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Ethnically, and in a generic sense, they all share the same ancestral root in China—whether they were UK-born or native Chinese, or members of the Chinese diaspora who migrated elsewhere before coming to Britain. Socioeconomically, as well as culturally, they belong to different entities, given that premigration conditions and social realities have produced many cultural and economic differences and linguistic variations among the Chinese population (Li, 1998). In this book, the term “Chinese” refers to all persons who self-identified in the census as having an ethnic Chinese origin, whether in their own generation or in their ancestral past, in Greater China.1 It refers to Chinese immigrants who were born outside Britain (Huaqiao) and individuals with a Chinese ancestry (Huayi). The former includes Chinese immigrants from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, whereas the latter contains UK-born Chinese and remigrants of Chinese descent (e.g., Vietnam-born Chinese immigrants in Britain).
Owing to data difficulties, however, little attention has been given to Chinese irregular or undocumented migrants, visitors, and overseas students, who are major strands of investigation in their own right (e.g., Pieke, 2002; Pieke, Nyíri, Thunø, & Ceccagno, 2004; Zhang, 2003). These aforementioned Chinese groups are invisible members of the Chinese community in Britain (see chapter 2). Indeed, as Pieke (2005) argues, student migration and irregular migration are the two prominent, if not the foremost, types of Chinese migratory flows in the new wave Chinese immigration. While the former often translates itself into educational migration, when highly skilled graduates seek employment in the country instead of returning to their homeland, the latter entails the most undesirable Fujianese and Zhejiangese immigrants and is associated with serious social problems such as prostitution and organised crime (Pieke, 2005).