"Eurasian" Israel

[MerryPrankster]

Last night, I read the first couple of chapters of Clavell's "Noble House" (it's about European bankers and businessmen in Hong Kong and their intrigues going back centuries) and there's a character in it who's descended from a Scottish pirate/merchant prince (at different points in his career) and a Chinese prostitute who comments about how both whites and Asians hate "Eurasians."

(And then there's the popular mistreatment of Amerasians after the fall of Saigon.)

So is it realistic at any point for a "Eurasian" identity to emerge and for them to try to make a claim for a homeland of their own?

(Assuming the situation is as bad as "Noble House"--a work of fiction set in the 1960s in any event--makes it sound.)

I don't think trying to maintain an independent Hong Kong in spite of Britain and mainland China is going to work--the British probably won't support it and the PRC can simply squash them, assuming there's even such an interest in the first place.

(I could imagine "Eurasians" being common in Hong Kong due to the long-term colonial rule there, but if they were the majority or even a very large minority, I would think this aspect of Hong Kong would be better-known.)

[Cash]

Clavell wrote a series of books based in Hong Kong, beginning with "Tai-Pan." Reading Tai-Pan first helps with the background to "Noble House," although it isn't vital. In its own way, it's an AT all its own.

[LeoXiao]

I think your PoD has to be before 1900, and even then it would be difficult to get enough Eurasians to consider themselves a separate race/ethnicity. I for one don't consider myself Eurasian; I prefer "American with Chinese characteristics".

[Rakhasa]

Originally Posted by LeoXiao

I think your PoD has to be before 1900, and even then it would be difficult to get enough Eurasians to consider themselves a separate race/ethnicity. I for one don't consider myself Eurasian; I prefer "American with Chinese characteristics".

Not really. Mulatos and mestizos managed it in central america and the caribean, after all. I suggest we start with Macao, or a spanish analogue (Spanish Taiwan or Hainan maybe? An island would also be easier to keep independent), as hispanic settlers were more likely to engage in mixed marriages (and had one or two more centuries to develop their identities)

Once you have developed a separate "eurasian" group, it would be far easier for later mixed blood people from newer colonizers (French, British and Dutch if it goes OTL) to join the greater community and add to their culture.

[LeoXiao]

Originally Posted by Rakhasa

Not really. Mulatos and mestizos managed it in central america and the caribean, after all. I suggest we start with Macao, or a spanish analogue (Spanish Taiwan or Hainan maybe? An island would also be easier to keep independent), as hispanic settlers were more likely to engage in mixed marriages (and had one or two more centuries to develop their identities)

Once you have developed a separate "eurasian" group, it would be far easier for later mixed blood people from newer colonizers (French, British and Dutch if it goes OTL) to join the greater community and add to their culture.

Yeah sure, perhaps that would work, now that I think of it. OTOH, I think that China would probably have major issues with it.

[Jester]

Doubtful. I think LTTW has something like this happening, however (Gwayese)

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

Arent Filipinos IOTL more or less Hispanic Asians?

[Color-Copycat]

Originally Posted by ArmchairPhilosopher

Arent Filipinos IOTL more or less Hispanic Asians?

There used to be this girl at my old high school who was Filipino, and she would flip between stereotypical Asian and stereotypical Latina just to mess with people. It was so convincing that some people couldn't figure out whether she was Hispanic or Asian.

[ZaphodBeeblebrox]

Originally Posted by Color-Copycat

There used to be this girl at my old high school who was Filipino, and she would flip between stereotypical Asian and stereotypical Latina just to mess with people. It was so convincing that some people couldn't figure out whether she was Hispanic or Asian.

This Reminds me of My Sister-in-Law ...

Then Again, she Also has a Second Layer of The Real Thing, in The Form of a Spanish Mother ...

My Brother's Kids are going to be Interesting, at Any Rate; Filipino-Jewish-Spanish Lil' Tykes that they'll be!

[Rakhasa]

Originally Posted by LeoXiao

Yeah sure, perhaps that would work, now that I think of it. OTOH, I think that China would probably have major issues with it.

They would. China has major issues about Taiwan even now, after all. Which does not mean thay actually could do something about it. For the whole thing to work, China needs to sufer at least two major weak periods as OTL (one where the original european settlers appear, and a second one where the new nation breaks free and they can do nothing about it).

That's why I suggested Taiwan or Hainan. An island can mantian a status quo from China's endless armies with a proper navy and alliances with naval powers (USA, Britain), where a land frontier would eventually be doomed.