SibuSibu ˈsiːbu: (; Foochow Romanized: Sĭ-bŭ) is a landlocked city in the central region of Sarawak. It is the capital of Sibu District in Sibu Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. The city is located on the island of Borneo and covers an area of . It is located at the confluence of the Rajang and Igan Rivers, some 60 kilometres from the South China Sea and approximately north-east of the state capital Kuching. Sibu is mainly populated by people of Chinese descent, mainly from Fuzhou.
Overseas ChineseOverseas 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. () or Hoan-kheh () in Hokkien, refers to people of Chinese citizenship residing outside of either the PRC or ROC (Taiwan). The government of China realized that the overseas Chinese could be an asset, a source of foreign investment and a bridge to overseas knowledge; thus, it began to recognize the use of the term Huaqiao.
Thai ChineseThai Chinese (also known as Chinese Thais, Sino-Thais), Thais of Chinese origin (ชาวไทยเชื้อสายจีน; exonym and also domestically) are Chinese descendants in Thailand. Thai Chinese are the largest minority group in the country and the largest overseas Chinese community in the world with a population of approximately 7-10 million people, accounting for 11–14% of the total population of the country as of 2012. It is also the oldest and most prominently integrated overseas Chinese community, with a history dating back to the 1100s.
Fuzhou dialectThe Fuzhou dialect (, FR: huʔ˨˩ tsiu˥˧ ua˨˦˨), also Foochow, Hokchew, Hok-chiu, or Fuzhounese, is the prestige variety of the Eastern Min branch of Min Chinese spoken mainly in the Mindong region of Eastern Fujian Province. As it is mutually unintelligible to neighbouring varieties (e.g. Hokkien) in the province, under a technical linguistic definition Fuzhou is a language and not a dialect (conferring the variety a 'dialect' status is more socio-politically motivated than linguistic).
Matsu IslandsThe Matsu Islands (UKˌmætˈsuː or USˌmɑːtˈsuː), officially Lienchiang County (ljɛnˈdʒjɑːŋ), are an archipelago of 36 islands and islets in the East China Sea governed by the Republic of China (Taiwan), situated alongside the southeastern coast of mainland China. The archipelago forms the smallest county in the ROC-controlled territories by area and population, as well as one of two counties that is a part of the nominal Fuchien Province.
SarawakSarawak (səˈrɑːwɒk , saˈrawaʔ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Malaya, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, Kalimantan (the Indonesian portion of Borneo) to the south, and Brunei in the north. The capital city, Kuching, is the largest city in Sarawak, the economic centre of the state, and the seat of the Sarawak state government. Other cities and towns in Sarawak include Miri, Sibu, and Bintulu.