When I was doing my first degree at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) in the late 70s, a Canadian chap there, John, told me the story below about him trying to pin down the relevant Chinese character for a particular sound.
In those days (the 70s), John couldn’t go to China (maybe because it was still the Cultural Revolution, or Canada didn’t have diplomatic relations with mainland China). John, therefore, went to Taiwan.
Here’s my summary of the situation there at the time, from my own experience of working there 1975–6 for Conoco Taiwan.
Taiwan was where Chiang Kai-shek had fled to when he lost to Mao Zedong, making it his base. He was, of course, determined to get the mainland back. Mao Zedong was never referred to by his name, only as 毛匪 / Máo fěi / Bandit Máo. Ditto all the others on the other side of the Taiwan Strait, so Zhou Enlai was called 周匪 Zhōu fěi / Bandit Zhou, etc. The oft-repeated slogans talked about “rescuing” their compatriots from the hands of the 共匪 gòng fěi / communist bandits.
It was in this kind of linguistic environment that John the Canadian learned his Chinese in Taiwan — in the classroom, and outside by (among other means) watching as many TV programmes as he could for total immersion.
John was later able to go to Beijing for further studies. He mixed with people of his own age (late teens or early 20s).
One day, as his Chinese friends were talking, John heard a sound he couldn’t quite peg to a character, so he tried to get clarification by asking, in Chinese, “你们刚才说的 fei 是不是共匪的匪? / Is the fei [sound] that you have just said the same fěi [bandit] as in gòng fěi [communist bandit]?”
The whole group went quiet and looked at him.
John suddenly realised where he was, “Sorry, sorry, wrong country, wrong country!”
They all burst into laughter, and said, “It’s all right. We know that’s what they call us over on the other side.”
(Taiwan / mainland China, 1970s)
