Greater China
Greater China (Chinese: 大中華; rom. Dà Zhōnghuá; Cantonese: Dàai Zūngwàh) is a pan-Sinitic term that refers to the concept of unifying all Chinese ethnic groups. It encompasses all areas traditionally associated with Chinese civilization, including the modern-day states of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Wu State, the United Socialist Republics of China, Tibet, Mongolia, the Japanese islands of Tacasago and Caidan, and the various European exclaves scattered throughout the Chinese coast.
The entirety of China had been unified since the Manchu conquest of China in the 17th century, with the Qing dynasty emerging as the ruling power. The vision of reunifying Greater China emerged immediately after the successful Taiping Rebellion and the establishment of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the mid-19th century, as Qing Emperors and officials began to plan for the reconquest of the south, although these ambitions would remain unfulfilled. From the Qing perspective, the separation of China was a grave insult to their authority and a threat to the notion of their Mandate of Heaven and formed part of what has been known as the Century of Humiliation.
Further fragmentation of Chinese civilization occurred after the collapse of the Qing dynasty with the Xinhai Rebellion in 1911 and the beginning of the Warlord Era, during which an opportunistic Japanese Empire exploited the chaos and weakness of the Chinese factions to assert its influence in East Asia. China, divided and ravaged by political and military strife, became a playground for foreign powers seeking to exploit its resources and establish spheres of influence. The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was one of the main Japanese efforts to consolidate its control over East Asia, including China, under the guise of promoting economic development and regional cooperation, and it managed to integrate what came to be known as the Wu State in 1940, as well as Mongolia and Tibet in 1942 and 1944, respectively.
The establishment of the Wu State, the independence of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the entrenchment of European colonial powers on the coasts, coupled with the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War in 1949 triggered a significant reconfiguration of power dynamics within Greater China. The victory of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) led by Zhou Enlai in the Chinese Civil War resulted in the proclamation of the United Socialist Republics of China (USRC) in 1949, with its capital in Beijing. The USRC immediately began a process of consolidating control over its territories while advocating for the reunification of Greater China.
As of today, the concept of the unification of Greater China is primarily espoused by the CCP and its supporting Fifth International through the One China Policy, while the severe De-Hanization programs of Taiping China and the Wu State complicate the realization of this vision.