Young men (and some women) also tend to go abroad as missionaries, usually after rigorous study of a foreign language (Mr Romney learned French, Mr Huntsman Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan).

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WHEN, in 1964, Emily Cohen chose to go home to the United States via India, after a year studying Chinese in Taiwan, she could scarcely have imagined that it would lead, indirectly, to over 20 years working on The Economist.

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Much of the gap is attributable to the activities of overseas Chinese in Taiwan, Hong Kong, South-East Asia and America.

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