Chinese Australians discriminated against as Canberra-Beijing tensions boil over: Lowy report - ABC News

Almost one in five Chinese Australians say they have been physically threatened or attacked in the past year, with most blaming tensions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic or hostility between Canberra and Beijing.

Key points:

• Many Chinese Australians told Lowy that prior to 2020 they felt Australian society becoming more welcoming
• Chinese Australians are more trusting positive towards the Chinese government than other Australians
• Almost half of those polled said they were concerned about the Chinese government's influence on Australian politics

Around one in three community members also say they have faced verbal abuse or discriminatory treatment.

But almost 70 per cent of Chinese Australians still say they feel accepted by Australian society, with almost eight in 10 saying Australia is a good place to live.

The findings are part of a wide-ranging new survey of the Australian Chinese community conducted by the foreign affairs think tank the Lowy Institute.

One of the authors of the survey, Natasha Kassam, said the survey showed how ordinary Chinese Australians had been hit by mounting political tensions and resentments.

"As that broader Australian debate around China has shifted over the past year, particularly in relation to foreign interference and economic coercion, it does seem Chinese Australians have borne the brunt," she said.

Nearly half of respondents said someone has expressed support for them dur to their Chinese heritage in the past year.(

ABC News: Jarrod Fankhauser

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The results are particularly stark because many Chinese Australians told Lowy that before 2020, they felt Australian society was gradually become more welcoming to them.

"They really do attribute this shift over the past year to the bilateral relationship and to the COVID-19 pandemic," Ms Kassam said.

"Before that the trajectory they report is a positive one."

Sydney mother Ping Hua, who's lived in Australia for five-and-a-half years, tells a similar story.

Ms Hua said she feels "lucky" to be in Australia.

When she had a serious car accident while living in Canberra she was impressed by the care she received in hospital, and from health workers sent to her home.

She was also delighted by the way her neighbours and other members of her local community rallied to support her while she slowly recovered.

Ms Hua said mounting bilateral hostilities between Australia and China had created tensions within the Chinese diaspora.(

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"They showed me support, they helped me to get involved in local community hobby groups … they understood I must have been bored, staying [at home] alone with crutches and a wheelchair," she said.

"I realised that if this happened back in China in my hometown, I would probably need to hire more people for extra help, or need extra help from other family members."

But Ms Hua said mounting bilateral hostilities between Australia and China had created tensions within the Chinese diaspora, as well as between Chinese Australians and the broader community.

"I cannot avoid it anymore. Politics became my daily life. It's like, which side are you on? The Australian government side? The Chinese government side?" she said.

"I feel … even as a stay home at home mom, I have to be careful.

"And I have no side! Oh my gosh, why do I have to take any side?"

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Australian media reporting on China 'too negative': survey

The poll of more than 1,000 community members paints a complex picture of the experiences of Chinese Australians and their views towards Australia, China, democracy and contemporary geopolitics.

In general, Chinese Australians are markedly more trusting positive towards China and the Chinese Government than other Australians.

But Ms Kassam said there were still a wide range of views — and stark disagreements — within the community.

For example, the Chinese Australian community is evenly split on the fraught question of foreign interference.

Forty-six per cent of Chinese Australians were concerned about Beijing's influence, compared to 82 per cent of the Australian population.(

ABC News: Jarrod Fankhauser

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Almost half (46 per cent) of those polled said they were concerned about the Chinese government's influence on Australian politics.

But an almost identical number of people said Australian media outlets and politicians paid too much attention to foreign interference.

Half of those surveyed also said that Australian media reporting on China was "too negative."

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Ms Hua said she used to resent media reports criticising China before slowly realising that Australian outlets were also deeply critical of their own government's failings.

But she still feels like Australian politicians and media organisations have focussed too heavily on aggressive statements from the Chinse government.

"I do think it is too much recently. I feel like they use it as a weapon too much," she said.

A complex mix of views towards policy

The Lowy poll also revealed Chinese Australians have greater trust in China's government than most Australians.

More than 70 per vent of those surveyed said they had at least some trust that China would "act responsibly in the world".

In contrast, less than one in four people in the broader Australian community shared that trust.

The Chinese-Australians polled were also much more open to Australian cooperation with China.

Half of Chinese Australians polled said they "somewhat" trust China to act responsibly in the world.(

ABC News: Jarrod Fankhauser

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Sixty-five per cent of those surveyed indicated they disagreed with the Federal Government's decision to ban Chinese telco Huawei from the national broadband network, saying Australia should allow Chinese firms to provide technology for critical infrastructure.

Seventy per cent said Australia should co-operate with China to roll out aid projects in the Asia-Pacific.

But Ms Kassam said many Chinese Australians also said the federal government should hedge and put some limits on cooperation with Beijing.

For example, 49 per cent of those polled said the Australian Government should restrict scientific research with China in defence and security fields.

Sixty-five per cent said Australia should look for other markets to reduce its economic dependence on China, while 67 per cent said the government should sanction Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses.

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"There is a real complexity of views there. There's more positivity to China on the one hand, but a high level of concern about human rights and economic dependence and coercion on the other," Ms Kassam said.

Chinese Australians also have far more mixed views on democracy than most other Australians.

Just over one third of those surveyed said democracy was preferable to any other system of government, compared to around 70 per cent of the broader Australian population.

Forty-one per cent said that a non-democratic government can be preferable in some circumstances.

Just over one third of Chinese Australians surveyed said democracy was preferable to any other system of government.(

ABC News: Jarrod Fankhauser

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Ms Kassam said Beijing's track record dealing effectively with the COVID-19 might have cemented that view in parts of the Chinese Australian community.

Forty-three per cent of those surveyed view China's system of governance more favourably in the wake of the pandemic.

"The past year has seen a really interesting debate emerge over whether authoritarian or democratic systems are better equipped to handle the pandemic," she said.

"I think the failures of the United States and democratic backsliding around the world have not helped Australia's cause."

The survey also confirms that Chinese-Australians remain heavily dependent on WeChat and Chinese media outlets for news.

Eighty-four per cent of the people surveyed used WeChat for Chinese-language news, while 74 per cent read mainland news outlets, including state media sources like Xinhua.

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2021-03-02 13:00:58Z
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