The Perception of China in 19th Century Australia

Introduction

The intricate and multifaceted nature of the relationship between Australia and China is characterized by historical interactions and contemporary dynamics. In the 19th century, Australia developed a strong fascination with China, viewing it primarily as a source of economic prosperity. The British colony welcomed Chinese immigrants for their valuable contributions and cheap labor, during the gold rush era. However, as economic conditions deteriorated, these newcomers were increasingly seen as convenient scapegoats for various societal issues, paving the way for an era marked by racism. This eventually led to Australia’s implementation of the White Australia Policy, officially known as the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 [1]. This article aims to illuminate the intricacies of this profound shift of perception between the two countries, serving as a valuable tool in understanding the current concerns and anxieties, including societal tensions and challenges related to cultural assimilation. The paper looks at sources such as the “The Chinese Question in Australia”, the newspaper’s articles “The Shadow of The Yellow Peril Over White Australia. Not a Bogey, but a Real Menace” and “The Chinese Question and the Australian Future”, respectively from “Il Giornale Italiano” [2] (Sydney, NSW) and “The Age” [3] (Melbourne, VCA).

The Chinese question in Australia

Meticulously authored by L. Kong Meng [7], Cheok Hong Cheong [8], and Louis Ah Muoy [9], and published in 1878-79, “The Chinese Question in Australia” delves into the anti-Chinese sentiment among the Australian population, the growing fear of the “Yellow Peril” which was perceived as a threat to the nation’s culture, economy, and employment opportunities. The authors try to argue that the agreements stipulated in the treaties of Tientsin (1858) [10] and Nanking(1842) [11] between the Chinese Emperor and the British Empire were being followed unilaterally by the Chinese counterpart, stressing about the fact that their presence on Australian soil was being obstructed and being posed under threat, as we can analyze in this passage: “An encampment of Chinese was formed on a newly-found goldfield in the Ovens district, known as the Buckland. They were laborious and inoffensive men, who wished to live at peace with their British neighbors, and to pursue their avocation as gold miners quietly and orderly, like good citizens and law-fearing colonists. But what followed? They were set upon by the other diggers, chased from their claims, cruelly beaten and maltreated, their tents plundered and then burnt down”. The sentiments of unfairness mentioned above are well described in the passage: “We felt sure that such enlightened people as the English, after having made war upon us for the purpose of opening China to Western enterprise, and of spreading European civilisation in Eastern Asia, would eagerly welcome the arrival of some thousands of frugal, laborious, patient, docile, and persevering immigrants from the oldest empire in the world”. It is clear how the initial euphoria and excitement had been substituted by disillusionment and an overall feeling of unfairness towards the racial attitudes of the Australian people; particularly important is how the authors reflect on a paradox: how is it that the West has insisted in opening China to Western enterprise, but is now reluctant in welcoming such a laborious population? “We only require […] to be “properly understood and discretely dealt with”, in order to become permanent settlers and valuable allies in the work of developing the resources of this vast territory”, is another fundamental passage that strengthens the valid reasoning behind the desire to be part of such a vast continent. Discrimination against Chinese Australians persisted in various forms, including restrictive immigration policies, segregated communities, limited job prospects, and social marginalization. Chinese people were often subject to racially motivated violence, such as the infamous Lambing Flat Riots in 1861 [12] and numerous anti-Chinese incidents throughout the country. The harshest of the mentioned policies legislated by Australia is without a doubt the White Australia Policy of 1901, which was abolished only in the 1970s; in it, it is issued as follows: “That end, put in plain and unequivocal terms … means the prohibition of all alien coloured immigration, and more, it means at the earliest time, by reasonable and just means, the deportation or reduction of the number of aliens now in our midst. The two things go hand in hand, and are the necessary complement of a single policy – the policy of securing a ‘white Australia’’. The consequences of this legislation are still felt nowadays as Chinese Australians continue to face the challenge of reconciling the legacies of discrimination with their evolving identities in modern-day Australia. In fact, In recent years, attitudes towards the Chinese Australians have evolved, and the Chinese Question has become more nuanced, with the country now being home to a large and diverse Chinese community, with immigrants contributing to the economy, culture, and society.

The Australian perspective on the Chinese question

An article from the Victorian newspaper “The Age”, published in 1855 and titled “The Chinese Question in Australia and The Australian Future”, gives us a particular insight on the early Australian point of view upon the previously discussed matter. With this important evidence, it is possible to make an interesting juxtaposition of the two parallel conceptions of one population onto the other. The Australian public opinion on the Chinese question is particularly complex and it can often result in contradictions, for this reason a passage from the cited article can be analyzed in order to understand the very foundation of this concept: “A very slight study of geography makes patent to our prophetic souls these suggestive facts:- that there is here an immense continent which is as yet a mere “desert idle”, though of considerable capabilities for the support of human life – and that, in proximity to it, on the other shore of a narrow sea there be some of the most densely peopled countries in the world […]. Between those overcrowded lands and this empty one there has hitherto been a mere barrier of circumstances […]. From these considerations I am led to draw (perhaps erroneously enough) my ideal picture of the Australian future thus: – a country in which there will be two distinct classes and races – in which the great bulk of the population will be Asiatic, or of Asiatic origin – in which the Europeans, or those of European extraction, will form a numerous wealthy, and powerful aristocracy, keeping (very properly) the franchise and all political power to themselves – a country in which, by means of abundant Asiatic labor, combined with European capital and skill, vast regions, which would be alike utterly unavailable to the unassisted European and to the uncapitalled Asiatic, will be made to teem with all the rich production of the tropics”. What this pivotal passage offers is a perception that Australia’s future prosperity lies in harnessing the resources and labor of Asia while maintaining political control in the hands of Europeans, as the use of abundant Asian labor, combined with European capital and skill is seen as a means to unlock the productivity and potential of vast regions in the continent that would be otherwise inaccessible to either European or Asian individuals alone. This article contributes to unveiling a fundamental aspect for this paper, which is the initial Australian euphoria that was felt in the 19th century, undoubtedly based on the interests in exploiting the Asiatic workforce while also maintaining a racial superiority. Additionally, by further examining the document, we can grasp the racist narrative which will be the protagonist of the next section of this research: “Looking still further ahead, we may picture to ourselves the time when the Asiatic colonists, phisically improved by transplantation, by the abundance of the necessaries of life, and a greater or less infusion of European blood, will be no longer the little abortive-looking specimens of humanity we now see them, and when, having become thoroughly Anglicised and imbued with British literature and tradition, they will have become worthy of, and will obtain (after, perhaps, some social struggle) admittance into the political system of the country in terms of equality. The amalgamation would soon become complete, a new, a numerous and powerful nation being thus formed, of a very mixed origin, but English in language, habits, and manners.” The narrative of racism and British superiority can be analyzed under different lights: the first, the most blatant, is the horrifying depiction of the Chinese man, seen as an inferior race whose condition would improve only through a process of “infusion of European blood” and cultural amalgamation, meanwhile the second is the fact that, in order to gain equal political status, non he immigrants had to be anglicized through an immersion of British literature and tradition.

The public opinion over the “Yellow Peril”

After having investigated the conceptions of the Chinese immigrants and the ones from the Australian population, the focus of the research will now shift towards a secondary, but important, view, which is the perception of the Italian settlers of Australia on what was considered the yellow peril. The article called “The Shadow of the Yellow Peril Over White Australia. Not a Bogey, but a Real Menace”, published on the ethnic newspaper “Il Giornale Italiano” of Sydney in 1933 (authored by the newspaper’s editor, journalist Franco Battistessa) highlights the concern and fear among Italian settlers in Queensland regarding the possibility of Northern Australia, “That huge unpopulated expanse of space and waste, with 327,000 square miles and carrying only one white person to every 36 square miles”, becoming of “Asiatic domain”. The possibility of such a scenario obviously provoked a feeling of threat in the Italian-Australian community, who feared for their adopted country’s cultural (and most importantly white) identity: “Underlying all this is a deep-rooted, growing and salutary concern for the safety of the country menaced by the yellow peril. Whether this is a mere bogey invented by the scaremongers, or a real menace (as we firmly believe), it is the subject of our review of facts and events which we propose to deal with in a series of articles, of which this is the first.” This article clearly represents the feeling of impending doom for the country, which is later strengthened in the passage: “[…] we sincerely and firmly believe that this menace to White Australia is real and near: a fatal and dreadful reality which must be faced and tackled with grim determination and sane wisdom before it is too late. For us the yellow peril is no mere scarecrow for political or militaristic propaganda, but a real, appalling menace which threatens this fair land with impending doom, unless we take drastic steps and arm ourselves spiritually and materially to resist it tooth and nail.” The decision to include this article in the paper is based on the fact that, in order to better understand Australia’s racist dynamics of the past and their consequences in the present, we must also take into account the perceptions of other immigrant communities.

Conclusion: the aftermath of a troubled History

Overall, this research highlights the historical complexity and shift in perception of Australia towards China in the 19th century, navigating through the first feelings of euphoria and interest in the development of economic prosperity, to the concerns and national alert for what would have been the consequence of the “Yellow Peril” ‘ s presence in the continent. The aim of the research was analyzing which could be the reasons and key factors behind nowadays problematic tensions between the two countries, focusing on the weight of past Asiatic demonization in today’s struggle for the immigrants cultural identity [13]. The study provided three point of views, respectively Australia’s public opinion on the Chinese Question, the Asiatic immigrants response towards it, and finally another immigrant community’s view of the issue. Furthermore, the interview with Professor Masini, analyzed in the introduction, emphasizes the importance of acknowledging and addressing national scars and avoiding the repetition of past patterns of Western control and domination. In conclusion, looking up this research could be a tool for future scholars to comprehend the changes of perceptions of Australia towards China, a way to analyze the bigger picture by starting from the historical whys and hows of this troubled connection.

Bibliography

• Kong Meng, L., Cheong, C. H., & Ah Muoy, L. (1878-79). “The Chinese Question in Australia”. Url: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-52783005/view?partId=nla.obj- 91409319#page/n0/mode/1up
• “The Chinese Question in Australia and the Australian Future.” (1855). The Age.Url:https://news.google.com/newspapers? nid=1300&dat=18550806&id=oNJhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7JADAA AAIBAJ&pg=6497,4376336&hl=en
• “The Shadow of the Yellow Peril Over White Australia. Not a Bogey, but a Real Menace.” (1933). Il Giornale Italiano, Sydney. Url: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/83032110
• “Interview with Professor Federico Masini on the 16th of May 2023”, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy.