Introduction

Abstract

Abstract The first chapter discusses the subject of the book, ‘Hong Kong servicemen’, and explains the topic’s importance. It first defines terms such as ‘Hong Kong servicemen’, ‘Chinese’, ‘Eurasians’, and ‘Hongkongers’, and suggests the use of the term ‘Chinese’ often risks omitting the diversity of Hong Kong Chinese. It also highlights the diverse ethnic, cultural, and social backgrounds of the Hongkongers, who had a distinctive historical experience during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This chapter then puts the Hong Kong servicemen in the context of the age of New Imperialism (1870–1914), when multi-ethnic and multicultural colonial armed forces were the norm. It explains the reasons for the colonial empires to enlist the subject people in their armed forces, although the primary purpose of such a force was to police the colonial population. It also discusses the experience of other colonial soldiers, stressing that while many faced a similar problem of split loyalties to the colonial power and their people, their experience could differ considerably and should be studied case by case. The chapter then puts the Hong Kong servicemen in the context of modern Chinese history and the Chinese diaspora. It points out that Chinese nationalist narratives that stress unification and homogeneity have often overshadowed the historical experience of Hongkongers.