Total population | |
---|---|
Various speculative estimates, 7,000 [1] [2] [3] [4] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Accra, [5] Kumasi, Tema, Sekondi-Takoradi | |
Languages | |
Chinese people in Ghana | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chinese name | |||||||
Traditional Chinese | 加納華人 | ||||||
Simplified Chinese | 加纳华人 | ||||||
| |||||||
French name | |||||||
French | Sino-Ghanéens | ||||||
Akan [lower-alpha 1] name | |||||||
Akan [lower-alpha 1] | Nkɔmbɔtwetwe China Gaana |
Migration of Chinese people in Ghana dates back to the 1940s. [1] Originally,most came from Hong Kong;migration from mainland China began only in the 1980s.
The earliest ethnic Chinese migrants to Ghana were of Hong Kong origin. They began arriving in the late 1940s and early 1950s,when both territories were still part of the British Empire. [1] These sojourners stayed in Ghana for periods ranging from a few years to several decades,but they never came to consider Ghana their home. [6] The migrants consisted largely of men who came to Ghana alone and worked as employees in Chinese-owned factories,while their families remained behind in Hong Kong. Originally,they were concentrated in western Ghana,but after Ghana achieved independence,the Kwame Nkrumah government began implementing plans to promote development in the eastern part of the country,and as a result,they began moving towards Accra and Tema. [5]
Aside from individual migrants,there was also an official contingent from the People's Republic of China (PRC) for a brief period in the 1960s. The PRC provided a variety of military assistance to Ghana in the 1960s,including a loan for an arms factory in 1962 (which was never constructed) and the dispatch of military advisors in 1964. After the 1966 coup which overthrew Nkrumah's government,Ghana expelled 430 PRC nationals,including three intelligence officers and thirteen guerrilla warfare specialists. [7]
In the late 1960s and early 1970s,some of the Hong Kong migrants began to bring their wives and children over to Ghana. [5] Migrants from Shanghai also began to arrive round this time. [2] Due to further political unrest in the 1970s and 1980s,including two coups by Jerry Rawlings,many of the Chinese migrants returned to Hong Kong. However,with the economic reform and opening up in the PRC,migrants from mainland China began arriving just as the Hong Kong migrants were flowing out. Migration from mainland China intensified in the 1990s;some came as employees,but most were independent traders running import-export businesses or restaurants. [5] The sources of migration have also expanded;whereas earlier migrants came mostly from Hong Kong or Shanghai,later Chinese migrants have arrived from Guangdong and Henan as well as the Republic of China on Taiwan. [2]
The earliest Hong Kong migrants were employed in a variety of industries in Ghana,including a failed tobacco-growing venture,a factory in Takoradi producing cooking implements,and imitation wax print clothing. [1] The owners of these ventures rarely visited Ghana. [5] In the 1990s and 2000s,large Chinese companies became active in Ghana's construction sector,while individual Chinese traders gained a large amount of influence in retailing of textiles,electrical appliances,and daily-use goods. [8] Under the Ghana Investment Promotion Act of 1994,any foreigner can open a retail business with an investment of US$300,000,as long as it employs 10 local citizens,subject to maintenance of a certain minimum volume of trade. [9] [10] More recently,other Chinese are engaged in small-scale gold mining,as well as providing funding and heavy equipment to other miners. [10]
The Chinese population in Ghana itself are largely transitory,and there is some resistance among them to the idea that they belong to a "community". Most of the migrants came with the intention of seeing the world and making money,rather than settling down in Ghana. [6] In order to obtain Ghanaian nationality,one must be married to a citizen of Ghana or be able to speak and understand one of the indigenous languages of Ghana. [11] The Chinese who have lived in Ghana for most of their lives have acquired Ghanaian citizenship,which is granted without any discrimination.[ citation needed ]
Local traders have protested against the influx of Chinese traders selling imported goods,and accuse them of breaking investment laws. [9] In late 2007,local traders organised protests in Accra which accused the Chinese of unfair competition and trading in fields for which they were not qualified. [8] In turn,Chinese migrants complain of arbitrary treatment by Ghana's police. On one day in February 2009,officers of the Immigration Department arrested over 100 Chinese people in a single day,due to Chinese engagement in illegal gold mining;in response,forty-one Chinese businesspeople signed an open letter of protest to the Immigration Department. They attributed the sudden crackdown to the government's desire to protect local merchants in the face of the worsening economy. [12]
Overseas Chinese refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese.
Mauritians of Chinese origin, also known as Sino-Mauritians or Chinese Mauritians, are Mauritians who trace their ethnic ancestry to China.
Chinese nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds nationality of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The primary law governing these requirements is the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China, which came into force on September 10, 1980.
A People's Republic of China Permit for Proceeding to Hong Kong and Macao, or One-way Permit, is a document issued by the People's Republic of China allowing residents of mainland China to leave the mainland permanently to settle in Hong Kong or Macau.
The Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of Chinapassport is a passport issued to Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of the Chinese Special Administrative Region of Macau.
Emigration from Hong Kong refers to the migration of Hong Kong residents away from Hong Kong. Reasons for migration range from livelihood hardships, such as the high cost of living and educational pressures, to economic opportunities elsewhere, such as expanded opportunities in mainland China following the Reform and Opening-Up, to various political events, such as the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong during the Second World War, the 1967 unrest, uncertainties leading up to the 1997 handover, and the 2019–2020 unrest. The largest community of Hong Kongers living outside of Hong Kong is in Mainland China, followed by the US, Canada and the UK.
The Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents, also known as the Taiwan Compatriot Permit, is a type of travel document issued by the Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to Republic of China nationals (ROC) who hold household registration in Taiwan. The document is issued by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS). Since the identity documents issued by the government of the Republic of China are not recognized in the PRC, the permit serves as both the main travel document and identity document for Taiwanese people in the PRC territory and is used on all occasions in lieu of a Taiwan passport.
Chinese people in Papua New Guinea included, as of 2008, only about 1,000 of the "old Chinese"—locally born descendants of late 19th- and early 20th-century immigrants—remain in the country; most have moved to Australia. However, their numbers have been bolstered significantly by new arrivals from overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia and later from mainland China. There are also a few migrants from the Republic of China on Taiwan.
Chinese people in the Netherlands form one of the largest overseas Chinese populations in continental Europe. In 2018 official statistics showed 92,644 people originating from the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Republic of China (ROC), or people with at least one such parent. However, these statistics do not capture the whole size of the Chinese community, which since its earliest days has included not just migrants from China, but people of Chinese ethnicity drawn from among overseas Chinese communities as well.
Chinese people in Denmark form one of the smaller and less-studied Chinese diaspora communities of Europe. Many chinese do voice work out of Denmark
Chinese people in the Czech Republic form one of the country's smaller migrant communities.
With the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, American immigration policy towards Chinese emigrants and the highly controversial subject of foreign policy with regard to the PRC became invariably connected. The United States government was presented with the dilemma of what to do with two separate "Chinas". Both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China wanted be seen as the legitimate government and both parties believed that immigration would assist them in doing so.
China-Ghanaian relations refer to the current and historical relationship between the Republic of Ghana and the People's Republic of China (PRC).
Mainland Chinese or mainlanders are Chinese people who live in or have recently emigrated from mainland China, defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) except for Hong Kong, Macau, and the partly-PRC-controlled South China Sea Islands, and also excluding certain territories that are claimed by the PRC but not controlled, namely Taiwan aka the "Republic of China" (ROC), which is a state with limited recognition, and other associated territories that are ruled by Taiwan. The term also refers to historical groups of people of Chinese origin who immigrated to Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan during the 20th century, especially in the context of specific historical events.
Ghanaian Arabs are Ghanaians and citizens of Arab origin or descent. Ghanaian Arabs are mainly from Lebanon, Syria and Arab Maghreb. Ghana has the largest Arab population in western Africa.
Africans in Hong Kong constitute a small number of total residents in Hong Kong.
Chinese-foreign marriages in mainland China are a recent phenomenon. From the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 until the early 1990s, Chinese-foreign marriages were seen as outside the norm. While data from the PRC’s Ministry of Civil Affairs indicates that the number of couples registering a Chinese-foreign marriage in mainland China was almost ten times greater in 2010 than in 1979, the figures for registered Chinese-foreign marriages are still relatively small compared to couples registered in a domestic marriage. The data also suggests that most Chinese-foreign marriages are intra-national rather than international in character. An article published by Elaine Jeffreys and Wang Pan, ‘Chinese-foreign Marriage in Mainland China’, in the University of Nottingham’s China Policy Institute Blog notes that “the most common type of Chinese-foreign marriage registered in mainland China until the late 2000s was between a mainland Chinese woman and a man from Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan.” The article also reveals that these types of marriages are more common in Chinese women than they are in men. The article states:
The history of African Americans in Ghana goes back to individuals such as American civil rights activist and writer W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963), who settled in Ghana in the last years of his life and is buried in the capital, Accra. Since then, other African Americans who are descended from slaves imported from areas within the present-day jurisdiction of Ghana and neighboring states have applied for permanent resident status in Ghana. As of 2015, the number of African-American residents has been estimated at around 3,000 people, a large portion of whom live in Accra.
Chinese nationals in Singapore refers to Chinese people who are of Chinese nationality residing in Singapore. According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the community had a population of 451,481 in 2019, with 52,516 originating from Hong Kong and 18,820 from Macau, the 2 special administrative regions of China. The community of Chinese nationals are the 2nd largest foreign community in Singapore, constituting 18% of the country's foreign-born population.
Takyiwaa Manuh is Ghanaian academic and author. She is an Emerita Professor of the University of Ghana, and until her retirement in May 2017, she served as the Director of the Social Development Policy Division, of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She was also the Director of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana from 2002 to 2009. She is a fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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