These are difficult questions to answer. "On the one hand, it is forbidden in Panama to classify on grounds of race in any survey, to avoid arming racists with some kind of pretext. On the other hand, as Lee concedes," after seven generations of assimilation, there are many of Chinese descent who are actually only one quarter, or one eighth Chinese.
這一方面是巴拿馬為了避免種族主義者的口實，各種普查制度都禁止用種族做基準；另一方面，「經過七代的融合，許多華裔只有四分之一、甚至八分之一的中國血統，除了還勉強保留一個中國姓氏外，從相貌到思想，都已經完全巴拿馬化了。