A survey of 1,040 Australian residents who identify themselves as of Chinese descent reveals significant differences between the Chinese community and other Australian communities in their attitudes towards the democratic system and the Chinese government. According to Australian Chinese author Qi Jiazhen, overseas Chinese need to distinguish between right and wrong, distance themselves from the Chinese Communist dictatorship that ignores human Life and bullies the weak, and refrain from being economic creatures that play both sides of the fence.
In a survey released on March 2 by the Lowy Institute, an independent Australian think tank, only 36 percent of people agreed that “democracy is preferable to any other form of government,” far lower than the 71 percent who agreed with this question in a poll of all ethnic Australians. This is far lower than the 71 percent who agreed with the question in a poll of all ethnic Australians.
In the Chinese survey, 41 percent of respondents said that a non-democratic government might be preferable in some circumstances. In terms of how the New Crown (Chinese Communist virus) Epidemic was handled, 43% of respondents believe that China’s system of governance is better.
Meanwhile, more than three-quarters of respondents believe Australia is a pleasant place to live; 60 percent believe their Chinese heritage is also accepted as part of Australian society.
Significantly, nearly half of the survey respondents arrived in Australia within ten years as permanent residents or visa holders, and were not Australian citizens.
Jennifer Hsu, one of the survey’s authors and a researcher in the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program at the Lowy Institute, told the station that there is no single cognitive picture of Australian-Chinese relations and the Chinese government among Chinese Australians.
“This is not contradictory, but illustrates the nature of the environment from which new immigrants come. They come from an authoritarian China and are also affected by the process of socialization (in Australia). Perspectives will continue to change as migrants adapt to their new society and this finding is not the end of the line.”
Twenty percent of Chinese Australians have been physically threatened
Nearly a third of Chinese Australians surveyed said they had been verbally offended in the past 12 months because of their ethnic background, and 18 percent of respondents said they had been physically assaulted or threatened, for reasons including the new crown epidemic and deteriorating Australia-China relations.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin called on Australia to strengthen national Education and address racism and discrimination, among other things.
In response, Qi Jiazhen, a Chinese-American Writer who has lived in Australia for thirty-three years, said there is no systematic racial discrimination in Australia, compared to the class struggle of the Chinese Communist Party, which uses state power to crush individuals at will.
“You do good things for yourself, they have eyes. It’s like my ‘Australian mom’ said, before God we are all his children, which represents the average Perception of ordinary Australians. It was mostly the Chinese who discriminated and bullied me.”
Convicted of “treason and defection” in 1963 for planning to study abroad, twenty-year-old Qi Jiazhen spent ten years in prison before coming to Australia in 1987, where she was reborn and redeemed from a slave to a citizen.
Her love for Australia became even stronger when she witnessed the Chinese Communist Party’s murderous activities: “Under the eagle’s claws, the nightingale cannot sing a beautiful song. The red sun of the Chinese Communist Party is going to bake us dry, roast us and roast us to death. How can I not love Australia? It is a society full of humanity, fraternity, freedom and democracy. Only here can I be like what Victor Hugo said, a bird perched on a fragile branch, bowing its back and still singing, because it knows it has a pair of wings.”
Qi Jiazhen believes that overseas Chinese cannot become unprincipled economic animals or two-faced chameleons, and cannot enjoy the free air of Australia while licking the ass of the Chinese Communist Party. Only by acting righteously, sitting properly and regaining integrity and conscience can the misunderstanding and antipathy of Western society be dispelled.
Multiculturalism, tolerance and openness, Chinese Australians have complicated attitudes towards China
On the policy towards China, the Chinese interviewees show a more diversified and complicated position. More than 70 percent of respondents said they had at least some confidence that China would “act responsibly in the world,” while less than a quarter of Australians had the same attitude.
Another 65 percent of respondents said Australia should allow Chinese companies to provide technology for critical infrastructure.
Meanwhile, 67 percent of respondents supported sanctioning Chinese officials involved in human rights abuses, and 65 percent supported Australia finding alternative markets and reducing its economic dependence on China.
Xu Yuanjing noted that the survey results show that Australia’s recent official tough moves against China may not resonate with individuals, while the multicultural environment in the West allows Chinese to retain their dual ties, “They have dual ties and a sense of belonging to both countries, and just want to get back to normal life quickly, rather than suffering more discrimination due to their Chinese heritage and being questioned whether they are loyal to Australia.”
In terms of sources of news and information, 84% of respondents use WeChat to read Chinese news and 74% browse Chinese media, including official media such as Xinhua News Agency.
Lu Xiongfei, a self-publisher who has lived in Australia for more than seven years, said to the station, “The WeChat ecosystem has led to an even greater silo effect, where no one is delivering different voices, or only extreme voices are left. I was very hopeful about Trump‘s action on WeChat. If the U.S. doesn’t do it, no other country can.”
Minister to Australia Sells Misery and Seeks Peace, He Jinli Reaffirms U.S.-Australia Alliance
Relations between the two sides have deteriorated sharply since Beijing hit back with restrictions on purchases of Australian goods after Australian Prime Minister Morrison called for a retrospective investigation into New Crown pneumonia last April. Chinese investment in Australia fell to $780 million in 2020, a 61 percent drop.
How has China ever been like-minded with Australia? Feng Chongyi, an associate professor at the University of Technology Sydney, told the station, “Since the two world wars, Australia and the United States have been a hardcore alliance, based on shared values and political systems. It is a delusion to use this way to make Australia turn against the United States and get on board the Chinese Communist Party’s ship of thieves.”
The Chinese Communist Party’s string of economic punishments as an example to others has already drawn appeasement and solidarity from the United States. U.S. Vice President He Jinli spoke with Morrison by phone on March 2, reaffirming the strength of the U.S.-Australia alliance.
“Australia will not give in, only the Chinese Communist bandits to close their hearts and be good, otherwise they can only slowly starve to death little by little. A part of the Chinese either take your old and little back to love your dear communist party, or you honestly be a good citizen in Australia. We still advocate to be patriotic and love Australia; to be loyal and faithful to Australia.” Qi believes that Morrison’s hardline policy against the Chinese Communist Party is deeply unpopular and that the Chinese community should also sort out their role in the turn of history.
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