由於西方殖民多為海洋殖民，而近代中國又多半被視為是殖民主義受壓迫的那一方，所以我們很容易忽略掉中國對內部少數民族的殖民和中國移民在東南亞殖民史當中所扮演的關鍵性角色。隨著中國的崛起，這些現象越來越值得我們注意。華語語系研究之所以需要被重視，主要是因為它可以在與以下三個領域對話的過程當中，揭露出中國殖民模式異於其他殖民模式的事實：首先，英語語系研究／法語語系研究容易使我們誤以為只有西方強權有能力殖民；再者，從離散的觀點看中國移民台灣和東南亞一些地方的過程容易忽略其定居殖民的性格；最後，族裔研究無法彰顯華語內部的差異。事實上，華語語系既是多語的又是多音的；因此，把所有用漢文寫成的文學作品統稱為中文文學是錯誤的。本文主張華語語系的研究對象是中國領土以外的華語社群和文化以及中國內部那些被強迫（或是自願）學習及使用普通話的少數民族社群和文化。正因為華語語系社群的形成大多涉及大陸殖民、定居殖民和移民／遷徙這三個有時交錯或重疊的過程，我們必須要理解到每一個華語語系的實踐和表達都有屬於其特有的、具體的時間和地點的座標

Due to the fact that Western colonialism is largely oceanic and the fact that China has long been considered victim of Western colonialism, it is easy for us to overlook China’s internal colonization of various indigenous peoples and the critical role Chinese migrants played in the colonization of Taiwan and parts of Southeast Asia. With the rise of China, these phenomena are more and more worthy of our attention. Sinophone studies attends to the difference between the Chinese mode of colonization and other modes of colonization through a dialogue with at least the following three academic discourses. To begin with, Anglophone and Francophone postcolonial studies gives the false impression that only Western powers are capable of colonizing Asia. Furthermore, the casting of Chinese migration to Taiwan and Southeast Asia in terms of diaspora conceals its settler colonial character. Finally, terms like literature in Chinese and Chinese literature are problematic categories when it comes to literatures written in Sinitic languages. In fact, Sinophone is multilingual, polyphonic, and also poly-scriptic. I argue that Sinophone studies takes as its objects of study the Sinitic-language communities and cultures outside China as well as ethnic minority communities and cultures within China where Mandarin Chinese is adopted or imposed. It is because these linguistic communities are largely formed through three interrelated historical processes of continental colonialism, settler colonialism and (im)migration that the Sinophone is not a unifying category but a heterogeneous formation calibrated by the time and place specificities of each practice and articulation