Adrienne Clarkson was born in Hong Kong but arrived in Canada at the age of 2, a refugee escaping the horrors of the Second World War. In an interview, Clarkson remembers finding a city “full of white people, white bread and white snow” and her journey in broadcasting, journalism, and public service was not an easy one. Clarkson describes her experience by saying that she “was, and am, a child of diaspora” and “someone who, for a while, did not belong anywhere.” But 58 years after her arrival on Canadian shores, Clarkson was appointed the 26th Governor General of Canada, serving as Queen Elizabeth II’s representative in Canada from 1999 to 2005 and becoming a symbol of the Canadian people. Canadians know Clarkson also as the first person of Asian heritage and the first woman of colour to have attained such a high position in the Canadian government. Clarkson is undoubtedly Chinese, but she is also undoubtedly Canadian and, when asked about Canadian citizenship, she emphasizes that blood and belonging are not paradoxical. Instead, she insists that “the benevolent neglect of Canadians is the most wonderful thing: once you’re here, paying your taxes, driving your car, living your life, people do leave you alone.”
Unfortunately, during this pandemic, the “benevolent neglect” of Canadians is wearing increasingly thin. On April 30th, Global News released an article about how Beijing used its influence to covertly seize the world’s supply of personal protective equipment and how, unfortunately, Canadian leaders did not act. The article included a video of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mostly speaking about Canadian successes in obtaining personal protective equipment for medical personnel, but it included a small reference to the increasingly competitive world market. Difficulties in obtaining personal protective equipment, it turns out, grew to be the main focus of this Global News article, which identifies China as the culprit for the market disaster. These claims were, for the most part, quite standard for the media. But what the article goes on to proclaim is that the United Front, a Communist Party organ, “urged millions of ‘overseas Chinese’ to bulk-buy N95 masks in order to ship back batches of scarce supplies for the motherland.” The article cites a publication by Xinhua News which advocates that “every overseas Chinese is a warrior,” and points to Chinese nationalism as a cause of distress to Canada during this global health crisis.
The racism present in this Global News article is quite subtle. The article doesn’t explicitly call out the “overseas Chinese” as disloyal, for instance. However, not once will you see the word “Chinese Canadian” in this piece, and instead, the article reiterates the term “overseas Chinese” 15 times — 15 affirmations that the Chinese and Canadian identities are mutually exclusive and that Chinese Canadians are tempted to rob Canadian medical professionals of personal protective equipment on China’s behalf. In fact, the article even dedicates a separate section to the threat of the “overseas Chinese,” showing a picture of what seems to be a stream of East Asian faces, replete with face masks, under a hand holding a marionette control bar, implying some insidious influence. This image bears an uncanny resemblance to one of Dr. Seuss’s anti-Japanese cartoon which depicts a stream of Japanese picking up TNT as they await “the Signal From Home.” The Global News article also notes that “Through businesses and ‘overseas Chinese and student groups,’ the [Chinese] consulate in Montreal assisted dozens of groups to fly more than 30 tonnes of masks and protective clothing to various cities in China” and even sneaks in a reference to one such “overseas Chinese” group in Toronto participating in a counterprotest against democracy in Hong Kong, further demonizing them as un-Canadian.
The article neglects to mention that the “overseas Chinese” population also consists of individuals like Adrienne Clarkson, who deeply love their country of adoption and who believe in service to Canada. The article forgets about the multitude of “overseas Chinese” who are generations removed from their Chinese homeland, and about the individuals who donated to China simply out of a wish to alleviate the sufferings of individuals, understanding the truth that a death in China is just as tragic as a death in Canada. The article may seek to suggest some division between disloyal “overseas Chinese” and loyal “Chinese Canadians,” potentially backing its claims by suggesting differences in national loyalty, but we know too well that xenophobia and hate fall on the head of “overseas Chinese” and Chinese Canadians equally. We have heard stories in which half-Chinese children are cornered by children who wish to “test” him for coronavirus and where a white woman asked two East Asian men wearing protective masks, “Do you have the Chinese disease?” The city of Vancouver has reported at least nine anti-Asian hate crimes in the first four months of 2020 alone and Chinese Canadian businesses were among the first to take a hit upon the beginning of coronavirus reporting. Among xenophobes, there is no difference between “overseas Chinese” and Chinese Canadians, and proclamations of loyalty to Canada make no difference to the ears of the hateful.
In all fairness, Global News, a mainstream, centre-left news source noted to be quite factual, has published pieces exhibiting concerns about the plight of ethnic Chinese in Canada. In the wake of ethnic Chinese businesses in Toronto experiencing a decline in business, it reported on “Chinese Canadian” groups asking to stop the spread of hatred and it also affirms the support the Toronto population has for the Chinese community. It has published a piece on Toronto’s Chinese community warning against the stigmatization of the East Asian community, featuring Toronto’s mayor, John Tory, who urges people not to let “fake news triumph over the facts.” It has reported on the devastating economic impact on ethnic Chinese in Canada, speaking about the Canadian government’s efforts to address these issues. In all these articles, Global News has referred to ethnic Chinese in Canada as “Chinese Canadians,” acknowledging their status as Canadian citizens, alongside the issues they face. This paints the article’s treatment of “overseas Chinese” in a much starker light: while the publication may distinguish between “overseas Chinese” and “Chinese Canadians,” publishing articles on both groups, hate crimes evidence that there are those who paint all those of Chinese ethnicity as disloyal, justifying their actions with the fear of potentially trusting the wrong person. In this article, Global News helps propagate the baseless fear of the Yellow Peril once again rearing its ugly head, thanks to its discriminatory tone against all “overseas Chinese,” and we are all to suffer because of it. The suggestion that all “overseas Chinese” are disloyal fuels xenophobic beliefs that all those of Chinese descent living in Canda — irrespective of their nationality — are disloyal, which creates a dangerous climate for “overseas Chinese” and Chinese Canadians alike.
As a child, I was raised with the idea that Canada is a “mosaic”: we all come from different backgrounds, and we each have something valuable to offer our country. Canada is a place where one in five of us were born in another country, where immigrant and First Nations’ issues are routinely brought up in classrooms nationwide, and where all can celebrate their roots, knowing that diversity makes Canada much richer. I know that my Canadian and Chinese identities are complementary. And I hope that Global News and other media outlets will come to understand that “overseas Chinese” doesn’t mean “bad Canadian,” but rather, “new immigrants,” “first-generation Canadians,” “future Adrienne Clarksons,” and fellow human beings who stand in solidarity with the world in times of crisis.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons // GoToVan