
This new term Greater China appeared in the discussions around 2 decades ago, when China under Deng Xiaoping started to reopen the door of the isolated mainland for foreign investment and trade, and when Taiwan under Chiang Ching-kuo lifted the ban for Taiwanese residents and merchants to visit the mainland. It became a hotter discussion when then negotiations between China and the UK/Portugal started for the future of Hong Kong and Macau as Special Administrative Regions of the PRC under the "one country two systems" formula, and as two bridges to link both sides of the Taiwan Strait closer together.