Chinese New Zealander

A Chinese New Zealander （Traditional Chinese: 華裔紐西蘭人 Simplified Chinese: 华裔新西兰人） is a New Zealander of Chinese heritage. They are part of the ethnic Chinese diaspora (or Overseas Chinese). Chinese New Zealanders are the fifth largest ethnic group in New Zealand.

History

Early Immigrants

The first Chinese migrations to New Zealand took place on the strength of two invitations from New Zealand's Otago goldmining region to potential goldminers of Guangdong province in 1865. These original goldmining communities suffered extreme discrimination due to racist ideology, the economic competition they represented to the Europeans, and because of the implied 'disloyalty' within their transient, sojourner outlook. In the 1880s, overtly racist political ideology resulted in the New Zealand head tax, also known as the 'Poll Tax', and the White New Zealand policy of immigration exclusion. The Chinese still managed to develop their communities in this period, and numbers were bolstered when some wives and children from Guangdong Province were allowed in as refugees just before World War II. Chain migration from Guangdong continued until the new Communist Chinese regime stopped emigration. This original group of Cantonese migrants and their descendants are referred to in New Zealand as 'Old Generation' Chinese, and are now a minority within the overall Chinese population.

After the Second World War

Ethnic Chinese communities from countries other than China began establishing themselves in New Zealand between the 1960s and 1980s. These included ethnic Chinese refugees from Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos following the conflicts and upheavals in those countries; Commonwealth (ie English educated) professional migrants from Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia; and Samoan Chinese as part of the substantial Pacific labour migrations of the 1970s.

Between 1987-96, a fundamental change in New Zealand’s immigration policy led to a substantial influx of ethnic Chinese business, investor, and professional migrants, particularly from Hong Kong and Taiwan. This period saw a spike in overall migration from the Asian region - including other Chinese people from East Asia and Southeast Asia. New Zealand's immigration system increasingly experienced the impact of global events. The post-Tiananmen crackdown in China saw a rise in Mainland Chinese asylum-seekers, and the fall of Suharto and the Jakarta riots nine years later had the same impact on Indonesian Chinese trying to gain New Zealand residency.

Recent issues

Although the origins and income of Chinese people in New Zealand began rapidly diversifying in this period, the conspicuous wealth and sudden visibility of the business and investor class of Hong Kong, Taiwanese and (to a lesser degree) Mainland Chinese migrants, led to an upsurge in racism against East-Asians in New Zealand. With the various Chinese groups now termed 'Asians' in popular argot, this wave of immigration (which did include non-Chinese East-Asians) was termed 'The Asian Invasion' in slang usage and occasionally in the media.

A phenomenon of this period was the 'satellite family' - where migrant parents were unable to establish their businesses successfully in New Zealand due to discrimination and a lack of connections, and returned to their home countries leaving their 1.5 generation children behind to complete their educations. Chinese New Zealanders brought by their parents to New Zealand while they were still of school-age are often referred to as '1.5 generation', as they are neither New Zealand born (2nd generation) nor did they choose willingly to migrate as first generation migrants. The 1.5 generation migrants who grew up as part of the 'Asian Invasion' of 1987-1996 tend to be viewed as a valuable cultural bridge between settled and new migrant communities.

The nationalist New Zealand First Party fought the 1996 general election on an anti-immigration and very thinly veiled 'anti-Asian' platform, winning the balance of power and altering immigration policy towards skills-based immigration.

From the late 1990s to the 2000s, skilled migrants from Mainland China became the new significant demographic group of Chinese newcomers. Although highly educated, they experienced serious ongoing job discrimination, underemployment, and sociopolitical marginalisation, generally due to perceptions about English-language ability and cultural differences. Although the first significant population of Chinese migrants from Mainland China to arrive in New Zealand since the Old Generation, this group represents a different era from the 'OGs' - the two Chinas they left behind are now worlds apart.

Mainland Chinese in New Zealand also include a substantial population of international students completing tertiary qualifications. Shunned by many of the above 'settled' Chinese population groups as transient and therefore not 'real' Chinese New Zealanders, they are often considered the Chinese group that is most socially isolated from mainstream New Zealand society, and currently experience the most discrimination, harrassment and criminal activity within their new societal structures.

Demographics

At the last NZ census in 2001, Chinese New Zealanders account for 2.8% of the total population, the largest Asian group in NZ. Chinese New Zealanders, like other overseas Chinese in many other Western nations, are noted for academic and professional achievement.

Prominent Chinese New Zealanders

Politicians

Pansy Wong, New Zealand's first ethnic Chinese MP and first Asian MP, 1970s Generation Hong Kong migrant New Zealander of Shanghai heritage
Peter Chin, Mayor of Dunedin, 'Old Generation' Cantonese New Zealander
Meng Foon, Mayor of Gisborne , 'Old Generation' Cantonese New Zealander

Entertainers and sportspeople

Bic Runga, singer/songwriter, of Māori (indigenous New Zealander) and Malaysian Chinese parentage.
Li Ming Hu, known for her role as Li Mei Chen in New Zealand's popular TV show, Shortland Street, second-generation New Zealander of Singaporean and Taiwanese parentage.
Raybon Kan, comedian, second-generation New Zealander of Mainland Chinese parentage.
Li Chunli, gold medal-winning table tennis champion, 1980s generation migrant New Zealander and Mainland Chinese.

Journalists, writers and advocates

Manying Ip, Associate-Professor of the Auckland University School of Asian Studies, 'Asian' community spokesperson during the 'Asian Invasion' 1990s, and author and editor of numerous seminal texts on Chinese people in New Zealand. 1970s Generation Hong Kong migrant New Zealander.
Steven Young, key figure and leader in the Old Generation Chinese community associations, specifically the Wellington Chinese Association. Known for bucking the 'model minority' impulses of the Old Generation community in the 1990s by speaking out against the New Zealand First Party, for which he was expelled from the Wellington Chinese Association, only to return as its President in later years. Web-archiver of numerous resources on the Old Generation communities.
Mai Chen, prominent constitutional lawyer, Chair of the short-lived Pan Asian Congress of 2002, 1970s generation and 1.5 generation Taiwanese migrant New Zealander
Gilbert Wong, New Zealand's most senior Chinese journalist, for many years New Zealand's only prominent Chinese journalist, Old Generation Cantonese.
Tze Ming Mok, cultural commentator, blogger & literary writer, second generation New Zealander of Singaporean and Malaysian Chinese parentage. Leader of a march against white supremacists in Wellington 2004.
Keith Ng, journalist, blogger & political commentator, 1.5 generation Hong Kong migrant New Zealander
Lincoln Tan, journalist & columnist, first generation migrant New Zealander and Peranakan Singaporean. Leader of a march against white supremacists in Christchurch 2004.

References

External links

New Zealand people by ethnic or national origin | Overseas Chinese groups | Ethnic groups in New Zealand | New Zealand society

华裔新西兰人

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