The stabbing of a bishop of the Assyrian Church in Sydney’s western suburbs shocked Australian society. In the five and a half hours following the incident, over 700 local residents gathered outside the church, demanding the surrender of the perpetrator, and vandalizing police cars, resulting in multiple injuries to police officers. These hooligans were not Muslims. On the night of the incident, the Prime Minister held a video conference with Islamic leaders, who later called for calm, unity, and mutual respect, to maintain racial harmony in Australia.
Over the past thirty years, Australian society has absorbed many immigrants from different cultures, but prejudice against Muslims has been increasing. While it’s true that many terrorists are Muslims, the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful. However, the common perception that Muslims are synonymous with violence and unable to integrate into society is widespread. Similarly, the prejudice that Chinese people are either Communist Party members seeking to eradicate universal values or economic aggressors targeting Australia continues to grow.
We believe that multicultural immigrants have the absolute right to retain their way of life and values, and therefore cannot tolerate discrimination against any ethnic group. However, Chinese people should also consider whether they are loyal to this country and integrate into this society after becoming Australians.
I recently received a video on WeChat, showing a chamber of commerce of a Chinese city holding an ancestral worship event in Bendigo on Sunday. Among them, the newly appointed Consul General of Melbourne delivered a speech as the guest of honour. The Consul General emphasized that the consulate is the home of Chinese Australians, which is related to China’s policy of considering all Chinese nationals worldwide as having Chinese nationality. Recently, Australian-Chinese nationals Cheng Lei and Yang Heng Jun were detained as Chinese nationals, and the Australian consulate was unable to visit or support them, because of this policy.
The video used the song “My Chinese Heart” as background music, with the lyrics “Even if born in a foreign land, my Chinese heart cannot change.” Many Chinese people are familiar with this lyric, and I resonated with it when I was in Hong Kong. Hong Kong was ceded to the UK and became a colony, where Chinese people were second-class citizens until the 1970s. Therefore, many Hong Kong people at the time identified with China (whether it was the Republic of China or the People’s Republic of China) as their motherland, and this song was popular in Hong Kong, which is easy to understand. However, from the perspective of Australians today, this is a rejection of integration into Australian society.
In fact, Chinese immigrants to Australia today are willing to come here voluntarily. Whether this kind of thinking is still suitable deserves our consideration. However, if Chinese people continue to adhere to this kind of thinking, I believe it will be difficult for us to gain the trust of mainstream Australian society. If one day Australia conflicts with China, I believe this will also bring disaster to Chinese Australians living in Australia.