The Golden Triangle is a hotbed of criminal activity at the border of Laos, China, Thailand, and Myanmar. It is one of the world's largest drug trafficking corridors both into and out of China, hosting scam centers, illegal gambling operations, and human trafficking dens. Most illicit activity is centered in a Special Economic Zone protected by Laos' government where large organised crime groups from Mainland China are allowed to operate casinos, some of which are rumored to have ties to high-ranking CCP officials. The Thai army polices the border both to curtail crime and to secure its territorial claim.

Industrial Policy is defined as the strategic effort by the state to encourage economic transformation by specifically advantaging what it deems to be high-potential sectors. 

Industrial Policy fell out of favor in the 1990s after the Washington Consensus, under which the International Monetary Fund (IMF) opposed tactics by states to control their own economic trajectory rather than letting market forces decide. Industrial Policy has seen a recent revival through policies like the US Inflation Reduction Act, the EU Chips Act, and Made in China Act 2025.

City Council Dismissals (CCDs) allow the central government to replace local-government executives (e.g. mayors, councillors, etc.) they deem to be engaging in criminal activity, with experienced non-elected civil servants from a different region for the remainder of the original term.

(1) A private equity firm is a type of investment firm open to a select group of investors that acquires companies with the aim of either improving them and selling them at a profit later down the line, or selling the company's assets for more than they bought it for.

(2) Most private equity firms acquire companies through Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs) which involves borrowing a large proportion of the money needed to purchase a company and paying it off through the income generated by the company's operations. The debt obligations are typically forced onto the company being acquired, meaning the private equity firm itself is not liable for any potential default and its credit worthiness is unaffected.

"Ethnic Chinese" persons refer to foreign nationals of ancestral Chinese descent, but whose political identification aligns to the country they are citizens of (e.g., ethnic Chinese groups who are citizens of Malaysia). 

China has sought to build connections with ethnic Chinese groups outside of China. Examples include inviting ethnic Chinese individuals to China's Two Sessions parliamentary meeting, including ethnic Chinese participants at Chinese business conventions, appealing to young ethnic Chinese inviduals to learn Mandarin, and framing the 2024 Chinese New Year Gala Performance as being for "all Chinese" globally.

The Vezo people are a semi-nomadic ethnic group living along the southwestern coast of Madagascar, known for their deep connection to the sea. Their collective identity is primarily shaped by their trades and livelihoods, such as being exceptional swimmers or skilled fishermen.

In contrast, in status quo, collective identity is often formed based on a mixture of inherent social traits such as race, gender, or nationality.

Matrilocal marriage refers to a societal system in which a married couple resides with the wife’s parents. Neolocal marriage is a type of post-marital residence in which a newly married couple resides separately from both the husband and the wife’s natal household.