What is this 'Overseas Chinese" thing all about?

[Belgian Pie]

They even have/had a bank at some time in the past ... 'Bank of Overseas Chinese' ... but it didn't do well because they all moved back to Taiwan and they ran out of 'overseas Chinese', so Citigroup bought it.

Citigroup has agreed to buy Taiwan's Bank of Overseas Chinese (BOOC) for T$14.1 billion ($426 million), a BOOC executive said on Monday, amid growing foreign interest in Taiwan's undervalued banking sector.

[EddieG]

An Overseas Chinese, according to Taiwan's official definition, is usually a Taiwanese citizen who has lived abroad for 4 years and has residential status in a foreign country.

This is what I refer to when I use the term. The four year part is only applicable if you were born here though. My son was born in Sweden and is Overseas Chinese as well. It is stated in his passport.

[Zla'od]

but needed roots in China, (i.e. obviously had to be ethnic chinese)

And how would this be determined or demonstrated? Would they just eyeball you, or did they expect papers of some kind?

Deuce-dropper mentions Mongolians as a form of overseas Chinese. Actually, Mongolian and Tibetan visas were handled by the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission back in the day.

[Teddoman]

I don't know how the HK and Phillipine Chinese person used it to get a passport except that, well, in Asia, some have been known to, er, grease the wheels, so to speak.

Otherwise, if Obama can fake a American birth certificate, so can any idiot with photoshop and a good printer. (yes, that bit about Obama was sarcastic)

The least preferred way would be to prove your real family connection to Taiwan through hu4kou3, or residency, records of yourself or your parents etc.

[Teddoman]

Sorry my response was slightly off, as I'd never browsed the dual nationality forum. Looks like the phrase they use is hu4ji2 for household residency. Basically, it's a form of residency registration in Taiwan. But in the US, you register separately for everything so no one registration is really official. In TW, I think the huji is pretty much the big registration.

[StuartCa]

but needed roots in China, (i.e. obviously had to be ethnic chinese)

And how would this be determined or demonstrated? Would they just eyeball you, or did they expect papers of some kind?

No, there's a special handshake.

[Icon]

They claim to have records dating "all the way back to the Mainland", where they can track your ancestry.

[Teddoman]

They claim to have records dating "all the way back to the Mainland", where they can track your ancestry.

Even if the mainland records check out, you still have to tap dance the secret code (in morse).

[tsukinodeynatsu]

If my home country (Australia) granted special privileges to people who could prove their British Isles descent, the immigrants would be setting cars on fire.

I think we did this up until about 15 years ago, and then Brits were put on the same rules as everyone else.

Historically, Australia's got a terrible record for this kind of crap, though they're fairly good about it now.

[headhonchoII]

Ah but Australia's head of state is still the Queen, so there is actually logic in Commonwealth or British citizens getting some type of priority, the Chinese would certainly agree.