issues and ideas that inform and frame the group's tasks ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

While it was traditionally accepted that Hongkongers shared a form of pan-Chinese cultural identification that did not contradict their local distinctiveness, over the last decade Hong Kong has seen the rise of new types of local identity discourses. Most recently, “localists” have been a vocal presence. Hong Kong has – quite unexpectedly – developed a strong claim for self-determination. But how new is “localism” with respect to the more traditional “Hong Kong identity” that appeared in the 1970s? The present study takes a two-dimensional approach to study these discourses, examining not only their framework of identification (local versus pan-Chinese) but also their mode of identification (ethno-cultural versus civic). Using three case studies, the June Fourth vigil, the 2012 anti-National Education protest and the 2014 Umbrella movement, it distinguishes between groups advocating civic identification with the local community (Scholarism, HKFS) and others highlighting ethnic identification (Chin Wan). It argues that while local and national identification were traditionally not incompatible, the civic-based identification with a local democratic community, as advocated by most participants in recent movements, is becoming increasingly incompatible with the ethnic and cultural definition of the Chinese nation that is now being promoted by the Beijing government. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sudden unexplained nocturnal death syndrome (SUNDS) remains an autopsy negative entity with unknown etiology to both forensic pathologists and physicians. The electrocardiogram (ECG) characteristics and clinical phenotype of SUNDS survivors strongly suggest that SUNDS shares some similarities with Brugada syndrome (BrS). Recently, the variants of sodium channel Na 1.8 coding gene SCN10A were identified to be associated with BrS. Here, we investigated the association of SCN10A gene variants with 105 sporadic SUNDS victims and 22 BrS cases in the Chinese Han population. A total of 6 rare mutations and 16 polymorphisms were detected in SUNDS victims. Of the six rare mutations, two were putative pathogenic mutations (F386C and R1263*), one was a likely pathogenic mutation (R14H), and the other three were predicted as benign (R817Q, T1181M, and P1683S). As for the 16 polymorphisms, 1 was a novel polymorphism (c.4144-84G>A) located in intron 24, and the rest were reported previously including one polymorphism (c.2884A>G [I962V]) which showed a statistically significant difference in allele frequency ( p = 0.044) between SUNDS and the control group. There were also 5 rare mutations and 15 polymorphisms detected in BrS cases. This is the first report of common and rare variants of SCN10A gene in SUNDS and BrS in the Chinese Han population, which provides the genetic epidemiological evidence that SCN10A may be a novel susceptibility gene for SUNDS and account for approximately 3 % of SUNDS in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several genome-wide association studies have discovered novel loci at chromosome 12q24, which includes mevalonate kinase (MVK), methylmalonic aciduria (cobalamin deficiency) cbIB type (MMAB), and potassium channel tetramerization domain-containing 10 (KCTD10), all of which influence HDL-cholesterol concentrations. However, there are few reports on the associations between these polymorphisms and HDL-C concentrations in Chinese population. This study aimed to evaluate the associations between functional polymorphisms in three genes (MVK, MMAB and KCTD10) and HDL-C concentrations, as well as coronary heart disease (CHD) susceptibility in Chinese individuals. Methods: We systematically selected and genotyped 18 potentially functional polymorphisms in MVK, MMAB and KCTD10 by using the TaqMan OpenArray Genotyping System in a Chinese population including 399 dyslipidemia cases, 697 CHD cases and 465 controls. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the relationship between the genotypes and dyslipidemia, CHD risk with adjustment of relevant confounders. Results: Among six polymorphisms showing significant associations with dyslipidemia, the minor alleles of rs11066782 in KCTD10, rs11613718 in KCTD10 and rs11067233 in MMAB were significantly associated with a decreased risk of CHD (additive model: OR = 0.71, 95 % CI = 0.53-0.97, P = 0.029 for rs11066782; OR = 0.73, 95 % CI = 0.54-0.99, P = 0.044 for rs11613718 and OR = 0.57, 95 % CI = 0.40-0.80, P = 0.001 for rs11067233). Further combined analysis showed that individuals carrying "3-4" favorable alleles presented a 62 % (OR = 0.38, 95 % CI = 0.21-0.66) decreased risk of CHD compared with those carrying "0-2" favorable alleles. Conclusions: These findings suggest that rs11066782 in KCTD10, rs11613718 in KCTD10 and rs11067233 in MMAB may contribute to the susceptibility of CHD by altering plasma HDL-C levels in Han Chinese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the newly emerging overseas Chinese Muslim community in Malaysia. As China's interactions with the Muslim-majority countries deepen, there will be more Chinese Muslims staying in these countries. Questions can be asked how connection with, and exposure to, the wider Islamic world influence their identity as Chinese Muslim. Through examining the activities of the Overseas Chinese Muslim Association, elite interviews and survey data of the Chinese Muslim students in Malaysia, this paper argues that in general overseas Chinese Muslims remain comfortable with their identity as both Muslim and Chinese. Some contributing factors include the presence of a sizable ethnic Chinese minority in Malaysia and the ease of modern communications technology. They also utilize their different identity categories to maximize advantages to the community. Also, the Chinese Muslims’ relations with official China and the Han majority are largely reproduced in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: The APOA5 rs662799 polymorphism has been widely reported regarding its associations with the plasma lipid levels and the occurrence of coronary heart disease (CHD), whereas its relationship with the severity of CHD has not yet been explored. Methods: Four hundred and seventy-eight angiografically defined subjects (325 CHD patients and 153 CHD-free controls) were enrolled in this study. The rs662799 polymorphism was genotyped, and the fasting lipid data were collected for all participants. The severity of CHD was evaluated for the CHD patients by using Gensini scores. Results: The variant C allele of the rs662799 polymorphism was associated with lower levels of HDL-C in CHD-free women, and higher levels of TG and TG/HDL-C in women with CHD (P < 0.05 for all). The C allele was associated with higher prevalence of dyslipidemia and higher levels of Gensini scores only in women (P < 0.05 for both), but not in men. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that the rs662799 polymorphism was independently associated with the Gensini scores in women after adjustment for other potential CHD risk factors (Beta = 0.157, 95 % CI: 0.017-0.298, P = 0.028). Conclusion: Our data indicate that the rs662799 polymorphism is associated with dyslipidemia and the severity of CHD in Chinese women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both Chitra Konuntakiet from Thailand and Lillian Too from Malaysia capitalize on their claims of and access to "Chineseness" and "Chinese culture" to pursue successful careers as "ethnopreneurs". The historical timing, political and economic contexts, and intellectual and ideological underpinnings of their acts of cultural arbitrage account for how these "Anglo-Chinese" women can profit from national and cultural differences within and between nations to promote hybridized national identities and propound gendered visions and practices of entrepreneurship that draw on, but are not reducible to, the prevailing ideologies and imageries of male-powered "Chinese" transnational capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seeing New Qing History as a “malicious attack on a sovereign country” by “Western imperialists,” Li explicitly differentiates between a “wrong” and a “right” perspective on Qing history. In his view, the only legitimate standpoint is one that takes the People’s Republic of China’s territorial reach and “ethnic unity” as a necessary and natural result of history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social organization of the Chinese diaspora in the Straits of Malacca has emerged as a very diversified phenomenon so that it is hard to speak of a coherent social and cultural community. Starting from the case of George Town, a port city once part of the British Empire and subsequently incorporated in present-day Malaysia, the article will illustrate the various forms of social organization developed by the Chinese in the longue durie. Through the notions of network and corporate group, I will examine the underlying modalities of organizational changes that occurred in this diasporic society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the role of architectural and landscape imagery in articulating a collective identity for the ethnic community of Chicago's Chinatown, focusing on the complex and contingent character of spatial processes involved in this effort. In Chicago, the remaking of the Chinatown landscape has been inseparable from a market-driven effort to translate cultural products into consumable difference. But it has also been shaped by internal sociopolitical forces that reveal the active engagement of the ethnic group in the making of self-image and identity through the mechanism of the built environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim The hepatitis C virus ( HCV) may promote pancreatic β-cell apoptosis-like cell death through a caspase 3-dependent pathway, initiating the onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus ( T2DM); however, the risk factors for development of T2DM and other abnormal glycometabolic factors in HCV patients of the Chinese Han ethnicity have been poorly explored. Methods A total of 947 patients Chinese Han patients with confirmed HCV infection were enrolled in a multicenter study in order to examine the genetic and physiological parameters associated with the onset of abnormal glycometabolic conditions, including T2DM and prediabetes. Results HCV genotype 1b and host interleukin-28B CC genotype were most commonly observed. A total of 145 (15.3%) patients were diagnosed with T2DM and prediabetes. Elevated age, waist circumference, smoking duration, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure were shown to increase risks for abnormal glycometabolism. Liver dysfunction was shown to have positive correlations with abnormal glycometabolism in HCV patients. Genome-wide association studies indicated that certain genetic encoding inosine triphosphatase polymorphs (rs6051702) were associated with elevated risks for abnormal glycometabolism. Coupled with previous research data, it is likely that abnormal glycometabolism may be a useful predictor of risk for poor response to antiviral therapies and treatment-induced complications, such as anemia, in treatment naïve patients. Conclusions Abnormal glycometabolism and other such complications of HCV and HCV treatment may share critical metabolic and genetic pathways, providing potentially novel targets for future antiviral therapies for treatment resistant HCV genotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine whether certain mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups and/or alterations affect susceptibility to aggressive periodontitis (AgP), we analyzed the mtDNA D-Loop region in a Han Chinese population. The mtDNA haplogroups were analyzed in 58 patients with AgP and 50 periodontally healthy controls. The frequency of haplogroups A in AgP group was significantly higher than that in the control group ( p = 0.007). Furthermore, the frequency of haplogroup D was higher in the control group than that in AgP group ( p = 0.007). The frequencies of D-Loop polymorphisms m.16126T > C, m.16290C > T and m.152 T > C were significantly higher in patients with AgP compared with controls ( p = 0.029, 0.014 and 0.022, respectively). Additionally, the frequencies of three other D-Loop polymorphisms, m.16223C > T m.489 T > C and m.515CA deletion (del) were significantly lower in patients with AgP compared with controls ( p = 0.042, 0.003 and 0.026, respectively). Our study showed for the first time, an association between AgP and mtDNA haplogroups. Haplogroups A was implicated as a risk factor for AgP, while haplogroups D exhibited a protective effect in this disease. These observations may provide a new perspective on the study of the pathogenesis of periodontitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the case of lawyer Hong Yen Chang, who was denied of admission to the California State Bar by California Supreme Court till 2015, discussing history of the case, legal errors affecting Court's decision and analysis regarding his ethnicity related to law practice.

In this study, we assessed 30 insertion-deletion polymorphisms (Indels) (Investigator DIPplex® kit) in four Chinese populations ( n = 952) and evaluated their usefulness in forensic genetic applications. After the Bonferroni correction at a 95 % significance level ( p = 0.0017), there were no deviations from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium observed except for the HLD114 locus in the Tibetan ethnic group studied. A high level of discrimination power was observed for the DIPplex® kit in four sample populations (CDP > 0.9999) and the combined random match probabilities (CMP) were in the range of 1.4766 × 10 to 5.2742 × 10. Four Indels have been selected for further analyses as possible ancestry informative single nucleotide polymorphisms. The study support that the Investigator DIPplex® kit provides a powerful supplement to standard short tandem repeat-based kits for individual identification and kinship analysis in the Chinese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of "new" minorities within states as a result of international migration constantly changes the societal diversity of European states. Additionally, the existence of "old" minorities and relationships between kin-state and kin-minority affect inter-group, intra-state and inter-state relations. Tensions and conflicts in Ukraine stand as a current example. The social diversity dynamic involving "old" and "new" minorities is characterized by the features of ethnicity, culture, language and/or religion. The social integration of persons belonging to these groups needs to be addressed by governments in order to maintain resilient, viable and stable societies. While integration policies have remained, to a large extent, within states' national discretion, international human rights norms set certain limits to national policies. The views of international expert bodies relying on human rights provide, at best, states with useful insights and tools to design national policies and concrete measures of integration. There is no easy formula, but good integration policies need to consider an array of legal and non-legal elements, recognize differences and changing identities, nurture a sense of belonging, balance individual rights with integration aims, and involve multi-level actions and multiple actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we used the Chinese Multiethnic Adolescent Cultural Identity Questionnaire (CMACIQ) and collected valid data from 1,036 participants to systematically examine the mental model of cultural identity in Chinese multiethnic adolescents. Exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were performed on the data to discover the factor structure and dimensions of cultural identity. The psychometric properties of the scale were rigorously validated in 2,744 new multiethnic participants from 5 native ethnic groups in Yunnan province in China. The results indicated that CMACIQ had reasonable metric properties and good fit indices. The hierarchical model of cultural identity consisted of 2 second-order factors, Ethnic Cultural Identity and Mainstream Cultural Identity in School. The first higher order factor was composed of preference for ethnic things, ethnic acceptance, religious belief, and ethnic convention, while the second comprised 2 first-order factors, Social Norms and Dominant Culture. The potential application and limitations of CMACIQ are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the dynamic boundaries of Chinese identities and the role of family narratives in their formation. It examines the interplay between history and memory, focusing on traditions regarding ancestors of the Fujian Guo lineage of Muslim descent in China, Taiwan and the Philippines, over six centuries. Existing scholarship approaches these traditions in ethnic terms, corresponding to the ethnic discourse prevalent in the P.R.C., focusing solely on mainland groups, but overlooking other variations found overseas. Hence, scholars portray the changing narratives as reflecting a linear process: from past sinicisation, to today's more "historically authentic" Hui identity. The present analysis offers a broader socio-cultural overview, showing how the pan-Asian Guo lineage re-imagines familial history across time and space by highlighting the forced assimilation narrative in which their early Ming ancestors falsely adopted Guo Ziyi, a Han-Chinese national hero, as their ancestor. The paper follows the narrative's continuous transformations, analysing different interpretations of assuming Chinese identity among Muslims' descendants within different contexts of contemporary Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the late 1990s, Singaporean state authorities have been increasingly marketing the city state as a knowledge-based hub between mainland China and western societies. Their focus on Mandarin-speaking mainlanders contrasts with Singapore's historical Chinese roots. By investigating the daily activities of Hokkien and Teochew community associations, I argue that these associations are finding ways to adapt to state initiatives that market a China-centric identity and target mainlanders. These dialect-based associations try to profit from state designs, while at the same time reclaiming their own historical distinctiveness. Drawing on qualitative work, I document the temporal practices of local dialect-based associations in reaction to neoliberal state initiatives that reduce Chineseness to a de-historicized skill set and stress how state–community interactions shape evolving Chinese ethnicities of the city state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shadow banking system is the one that conducts credit, maturity and liquidity transformation outside regular banking mechanisms. Chinese practices largely fit into this concept. However, unlike their foreign peers, Chinese shadow banking institutions have been intertwined into a complex whole and have achieved credit intermediation usually through wealth management products, often using the problematic asset-pool model. They are also substantially influenced by the unique political economic dynamics in China, such as the rigid financial licensing regime and credit policy control. Both the supply and demand ends of funding have provided those activities with new features, for instance, the P2P lending marketplaces and local government financing vehicles. Chinese government agencies have interplayed responsively and proactively with the market via rulemaking and enforcement, in particular recently, with the aim to fix loopholes, level the playing field and limit regulatory arbitrage. However, further efforts are imperative in order to develop moderate and appropriate regulation and draw clearer legal boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between Heritage Language (HL) and ethnic identity has gained significant research ground in social psychological and poststructural scholarship, with empirical evidence largely emerging from the North American settings. There is little pertinent sociological work conducted outside North America. To fill this gap, this sociological study sets its scene in an Australian context. Drawing on Bourdieu's notion of habitus, the study examines the contribution of Chinese Australians' Chineseness to their Chinese Heritage Language (CHL) proficiency. A total of 230 young Chinese Australians completed the online survey. Results from multiple regression indicate that habitus of Chineseness is one of the significant predictors for the CHL proficiency of these young people. The study makes a theoretical contribution to investigate ethnic identity–HL link through the notion of habitus and makes a methodological contribution to quantify this habitus. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recently, five thyroid cancer significantly associated genetic variants (rs965513, rs944289, rs116909374, rs966423, and rs2439302) have been discovered and validated in two independent GWAS and numerous case-control studies, which were conducted in different populations. We genotyped the above five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Han Chinese populations and performed thyroid cancer-risk predictions with nine machine learning methods. We found that four SNPs were significantly associated with thyroid cancer in Han Chinese population, while no polymorphism was observed for rs116909374. Small familial relative risks (1.02-1.05) and limited power to predict thyroid cancer ( AUCs: 0.54-0.60) indicate limited clinical potential. Four significant SNPs have limited prediction ability for thyroid cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social identity tends to bias decision making in favour of in-group members with whom one shares a common social membership. This article investigates the trust behaviour of mainland Chinese when interacting with nonmainlanders in a two-party decision-making situation. Our experimental results reveal that, relative to their Hong Kong brethren who tend to be insensitive to their potential partner’s background of origin, the decisions of mainland Chinese are significantly impacted by sharing a common background. This suggests mistrust may limit the effectiveness of China’s policy of promoting international cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In China, establishments known as ‘Farmhouse Joy restaurants’(nongjiale)which originally emerged around the suburbs of big cities and were associated with the foodstuffs of ethnic majority Han Chinese farmers, have now, as a result of a variety of development projects and local initiatives, emerged in ethnic minority and other remote villages located deep in the mountains. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in villages in Hubei and Yunnan provinces, this study examines how a new conception of ‘original ecology’ has played a dynamic role in the transformation of thesenongjialein ethnic and remote areas. This transformation results from a new symbolic synthesis and rapprochement between what are commonly understood to be ‘farmers' foods’, desires to experience an original ecology and understandings of ethnicity in China, a synthetic construction clearly aimed at attracting urbanite consumption. Important differences have emerged between villages participating in this process of synthesis. Those villages with strong claims to ethnic minority status have to carefully convert what are in fact ethnic foods into what are seen as ethnically unmarked ‘farmers' foods' in theirnongjiale, while villages without such ethnic backgrounds paradoxically have to construct artificial ethnic symbols by mechanisms of imitation or pretence. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In order to investigate the polymorphism of Alu insertions (POALINs) in the HLA region, we genotyped ten Alu loci (AluMICB, AluTF, AluHJ, AluHG, AluHF in the HLA class I region and AluDPB2, AluDQA2, AluDQA1, AluDRB1, AluORF10 in the HLA class II region) to determine their allele frequencies and associations with the HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-C and HLA-DRB1 genes in the Chinese Han population. Our results showed the ten-loci POALINs varied in frequency between 0.003 and 0.425. By comparing the data of the ten-loci POALIN in Chinese Han with Japanese and Caucasian data, marked differences were observed between the three ethnic groups at the allelic or haplotypic levels. Each POALIN was in significant linkage disequilibrium with a variety of HLA-A, -B, -C and -DRB1 alleles, and was associated with a variety of HLA-A, -B, -C and -DRB1 allele in Chinese Han. This comparative study of multilocus POALINs in the HLA class I and II regions of the Chinese Han population shows that POALINs alone or as haplotypes together with the HLA class I and II alleles are informative genetic markers for the identification of HLA class I and II allele and variations, such as crossing over events within the same and/or different populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-normalisation Sino-Japanese relations have been fraught with contradictions. In particular, three paradoxes stand out over the past 40 years. First, despite many shared geopolitical and economic interests, China and Japan have never developed genuine strategic cooperation, and since the 2000s have even evinced a trend towards thinly-veiled or open rivalry. Second, time, rather than healing the wounds of past wars, has since the mid-1980s yielded only a more vivid and bitter recollection of history that has bedevilled both official and popular relations. Third, diplomatic and commercial ties as well as "thick" societal contacts developed since normalisation have failed to bridge a significant gap in values. This article reviews Sino-Japanese relations since 1972, with a special focus on internal politics on both sides. It considers the influence of their conflicting historical narratives and political systems, and of the broader international geopolitical context, on the evolution of their delicate, paradoxical bilateral relationship. It concludes that a healthier bilateral relationship may depend on the development in both countries of a genuine, robust civil society that is relatively free from political interference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the majority population in the People's Republic of China—the Han—and their various collective identities. The Han play a pivotal role in consolidating the Chinese territory and the multiethnic Chinese nation. Therefore, the governments in the twentieth century have invested substantial efforts in promoting a unitary Han identity. In spite of that, powerful local identities related to native place, occupation, and family histories persist. This essay traces these identities and analyzes their intertwinement. Further, it discusses the question of ethnicity of both the Han and local identity categories, and concludes that while Han enact ethnicity in their relations to other minzu, local identity categories are more social than ethnic. It further posits that moments of confrontation, “degree” of ethnicity, scales of categorization, and relationality of identities are notions that should be given particular attention in the studies of ethnicity in China and elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the issue of balancing the ethnocultural diversity, interethnic cohesion and dignity with national integration of people in China. It mentions the increasing signs of interethnic conflict due to increasing ethnic-based competition, interethnic communication and free-market forces. It explores the study on the opinions of Chinese on ethnic policies. It also emphasizes the reforms in Chinese ethnic policies and debates with cultural and discursive representations.

Copyright of Recherches Sociologiques et Anthropologiques is the property of Centre Recherches Sociologique and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Chinese have become one of the most widely dispersed races across the globe. Yet they have often implicitly resisted this dispersion by a powerful, but often unspoken, mythic commitment to the image of China as an enduring homeland, rather than accepting any irreversible transfer of cultural allegiance and identity to the receiving country. Part of this myth of temporary exile, held and cherished by some diasporic groups, has been the dream of "going back," the return to one's roots. Increasingly, modem tourism apparently offers an easily accessed and temporary mechanism for going back to a Chinese "homeland" and seeking to discover and explore authentic Chinese identity. This article focuses on the possibilities of diasporic reconnection through tourism and specifically the role of heritage tourism encounters in an ethnic homeland from which some have been separated for long periods, and others have never seen. It explores theoretical and empirical issues attached to diasporic identity and "homecoming" tourism, using case study data collected from Chinese diasporic tourists from Sarawak on a package tour of China. In presenting the results, the analysis adopts a dual interpretative approach to heritage that evolved from the data analysis, in which it was decoded by the tour party members as both observations of the quotidian cultural activities and values of the Chinese people, and observations of the selective constructions of public culture provided and promoted by public agencies. The two perceived aspects of heritage generated contradictory responses within the tour party that were partly a reflection of perceptions and judgments about the intrinsic features of things observed (e.g., their authenticity and social acceptability). They were also due to differences in the backgrounds of members of the diasporic party in terms of language resources, span of generational residence in Sarawak as emigrants from China, and religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By investigating the regulation differentials between Chinese spouses and foreign spouses in Taiwan's marital immigration program, this article shows how a restrictive border policy reflects the characteristics of Taiwan's contemporary nationalism. This article notes that the similarities in language, culture and ethnicity are not key elements in the construction of Taiwan's contemporary nationalism. Instead, the uncertain condition of sovereign identity constitutes the nationalist agenda in Taiwan. Taiwan's nationalism is accordingly contingent upon the discursive externality of a Chinese spouse. The discrimination against Chinese spouses is primarily politically motivated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the development of Chinese identity in Hong Kong, China during the colonial period and its relative impact on Mainland Chinese regarding legal discrimination. It informs that if Mainland women that deliver their babies in Hong Kong then Mainland would render Hong Kong identity as a subject matter of culture than political or legal matter. It explores Hong Kong Chinese identity in the British post-war immigration and social policy to cite discriminatory practices by law.

This essay discusses Nie Hualing's novel Sangqing yu Taohong (Mulberry and Peach: Two Women of China) as a literary text that intensely engages Chinese identity and Chineseness as a global, transnational cultural phenomenon, while at the same time narrating a story of migration to the US that spurs the emergence (within the text) of some of the most localized, politically charged concerns of Asian American cultural discourse. While the publication of Nie's novel coincides with the initial articulations of Asian American identity in the context of political activism, Sangqing yu Taohong/Mulberry and Peach also anticipates the growing interest for contextualizing the Asian American experience as a transnational phenomenon. In its representation of Chinese migration to America and female sexuality as issues that stretch ethical and political boundaries and blur the distinction between private and public discourses, this novel constructs identity as both politicized and uncontainable, anticipating, again, some key components of Asian American cultural discourse since the 1990s. This excess of signification reproduces the tension between "model minorities" and "bad subjects" that makes Asian American discourse inescapably political. This political nature, in turn, intertwines public and private frameworks of reference, as well as ethnic, national, and transnational dimensions of signification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most striking trends in urban Chinese Buddhism is the adoption of elements of Tibetan Buddhism by ethnically Han Chinese Buddhists. The author offers a preliminary exploration of this phenomenon. Focusing on regular lay Buddhists, she describes the characteristics of Han involvement with Tibetan Buddhism and explores the reasons for this trend. The author combines a structural perspective that focuses on how Tibetan Buddhism is supplied in eastern cities with a cultural perspective that examines how the appeal of Tibetan Buddhism is constructed for a Han Chinese audience. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A critique of director Jia Zhangke's film, "I Wish I Knew," is presented. The authors assert that Zhangke searches for truth in his films, utilizing metanarrative and historical references to transport his audience from past to present and to rewrite Chinese history and the Chinese identity. The article notes that the film is less overtly personal than Zhangke's previous work, and suggests that the director has instead used other voices to achieve the realism he is known for.

Cinema, as one of the early mass communications, is an important site from which scholars can pursue the question of how to understand history, society and the construction of cultural identity. The Shaw Organization is one of the oldest establishments of the Chinese cinema in Southeast Asia and serves as an ideal vantage point from which to assess the cultural connection between the early Chinese cinema and the early migration of Chinese to British Malaya. This article investigates one of the most popular genres of the time, namely the Wuxia pian or Martial arts film, in early 20th century Shanghai along with its contemporary marketing networks in then Malaya and Singapore. This article demonstrates that the cultural vacuum purposely ignored by the British rulers in Malaya gave the Chinese entrepreneurs not only great economic opportunities but also the ability to exert a greater cultural influence over the public through negotiating, defining and formatting the fluidity of the Chinese identity in Malaya and subsequently Malaysia. The symbolism of 'Chineseness' and the notion of justice within the genre of the Wuxia pian are each based on a veneration of shared symbols and historical myths; together they have, to a certain extent, re-energised the study of the construction of Chinese identity and popular cinema. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In two studies, conducted in the United States and Australia. first- and second-generation high schoolers of Chinese descent, together with adolescents from the host culture (Euro-Americans and Anglo-Australians) and from Hong Kong were asked about their age expectations for behavioral autonomy. ANOVAS of 19 items and the total Teen Timetable score revealed that in both countries acculturation was very gradual. On many items second generation Chinese students were more like their Hong Kong than their Western counterparts. Rate of acculturation varied with domain, with age expectations for heterosexual interactions showing the least influence of the host culture. Discriminant analyses revealed that using all 19 items, the groups of subjects could be placed in their cultural/generational groups significantly better than by chance. Results were interpreted in terms of cultural beliefs and special factors faced by immigrant families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a descriptive review related to public opinion canvassing in China. It states that Chinese polling applied a panel discussion approach which is developed by Mao Ze-dong, founding father of People's Republic of China. It mentions that he called panel discussion his conversation with the various people in the heartland of the mountain villages. It adds that it has become the dominant paradigm in China for social studies after the victory of the civil war in 1949. Moreover, Chinese opinion polls concentrates on public attitudes towards national scheme and current policies established by the Party and the government.

The author reflects on the relationship of China with Japan. Particular focus is given to Chinese perspectives on Japan, defining Chinese in geographically broad terms and sharing Chinese cultural attributes. The author states that Japan has given a model for the selective preservation of native essence and believes China is intimately intertwined with it than other modern country. The significance of school textbooks and state-run museums in shaping the consciousness of the young is discussed.

An introduction is presented which discusses the understanding of Chinese culture through key concepts which are often translated or adapted from Chinese.