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SBS Australia
3 days ago
- General
- SBS Australia
Rare books exhibition sheds light on long history of Chinese migrants in Australia
Rare books exhibition sheds light on long history of Chinese migrants in Australia Published 2 June 2025, 6:54 am A set of rare Chinese to English phrasebooks have been put on display at Victoria's State Library. The books were produced in 1862 during the state's gold rush; a time of massive Chinese migration to Australia and particularly Victoria.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Alleged attack on Chinese couple leads 30,000 people to sign petition to toughen Australian youth crime laws
A violent attack on a couple in Sydney has sparked outrage in the Chinese community with almost 30,000 people signing a petition urging the New South Wales government to 'urgently reform youth criminal justice'. The man, 42, and woman, 40, both from China, were allegedly assaulted in Eastgardens in Sydney on 22 May by seven children. The woman was left with extensive bruising across her body, fractured fingers and impaired vision. The group – aged between 12 and 16 – were arrested in the days after the alleged attack and police have charged six with assault. On Friday morning, just over 29,000 people had signed a petition calling for a lowering of the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 10 for 'serious violent crimes' and to 'deny bail to repeat violent youth offenders'. Ami, who asked for her name to be changed, has signed the petition. She told Guardian Australia she was attacked in May while cycling through Redfern but says she does not 'believe sending kids to adult jail is the right solution'. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Erin Chew, co-founder of the Asian Australian Alliance, which monitors anti-Chinese incidents, said personal safety is important to the community and it was affecting its response to this crime. 'I think, as Asians, we are taught as young kids to have more hypervigilance,' Chew said. 'When we go to countries like Australia, US or Canada … we are a visible minority. So we are actually a lot … more targets of opportunity in that sense.' Chew said the alleged Eastgardens attack 'may not necessarily be direct racism'. 'A lot of us who are Chinese or Asians know that because of racial stereotypes … you are perceived as being weak, meek and … somebody that doesn't fight back.' Speaking in NSW parliament on Wednesday in response to the recent attacks, Chinese Australian MP Jason Yat-Sen Li said 'racism doesn't need to be proven in court to be real in people's lives' and argued for tackling the root causes of youth crime: 'poverty, disengagement and trauma to young people and their families'. The Chinese-speaking community in Australia has taken to social media to post about their experiences and offer advice on how to fight back. Some have posted images of batons, rolling pins and even electric hair clippers as weapons to use in self-defence. NSW police has warned people not take the law into their own hands. In a statement, police said they 'do not support vigilante behaviour as it is a risk to all involved and often leads to unintended consequences'. Others are taking a different approach, such as Keira Yin, 32, who set up a mutual defence group chat for Chatswood residents, in the north of Sydney, to 'stand up together' and to 'avoid sleazy men'. 'The idea is that if something happens, people nearby can respond quickly and help each other.' Meanwhile, Neo Xia, 25, was allegedly attacked in Box Hill in Melbourne's east April. He said a teenager holding a machete allegedly attacked him, causing injuries to his hands and arm. Police confirmed a 14-year-old boy was arrested and charged over this incident for recklessly causing injury and unlawful assault, and bailed to appear in court at a later date. 'I don't really feel scared when it happened, more like angry,' Xia said. 'I still feel a bit unsafe when I walk to the station … also, I feel particularly nervous when Australian teenagers approach me.' Community advocacy groups say racism is rising after a downturn after the heights of the pandemic. The Asian Australian Alliance says Covid-based abuse has morphed into being 'more about people being told go back to China, or people being accused of being spies'. In a statement responding to the Eastgardens attack, Simon Chan, the Chinese Australian Forum president and a member of the Australian Multicultural Council, said rhetoric around Chinese spies by politicians degraded social cohesion. 'Our political leaders should lead by example in maintaining … Australia as the best multicultural country in the world.' The six children charged in the alleged Eastgardens attack have been released on conditional bail and are scheduled to appear in children's court in June.
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Aussie says what everyone is thinking after spate of disgusting racist attacks
An Aussie bloke has condemned the horrifying attack on a Chinese couple after CCTV showed the pair being viciously attacked by a group of teenagers. The pair were confronted and later encircled in the courtyard of a unit complex on Oscar Place in Eastgardens, in Sydney 's east, on Wednesday. Five youths, some as young as 12, were arrested following the unprovoked attack, which saw a 42-year-old woman hospitalised for facial injuries. In distressing CCTV of the attack, she is seen being dragged to the ground and repeatedly beaten as a 40-year-old man desperately calls for help. David Galusi, an internet personality who grew a large Chinese social media following while he lived in the country, condemned the attack in a recent TikTok. 'They were just sitting down, speaking in Mandarin, and a bunch, I mean four to six teenagers, went out and blatantly attacked them for no reason whatsoever,' he said. 'It is absolutely not on, it is totally disgusting. 'Racism is not welcome in Australian society, and we are a society of multiculturalism. We accept all cultures in this country.' Galusi said those involved do not reflect the broader community after the video went viral on Chinese social media and sparked major backlash. 'Please do not judge our country based on these idiots, because their parents couldn't educate them well enough,' he said. The social media star also called for tougher measures for violent youth offenders. Pointing to Queensland's 'Adult Time, Adult Crime' laws, he urged NSW to follow suit. Under Queensland's expanded legislation, 33 additional serious offences, such as attempted murder, rape, and robbery, can now see young offenders tried as adults. NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia that, despite widespread speculation, there was no evidence to suggest the couple were targeted due to their race. The attack gained significant attention after it was shared to TikTok with the caption: 'In Australia, a Chinese couple was surrounded and brutally attacked by over 20 teenagers in the street, just because they spoke Chinese. 'The police don't care. The media ignores it. If we don't speak up, who will?' The video sparked outrage, with the poster adding, 'This isn't an isolated case, there have been similar attacks in Redfern and Waterloo'. The man and woman in the Eastgardens incident were treated by paramedics for facial injuries before they were taken to the Prince of Wales Hospital. Both have since been discharged. Two 12-year-old girls were charged on Thursday and remain before the courts. Following further investigations, another five youths were arrested. A 14-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl were arrested on Friday after presenting to Maroubra Police Station. The boy has since been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company and affray. He was granted bail and will attend court on June 16. It's expected the 16-year-old girl teenage girl will be dealt with under the Younger Offenders Act at a later stage. Two teenage girls - both 14 - and a 13-year-old boy attended Maroubra Police Station at different times on Friday and were each arrested and charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company of other(s) and affray. All three were granted conditional bail to appear at a children's court at a later date. NSW Police said it was not looking for any other persons in relation to the assault.
Free Malaysia Today
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
‘Harvard refugee': Chinese students hunker down as US blocks foreign enrolment
Chinese nationals form the largest group of foreign students at Harvard. (EPA Images pic) BEIJING : Chinese students at Harvard were cancelling flights home yesterday and seeking legal advice on staying in the US after President Donald Trump's administration blocked the famed university from enrolling foreign students. The order, which said the university coordinated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), among other accusations, will force current foreign students to transfer to other schools or lose their legal status and could be widened to other colleges. Harvard called the government's action 'unlawful' and said it was 'fully committed' to educating foreign students, of which Chinese nationals form the largest group at the elite Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Yesterday, a US district judge issued a temporary restraining order freezing the Trump administration's policy for two weeks. 'I think the Chinese community definitely feels like a more targeted entity compared to other groups,' said Zhang, a 24-year-old studying for the PhD in physics. 'Some friends gave me advice that I should try not to stay in my current accommodation if things escalate, because they think it's possible that an immigration and customs enforcement agent can take you from your apartment,' said Zhang, who did not give his first name for security reasons. Zhang says many among Harvard's Chinese students are worried about their visa status and internship prospects though others believe the school is likely to win any legal battles. The number of Chinese international students in the US has dropped to about 277,000 in 2024 from a high of around 370,000 in 2019, driven partly by growing tension between the world's two biggest economies and heightened US government scrutiny of some Chinese students. Chinese nationals made up a fifth of Harvard's foreign student intake in 2024, the university says. In post yesterday on the Chinese social media platform Red Note, or Xiaohongshu, a woman who identified herself as a Chinese student at the Harvard Kennedy School said her teachers had sent Chinese students an email saying the school was actively working to draft a response within the next 72 hours and aimed to negotiate with the US government. In the post titled 'Harvard refugee' the woman had identified herself by first name. The post was later deleted. The US action 'will only damage the image and international credibility of the US', China's foreign ministry said, while vowing to 'firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests' of its students overseas. Several Chinese 'princelings', as the children of the elite in the ruling Communist Party are known, have attended Harvard over the past two decades, including President Xi Jinping's daughter, Xi Mingze. In recent years, however, Xi's anti-corruption campaign has stepped up scrutiny of Communist Party officials and their families' ties to western countries, including assets stashed overseas and children attending prestigious US universities. Cancelled flights Harvard slammed the US government's action and said it is 'fully committed' to educating foreign students. (AP pic) Zhang Kaiqi, a master's student in public health, had packed his luggage and souvenirs ready for flight back to China yesterday. But upon hearing the news, he urgently cancelled the expensive flight, losing his internship at a US NGO in China. 'I was sad and irritated. For a moment I thought it was fake news,' the 21-year-old said. The most anxious among the Chinese students at Harvard are those with summer jobs as research assistants tied to their visa status, crucial for future PhD applications, he said. As others digested Thursday's order, two Chinese students said they were added to WhatsApp groups in which panicked foreign students were frantically sharing legal advice on their immigration status. One provided a transcript from such a chat group that showed a lawyer advising students not to leave the country or use domestic air travel, and wait for official announcements from the school. Thursday's move was a response to Harvard's refusal to provide information it sought about foreign student visa holders and could be reversed if the university relents, the Trump administration has said. Life plans As tension has ramped up in recent years between China and the US, Chinese families have increasingly sent their children to study at universities in other English-speaking countries, such as Australia and Singapore. Yesterday, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology said it would provide 'unconditional offers, streamlined admission procedures, and academic support to facilitate a seamless transition' for affected students. Pippa Ebel, an independent education consultant in the southern city of Guangzhou, said while the order did not entirely shut the door to US higher education, it was 'likely to be a final nudge towards other destinations'. 'It's not going to be a complete turnaround, but a hardening of Chinese parents' existing concerns,' said Ebel, who authored a report on Chinese students for British education think tank HEPI. Incoming Harvard master's student Zhao, 23, is determined to continue her studies in the US, but is considering deferring her enrolment by a year or transferring elsewhere if the ban continues. 'It's really disturbed my life plans… I had originally planned to apply for my US visa in early June, and now I'm not sure what to do,' she said, withholding her first name for privacy reasons.
CNA
23-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
Chee Hong Tat to lead Chinese Community Liaison Group, succeeding Edwin Tong
SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has appointed National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat as chairman of the Chinese Community Liaison Group (CCLG) with effect from Friday (May 23). He succeeds Law Minister Edwin Tong, who will continue to serve as the group's adviser. In a statement from the Prime Minister's Office on Friday, Mr Wong noted that Mr Chee has been a member of CCLG since 2015 and that he has been "actively involved with the Chinese community and regularly engages various segments, in particular the clans and business associations". "I look forward to Hong Tat working closely with key Chinese community organisations to strengthen leadership renewal so that they can remain relevant and dynamic. I am confident that Hong Tat will continue the good work of CCLG and further deepen ties between the government and the Chinese community," he said. Mr Wong also thanked Mr Tong for his contributions to CCLG since he assumed its chairmanship in November 2020, saying that he has done much to engage the Chinese community. "During the COVID-19 pandemic, Edwin and CCLG members worked with key Chinese community organisations to identify innovative ways to maintain contact with the members of the Chinese community and provide support to vulnerable segments," said Mr Wong. "Notably, Edwin also played a key role in successfully mediating the settlement between the Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan and Ngee Ann Kongsi over redevelopment plans for the historic Teochew Building." Established in 2000, the CCLG aims to improve the government's relationship with Chinese community organisations and enhance cooperation among various Chinese community groups. It comprises office holders and members of parliament who work to regularly engage the Chinese community.
