How big is the Chinese diaspora in Australia?
Chinese Australians
As a whole, Australian residents identifying themselves as having Chinese ancestry made up 5.6% of those nominating their ancestry at the 2016 census and numbered 1,213,903. At the 2016 census, 509,555 people declared that they were born in Mainland China, 86,886 declared that they were born in Hong Kong, while 46,882 declared that they were born in Taiwan. There are also a large number of persons of Chinese ancestry among those born in Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Zimbabwean diaspora
Zimbabweans form a significant community in Australia with their numbers having grown to over 30,000 as of 2011. The community is now well established, with some of the highest incomes in the country, as well as with community institutions such as Zimbabwean language schools. One in three of Australia's Shona and Ndebele-speakers live in Sydney.
Hungarian Australians
Hungarian Australians () are Australian citizens of Hungarian descent. The constant influx of Hungarian immigrants was marked by several waves. Most of the Hungarian immigrants to Australia came after World War II and after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Hungarian Australians mostly live in state capital cities. Responses to the 2006 ABS-conducted national census questionnaires could reflect the true numbers of Hungarian Australians only if one takes into account not only those born in Hungary. In addition to that, those of ethnic Hungarian origin born outside Hungary who officially and specifically identified themselves of Hungarian ancestry would total 67,616 Hungarian Australian persons, residents of Australia as per ABS tabulation under "Hungarian Ancestry" (Refer to Hungarian history as guide for clarification).
The breakdown according to State and Territory was: NSW 23,577; VIC 21,727; QLD 9795; SA 5,427; WA 4,230; TAS 877; ACT 1,652; NT 331. Of the 67,616 total 20,166 or 29.82% were born in Hungary, 31,103 or 46% were aged 65 and over, 40,570 or 60% had tertiary or trade qualifications. In the same 2006 Census, among Hungarian-born persons, the religious affiliation was as follows: 72.9% declared Christianity, 11.8% declared no religion or atheism, 7.4% declared Judaism, 0.6% declared other religions and 6.6% did not answer the question.
Chinese people in Papua New Guinea
Chinese people in Papua New Guinea form a very diverse community. , only about 1,000 of the "old Chinese"—locally born descendants of late 19th- and early 20th-century immigrants—remain in the country; most have moved to Australia. However, their numbers have been bolstered significantly by new arrivals from overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia and later from mainland China. There are also a few migrants from the Republic of China on Taiwan.
History of Chinese Australians
It is important to note that very, very few Chinese women came to Australia in this period. In 1861 Australia had at least 38,000 Chinese in the country with the vast majority of those being men, estimations of Australia's population of that time mean that one out of every nine men were Chinese. On the goldfields in Bendigo in 1861 there were 5367 Chinese men and only one woman.
History of Chinese Australians
The Royal Commission after the Eureka stockade also looked into the Chinese situation as another one of the miner's grievances. In 1855 the Victorian parliament passed the Immigration Restriction Act in an effort to restrict Chinese immigration. This forced Chinese arrivals in Victorian ports to pay a £10 head tax. It also mandated that there could only be a certain number of Chinese travellers per tonnage of shipping. This put a dent in the ship masters coffers. Cost of passage was already high. This Act did appear to limit the numbers of Chinese arriving in Victorian ports. Official Victorian records show over 10,000 Chinese arriving in Victoria between 1853 and 1855 but only a few hundred in the next two years. However, numbers of Chinese on the Victorian goldfields continued to swell through overland routes. To avoid this Act, many ships travelled to South Australia. Between 1855 and 1857 thousands of Chinese landed in the Port of Adelaide and the port town of Robe, South Australia. In fact thanks to these migrants the town of Robe's population doubled overnight and it developed into the main port of call for Chinese arriving in Australia. It was then a long overland route to the Victorian goldfields.
Coptic Australians
Coptic Australians are Australians of Coptic descent or persons of Coptic descent residing in Australia. According to the 2011 census, there were 24,693 Copts in Australia, mostly members of the Coptic Orthodox Church. The ethnic Coptic population within Australia is estimated to be between 70,000 and 100,000 people.
Chinese Australians
Many Chinese Australians work in white collar middle class jobs. But Chinese Australians are under-represented in occupations such
as journalism, law and other professions that require language skills and face to face contact. First-generation Chinese Australians
also experience problems in getting white collar jobs commensurate with their qualifications and work experience instead they go
into business and operate convenience stores, car dealerships, grocery stores, coffee shops, news agencies and restaurants while
sacrificing to pay for their children education as perceiving education as the only available channel of social mobility, substantial
investment in their children's education at a disproportionate sacrifice to family finance and social well-being is an indication of
parental concerns and expectations.
Racism in Australia
On 30 May 2009, Indian students protested against what they claimed were racist attacks, blocking streets in central Melbourne. Thousands of students gathered outside the Royal Melbourne Hospital where one of the victims was admitted. The protest, however, was called off early on the next day morning after the protesters accused police of "ramrodding" them to break up their sit-in. On 4 June 2009, China expressed concern over the matter – Chinese are the largest foreign student population in Australia with approximately 130,000 students. In light of this event, the Australian Government started a Helpline for Indian students to report such incidents. Australian High Commissioner to India John McCarthy said that there may have been an element of racism involved in some of the assaults reported upon Indians, but that they were mainly criminal in nature. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, termed these attacks "disturbing" and called for Australia to investigate the matters further. In the aftermath of these attacks, other investigations alleged racist elements in the Victorian police force.
Federation for a Democratic China
In 2005 Chen Yonglin, then Chinese consulate-general working in Sydney, defected to the Australian government by a formal claim for political asylum. Chen claimed that a network of 1,000 Chinese government spies were operating in Australia, leading the chairman of the Australian branch of the FDC to comment that such claims could "lead to [an] atmosphere of distrust and even antagonism towards the Chinese community."
Overseas Chinese
There are over 50 million overseas Chinese. Most of them are living in Southeast Asia where they make up a majority of the population of Singapore (75%) and significant minority populations in Thailand (14%), Malaysia (23%), Indonesia, Brunei (10%), the Philippines, and Vietnam.
Bangladeshi diaspora
Bangladeshis in Australia are one of the smallest immigrant communities living in Australia. There are around 20,000 Bangladeshis in Australia. The largest Bangladeshi communities are mainly present in the states of New South Wales and Victoria, with large concentrations in the cities of Sydney and Melbourne.
List of ambassadors of Australia to China
After diplomatic recognition of the PRC in 1972, Australia established an Embassy in Beijing in 1973, followed by Consulates-General in Shanghai (1984), Guangzhou (1992) and Chengdu (2013). The latter was opened following release of the "Asian Century White Paper" by the Gillard government, and calls for an expanded diplomatic footprint in China. On 9 November 2014, then-Foreign Affairs Minister, the Hon Julie Bishop MP, formally opened the Australian Consulate-General in Chengdu. In March 2017, an agreement was signed to establish a fifth Australian Consulate-General in 2018, to be located in the northern city of Shenyang.
Tamil diaspora
There are officially about 72,000 Tamils in Australia spread out in all the six states but the concentration is mainly in the states of New South Wales and Victoria. However, the actual number of ethnic Tamils is possibly double this amount and could be estimated at around 100,000. Among this 40% are from Sri Lanka and 35% are from India. The remainder come from various countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, USA, South Africa, Fiji and Mauritius. More than 80% have completed high school education compared to 78% (2010) for the general Australian population. More than 15% own their houses while more than 30% of the general population own their houses.
Australia–China relations
Since the Chinese economic reforms initiated by the late Deng Xiaoping, China has benefited from significant investment in China by Australian companies (for example, future Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had set up the first Sino-foreign joint venture mining company in China in 1994), while Australia has benefited from the Chinese appetite for natural resources to modernise its economy, infrastructure and meet its growing energy demands. In 2009, it was estimated the trade and investment with China brought benefits of close to $4000 per Australian household; in 2011, this was estimated to be A$10,500 per household per year.
Ukrainian Australians
Ukrainian Australians refers to Australian citizens of Ukrainian descent, or Ukraine-born people who emigrated to Australia. They are an ethnic minority in Australia, numbering about 38,000 people according to the 2011 Census. Currently, the main concentrations of Ukrainians are located in the cities of Sydney and Melbourne.
Australia–China relations
Chinese people from mainly Guangdong province in southern China have migrated to Australia since the late 1700s (the earliest reports of traders in Australia date to the 1750s at the latest) and boomed in the Victorian gold rush era. By 1861, there were around 40,000 Chinese people (3.3% of the total population) living in Australia. Australia during the 18th to the early 20th century were colonies - and later dominion - of the United Kingdom and focused her attention predominantly towards Europe.
Chinese Singaporeans
As of 2015, Chinese Singaporeans constituted 76.2% of the country's citizens making them the largest ethnic group in Singapore. Outside Greater China, Singapore is the only country in the world where ethnic Chinese constitute a majority of the population and are well represented in all levels of Singaporean society, politically and economically. It is the home of the fifth largest number of people of the Chinese diaspora, behind the Chinese communities in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the United States.
History of Chinese Australians
The final end of the White Australia Policy saw new arrivals from the Chinese diaspora and for the first time significant numbers from non-Cantonese speaking parts of China. The first wave of arrivals were ethnic Chinese refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia during the 1970s; this was followed by economic migrants from Hong Kong in the 1980s and 1990s, whose families often settled in Sydney while the breadwinner returned to Hong Kong to continue earning an income – a significant reversal of the traditional migration pattern.
Chinese Australians
Before the end of the twentieth century, Chinese Australian were historically of predominately Cantonese and Hakka descent from Hong Kong and Guangdong province, and Cantonese was the dominant language. Due to more recent immigration from other regions of Mainland China and Taiwan, Mandarin has surpassed Cantonese by a wide margin by number of speakers. At the 2016 census, 596,711 persons declared that they spoke Mandarin at home (the most common language spoken at home in Australia after English at 2.5%), followed by Cantonese at 280,943 (the third most common after English at 1.2%). In total, there were 927,944 people who spoke a Chinese language at home, a figure which includes Mandarin, Cantonese and other Chinese languages such as Hokkien and Hakka. Second or higher generation Chinese Australians are often either monolingual in English or bilingual to varying degrees with Chinese.
Australians in China
Australians in China include Australian expatriates in China, international students, Chinese Australians as well as Chinese people of Australian descent. In 2001, there were over 55,000 Australians present in China. Out of them, over 2,000 lived in the capital Beijing; an estimated 3,900 in Guangzhou and about 2,500 in Shanghai. Notwithstanding mainland China, the remaining overwhelming 46,000 Australians resided in Hong Kong. By 2010, the number of Australians living in Mainland China had grown to 13,286, according to the Sixth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China.
Taiwanese Australians
Taiwanese Australians are Australian citizens or permanent residents of ethnic Taiwanese descent. Alternatively, a Taiwanese Australian can merely be an Australian who possesses dual Australian and Republic of China (ROC) citizenship. Although Taiwan is not synonymous with the Republic of China and is actually a distinct entity, Taiwan constitutes 99 per cent of the ROC's territory. Therefore, due to "pars pro toto", Taiwan is a nickname commonly used in place of 'the Republic of China', in order to distinguish the country from the better-known People's Republic of China (PRC), aka 'China' or 'Mainland China'.
Malaysian Chinese
Among emigrants, Chinese Malaysians form the largest outflow or brain drain amongst all ethnic groups in Malaysia. More than two million Malaysians have emigrated since the year 1957. Around 49,900 Malaysian Chinese have renounced their citizenship, which is around 90% of all who did, from 2006 until April 2016. According to a report by the World Bank, the number of Malaysian diaspora was estimated to be around a million in 2010, with the real number possibly much higher, with most of them Chinese. 57% of the Malaysian diaspora are in Singapore, with almost 90% of these Chinese. A large number of these emigrants are young, and the reasons cited for emigrating are economic such as better career prospect and compensation, and a sense of injustice due to issues such as unequal access to scholarships and higher education, and the privileged position of Islam in Malaysia.
Australians
A census in 2011 showed 60.2% of Australia's population declared themselves as having European ancestry. In addition, many other respondents described themselves as simply "Australian", which does not imply Indigenous descent. The total indigenous population is estimated to be about 520,000 individuals, including people of mixed descent. In the 2011 Census, Australians reported around 300 different ancestries. The most commonly reported ancestries were English (33.7 per cent) and Australian (33 per cent). A further 6 of the leading 10 ancestries reflected the European heritage in Australia – Irish (9.7 per cent), Scottish (8.3 per cent), Italian (4.3 per cent), German (4.2 per cent), Greek (1.8 per cent) and Dutch (1.6 per cent). Other most common ancestries in the top 10 were Chinese (4.0 per cent) and Indian (1.8 per cent).
Canadians
As of a 2010 report by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, there were 2.8 million Canadian citizens abroad. This represents about 8% of the total Canadian population. Of those living abroad, the United States, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, China, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, and Australia have the largest Canadian diaspora. Canadians in the United States constitute the greatest single expatriate community at over 1 million in 2009, representing 35.8% of all Canadians abroad. Under current Canadian law, Canada does not restrict dual citizenship, but Passport Canada encourages its citizens to travel abroad on their Canadian passport so that they can access Canadian consular services.
Demographics of Melbourne
Sikhism is a small but growing minority religion in Australia, that can trace its origins in the nation to the 1830s. The Sikhs form one of the largest subgroups of Indian Australians with 125,000 adherents according to the 2016 census, having grown from 17,000 in 2001 and 12,000 in 1996[1] [2]. Most adherents can trace their ancestry back to the Punjab region of South Asia, which is currently divided between India and Pakistan.
Whereas, as per anecdotal evidence collected by Sikh Council of Australia inc, there are approximately 100,000 Sikhs in Australia and the number of Punjabi speakers is even higher.
They are often mistaken for who they are not, due to Sikh men required to wear a "Turban" as one of the 5 articles of faith.
The largest Sikh community’s are situated on the Eastern Sea Board, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, followed by Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, Cairns, Townsville. Sikh’s also make up a significant population in the town of Woolgoolga near Coffs Harbour, NSW where they own Banana Plantations. There is also a significant Sikh population in Griffith NSW, Renmark SA, associated with Farming. Kahlon Estate’s in Renmark which produce Australia’s Premium Wines are owned by Sikh emigrants
Australia
In 2016, more than a quarter (26%) of Australia's population were born overseas; the five largest immigrant groups were those born in England (3.9%), New Zealand (2.2%), Mainland China (2.2%), India (1.9%), and the Philippines (1%). Following the abolition of the White Australia policy in 1973, numerous government initiatives have been established to encourage and promote racial harmony based on a policy of multiculturalism. In 2015–16, there were 189,770 permanent immigrants admitted to Australia, mainly from Asia.
Chinese Australians
Among Hong Kong-born Australians aged 15 years and over, the participation rate in the labour force was 63.3 percent and the unemployment rate was 6.6 percent. The corresponding rates in the total Australian population were 64.6 and 5.2 percent respectively. Of the 39,870 Hong Kong-born Australians who were employed, 42.2 percent were employed in a Skill Level 1 occupation, 12.3 percent in Skill Level 2 and 8.5 percent in Skill Level 3. The corresponding rates in the total Australian population were 28.7, 10.7 and 15.1 percent respectively.
Taiwanese Australians
Still, Mainlander Chinese Australians outnumber the Taiwanese Australians at least 20 to 1. Therefore, the Taiwanese are always in the shadow of the Mainlander Chinese even in Australia, and young Taiwanese Australians are greatly influenced by young Mainlander Chinese. These two groups of people generally live in the same suburbs in the major cities, hang out in similar areas around the city (such as specific shopping malls), and also tend to attend the same high schools. Therefore, young Taiwanese Australians are always surrounded by young Mainlander Chinese Australians.
Malaysian Chinese
Malaysian Chinese represent the largest group (10%) of Australian Chinese outside greater China. They also make up the largest ethnic group of all Malaysians in Australia with 72% of Malaysians claiming Chinese ancestry and only 11% with Malay ancestry in the 2001 census.
Asian Australians
Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean and Sri Lankan are the most commonly nominated Asian ancestries in Australia. Chinese Australians constituted 5.6% of the Australian population and Indian Australians constituted 2.8 percent at the 2016 census. 30% of Asians in Australia go to university, 20% of all Australian doctors are Asian, and 37% of Asian Australians take part in some form of organised sport. Second and third generation Chinese and Indian Australians are already present in large numbers. Sydney and Melbourne have made up a large proportion of Asian immigration, with Chinese Australians constituting Sydney's fourth largest ancestry (after English, Australian and Irish). Chinese, Indian and Vietnamese-Australians are among Sydney's five largest overseas-born communities.
List of common Chinese surnames
The largest Chinese diaspora community in the world are the Chinese Thais (or Sino-Thais), who make up 12–14% of the total Thai population. However, "very" few of the Chinese Thais have Chinese surnames, after the 1913 Surname Act that required the adoption of Thai surnames in order to enjoy Thai citizenship. Moreover, the same law requires that those possessing the same surname be related, meaning that immigrant Chinese may "not" adopt the surname of their clansmen unless they can show actual kinship.
Chinese Australians
The White Australia Policy of the early 20th century severely curtailed the development of the Chinese communities in Australia. However, since the advent of multiculturalism as a government policy in the 1970s, many ethnic Chinese from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia) have immigrated to Australia.
Perth
Since the late 1970s, Southeast Asia has become an increasingly important source of migrants, with communities from Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mainland China, and India all now well-established. There were 53,390 persons of Chinese descent in Perth in 2006 – 2.9% of the city's population. These are supported by the Australian Eurasian Association of Western Australia, which also serves a community of Portuguese-Malacca Eurasian or Kristang immigrants.
History of Chinese Australians
In the 1850s and 1860s they saw the largest pre-federation migration of Chinese to Australia, with numbers peaking around the 40,000 mark. These numbers were only reached again after the abolition of the White Australia policy in 1973. Gold was found at several places in Australia in 1851 but significant Chinese migration to join the diggers only began late in 1853.
Chinese emigration
Waves of Chinese emigration (also known as the Chinese diaspora) have happened throughout history. The mass emigration known as the Chinese diaspora, which occurred from the 19th century to 1949, was mainly caused by wars and starvation in mainland China, invasion from various foreign countries, as well as problems resulting from political corruption. Most emigrants were illiterate peasants and manual labourers, called "coolies" (), who emigrated to work in places such as the Americas, Australia, South Africa, Southeast Asia, and Zealandia.
Chinatowns in Australia
Melbourne's Chinatown is in Little Bourke Street. It is notable as the oldest Chinatown in Australia, the oldest continuous Chinese settlement in Australia, and the longest continuously running Chinatown outside of Asia. Suburban Chinese communities, of a mostly Cantonese culture, are in Doncaster, Box Hill, Springvale and Glen Waverley. Melbourne's Chinatown boasts some world-famous cuisine, Flower Drum for example was voted as one of the best Chinese restaurants in the world by the New York Times. It was also the location where the Dim Sim, a popular Chinese-Australian snackfood commonly served in takeaway outlets throughout the country, was first invented by William Wing Young, at his restaurant "Wing Lee", in 1945. Gift shops and souvenir shops also make up a large proportion of businesses. Melbourne Chinatown also houses the world's longest annually paraded Chinese dragon in the Melbourne Chinese Museum. This record is believed to have been held by the city since 1978 when the original "Dai Loong" dragon was commissioned, which was also the first Chinese dragon built in China since 1948. It was 92 metres long, had 6160 scales on its body and was initially paraded with a procession involving over 200 participants. In 2003, it was replaced with a new dragon, the Millennium Dragon, which was deliberately crafted in order to retain the record, and required 8 people to hold its head up. This later dragon is also locally known as Dai Loong, as some parts of the original 1978 dragon were reconditioned for use in the new dragon.
Australian gold rushes
The gold rushes caused a huge influx of people from overseas. Australia's total population more than tripled from 430,000 in 1851 to 1.7 million in 1871. Australia first became a multicultural society during the gold rush period. Between 1852 and 1860, 290,000 people migrated to Victoria from the British Isles, 15,000 came from other European countries, and 18,000 emigrated from the United States. Non-European immigrants, however, were unwelcome, especially the Chinese. The Chinese were particularly industrious, with techniques that differed widely from the Europeans. This and their physical appearance and fear of the unknown led to them to being persecuted in a racist way that would be regarded as untenable today.In 1855, 11,493 Chinese arrived in Melbourne. Chinese travelling outside of New South Wales had to obtain special re-entry certificates. In 1855, Victoria enacted the Chinese Immigration Act 1855, severely limiting the number of Chinese passengers permitted on an arriving vessel. To evade the new law, many Chinese were landed in the south-east of South Australia and travelled more than 400 km across country to the Victorian goldfields, along tracks which are still evident today.
Australians
At the 2011 Census 2.4 million Australians (12%) declared that they had an Asian ancestral background.
For the purposes of aggregating data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics in its "Australian Standard Classification of Cultural and Ethnic Groups (ASCCEG)" has grouped certain ethnic groups into certain categories, including East Asian e.g. Chinese Australians, Southeast Asian e.g. Vietnamese Australians, South Asian e.g. Indian Australians and Central Asian e.g. Afghan Australians.
Australian diaspora
In Beijing, China there are 5,000 Australians. In southern China there are 10,000 Australians.
Australia–China relations
On 1 January 1912, the Republic of China replaced the Qing empire. The Consulate-General immediately set about mobilising the Chinese community in support of the new government, collecting funds and sending delegates to elect overseas Chinese deputies in the new Chinese parliament. Different political factions in China found support in Australia: while the Consulate-General sponsored groups supporting Yuan Shikai's Beijing government, the opposing Chinese Nationalist League (later a branch of the Kuomintang) was formed in Sydney in 1916. A relaxation in Australia's racial exclusion laws led to broader people-to-people interactions. By 1924, 200 Chinese students were arriving in Australia to study in that year alone. An Australian trade commissioner was briefly stationed in China in 1921-22.
Ethnoburb
Australia is also undergoing a shift in its demography with large numbers of Asian immigrants settling in the country. From 2010 to 2011, Australia recorded 14,611 settlers from China and according to the 2011 census, there were 393,924 people in Australia born in Mainland China and Hong Kong. Sydney had nearly half of all Chinese-born citizens (46.6%) and Melbourne had slightly over a quarter (28.5%) according to the census data.
Australian diaspora
The ratio of expatriate Australians in 2005 was 2.8 Australian-born people aged 15 years or over per 100 Australian born people aged 15 years and over within Australia. This ratio is much lower than many other countries in the OECD – the highest ratios in 2005 were for Ireland (29 Irish-born people aged 15 years and over in other OECD countries for every 100 in Ireland) and for New Zealand (19 per 100). The Australian ratio was higher than that of the United States (less than one person in other OECD countries per 100 USA-born within the USA).
Mandaeism
Of the Mandaeans tallied in official numbers, many have formed diaspora communities outside the Middle East, especially Australia, where some 10,000 now reside, mainly around Sydney, representing 15% of the total world Mandaean population.
English diaspora
English migrants and English Australians were by far the single most influential ethnic group in colonial Australia. The founding of Australia by English people is still evident in place names, buildings and street layouts, and that 80 percent of the population speak English as their mother tongue and the low church hegemony in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, the biggest in the country.
Sinophobia
The Chinese population was active in political and social life in Australia. Community leaders protested against discriminatory legislation and attitudes, and despite the passing of the Immigration Restriction Act in 1901, Chinese communities around Australia participated in parades and celebrations of Australia's Federation and the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York.
British diaspora
The British diaspora consists of British people and their descendants who emigrated from the present-day United Kingdom, or people who have acquired British Nationality through colonisation. The diaspora is concentrated in countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong, with smaller concentrations in the United States, Republic of Ireland, South Africa, parts of the Caribbean and parts of continental Europe such as Spain. About 1.2 million British citizens live in Australia.
Australia–China relations
Despite the long history of Chinese immigration to Australia, the first official presence of the Qing empire in Australia was not established until 1909, when Australia was a British Dominion. While the Chinese community had agitated for a Qing consulate in Australia for many years, there was reluctance from the British Foreign Office to approve such a move. After the Federation of Australia, the Chinese community's need for an official voice in Australia increased due to the push for the White Australia Policy and anti-Chinese sentiment following the enactment of the "Immigration Restriction Act 1901" in Australia. At the same time, Chinese republican revolutionaries were operating in Australia, and the Qing government saw a need to dissuade the Chinese diaspora against supporting the republicans. Reflecting the political debate in China, Chinese Australians had by 1900 formed branches of the Chinese Empire Reform Association to press for reform in China.
Australia–China relations
Australia–China relations, often known as the Sino–Australian relations, refers to the relations between the Commonwealth of Australia and China. The first Chinese consulate in Australia was established in 1909, and diplomatic relations were established in 1941. Australia continued to recognise the Republic of China government after it lost the Chinese Civil War and retreated to Taiwan in 1949, but switched recognition to the People's Republic of China on 21 December 1972. The relationship between China and Australia has grown considerably over the years. Both countries are actively engaged economically, culturally and politically which spans numerous organizations such as APEC, East Asia Summit and the G20. China is Australia's largest trading partner, and has invested in Australian mining companies to help meet the needs of its growing economy.
Taiwanese Australians
Taiwanese people have only been counted on Australian censuses since 1976. Taiwanese people were originally classified exactly the same as Chinese people (so you could not easily tell who was Taiwanese), and Taiwan is still classified as a "subregion of China" in Australian censuses. In the 2016 Australian Census, 46,826 people indicated that they were born in Taiwan, but only 18,522 people indicated that they had Taiwanese ancestry. There are almost certainly more ethnically Taiwanese people in Australia than the amount that was born in Taiwan. There should be around 50,000–100,000 Taiwanese people in Australia in total. However, even getting an approximate number for the total Taiwanese people in Australia would be nigh impossible, due to the complicated political status of Taiwan, which ruins census data for Taiwan.
Taiwanese Australians
This history of Chinese immigration to Australia is only slightly relevant for modern Taiwanese Australians. Though many Taiwanese still have some connections to China, especially those Taiwanese Australians who have grown up surrounded by Chinese Australians, the history of Chinese Australians doesn't exactly cover the history of Taiwanese Australians very well. Additionally, the inspirational stories of Chinese heritage in Australia probably aren't too inspirational for most Taiwanese people, even for those who do identify as Chinese. Even those who do identify as Chinese still cannot avoid the fact that their families' histories have been intertwined with the history of Taiwan for the past 70 years or so. This is why so many (Taiwanese Waisheng/Mainlander) die-hard supporters of the KMT, which is pro-Reunification, still cling onto the Taiwanese identity.
List of ambassadors of Australia to China
The Australian Ambassador to China is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of the Embassy of the Commonwealth of Australia to the People's Republic of China (PRC). The position has the rank and status of an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and has resided in Beijing since 1973.
Civic, Australian Capital Territory
In 2016, 41.1% of the population were professionals, compared to the Australian average of 22.2%. Notably 20.4% worked in central government administration, compared to the Australian average of 1.2%, although the ACT-wide average is a similar 18.4%. 52.0% of the population had no religion (compared to the ACT average of 36.2% and the Australian average of 29.6%) and 14.1% did not state their religion. 21.6% of the population was born in China, 2.5% in Malaysia, 2.3% in England, 2.3% in India and 2.2% in Hong Kong. 46.8% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 23.1%, and Cantonese 4.2%. In 2011, 56.4% of the population was foreign born, the highest for any Canberra suburb, except for Acton. 63.8% of its population were attending education, of which 2,178 (79.8%) were enrolled in university or tertiary study.
Australia–Indonesia relations
According to the 2001 Australian census, 42.9% of Indonesian-born people living in Australia resided in New South Wales, followed by 24.7% in Victoria, 15.5% in Western Australia, and 10.4% in Queensland. 40.7% listed their ancestry as Chinese, 39.8% as Indonesian, and 7.2% as Dutch.
Glenside, South Australia
As of the 2016 Australian Census, the suburb is home to a population of 2,401 individuals where 43.9% were male and 56.1% female and the median age of the residents is 45 years old which is older than the state median age of 40. It can be seen from the Australian Census that the suburb is the home to many families as 10% of the population of Glenside are of Chinese heritage. This can be attributed the suburb is in a close proximity to renowned public schools such as Linden Park Primary School and Glenunga International High School and private schools such as Prince Alfred College, Pembroke School and Seymour College.
Racism in Australia
Most of the early Australian Chinese population consisted of Cantonese-speaking migrants from Guangzhou and Taishan as well as some from Fujian. They migrated to Australia during the gold rush period of the 1850s. Marriage records show that between the 1850s and the start of the twentieth century, there were about 2000 legal marriages between white women and migrant Chinese men in Australia’s eastern colonies, probably with similar numbers involved in de facto relationships of various kinds.
Australian diaspora
Australian diaspora may also be used to refer to the population of Indigenous Australians who have been displaced within Australia from their traditional homelands by colonisation, or from their families by child removal policies.
Australia–China relations
Australia began accepting Chinese students for tertiary education in 1986 in English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS). Several thousands Chinese were studying in Australia in 1987. In the aftermath of Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, the Australian government granted protection for about 20,000 Chinese students in Australia. Since then, Australia has become one of the biggest markets for Chinese students for tertiary education. In early 2011, there were over 126,000 Chinese students in Australia and they made up 26 percent of the total foreign students. As of September 2011, there were 150,000 Chinese students studying at Australia tertiary institutions. The Australian education export market was worth 2009/10 A$19 billion. The well-developed nature of Australia-China education relations has spawned a thriving sphere of bilateral youth engagement, with non-government organizations such as the Australia China Youth Association, Australia-China Youth Dialogue, Australia-China Young Professionals Initiative, and Engaging China Project receiving high-level government and university support to connect thousands of young Australians and Chinese to academic, cultural, and professional exchanges.
Chinese Australians
According to the census data collected in the last twenty years, among Australians with full or partial Chinese ancestry there has been a general decline of institutional religions (between 2006 and 2016, Buddhism fell from 24.1% to 15.7% and Christianity fell from 29.8% to 23.4%). In 2016, 55.4% of the Chinese Australians fit within the census category of "not religious, secular beliefs or other spiritual beliefs", rising significantly from 37.8% in 2006. These shiftings in religious demography may be due to the incoming of new immigrants from China who generally do not have a formal religious affiliation, and many of whom are involved in the native Chinese religion which has been on the rise in the motherland over the last decades.
Chinese Australians
According to Australian Bureau of Statistics, in 2012 Chinese immigrant mothers had a total fertility of 1.59 children per woman, lower compared to the Australian average of 1.94.
Australian Jews
Sydney’s Jewish community is considered one of the most thriving and dynamic in the diaspora. There are an estimated 50,000 Jews in New South Wales out of an Australian Jewish population of 120,000.
Chinese Australians
33.8% of Chinese Australians and 46.6% Hong Kong Australians work as white collar professionals compared to 32% for the total Australian population. 63.3% of Hong Kong Australians and 56.3% of Chinese Australians participate in the Australian workforce which was below the national average of 67.1%. Chinese Australians and Hong Kong Australians also have an unemployment rate of 11.2% and 6.6% respectively. Both figures were higher than the national average of 4.9%.
Hoklo Americans
Chinese Filipinos are one of the largest overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia.Sangleys—Filipinos with at least some Chinese ancestry—comprise 18-27% of the Philippine population, totaling up to 30 million people. There are approximately 2 million Filipinos with pure Chinese ancestry, or around 2.5% of the population. Minnan peoples are more popularly known as "Hokkienese", or "Fujianese" in English, or Lan-nang, Lán-lâng, Bân-lâm, Fújiànren in Chinese. The Minnan form 98.7%of all unmixed ethnic Chinese in the Philippines. Of the Minnan peoples, about 75% are from Quanzhou prefecture (specifically, Jinjiang City), 23% are from Zhangzhou prefecture, and 2% are from Xiamen City.
Greek diaspora
Australia has one of the world's largest Greek communities. Greek immigration to Australia began during the 19th century, increasing significantly in the 1950s and 1960s. According to the 2016 census, there were 422,234 Greeks and Greek Cypriots (by ancestry) living in Australia and 110,669 Greeks born in Greece or Cyprus. According to "Greeks around the Globe", Greek Australians number about 700,000.
History of Chinese Australians
In the post-war period, assimilation became the dominant policy and this led to some extension of rights with gradual changes to citizenship laws. At the same time cafes began to replace market gardens as the major source of employment and avenue for bringing in new migrants, both legal and illegal. These changes, combined with the increased number of Australian-born Chinese, the final return of the last of the domiciles who still wished to do so and the arrival of Chinese background students under the Colombo Plan from various parts of Asia, brought about the end of the dominance of south China in the link between China and Australia that had existed for nearly 100 years.
Overseas Chinese
In countries with small ethnic Chinese minorities, the economic disparity can be remarkable. For example, in 1998, ethnic Chinese made up just 1% of the population of the Philippines and 4% of the population in Indonesia, but have wide influence in the Philippine and Indonesian private economies. The book "", describing the Chinese as a "market-dominant minority", notes that "Chinese market dominance and intense resentment amongst the indigenous majority is characteristic of virtually every country in Southeast Asia except Thailand and Singapore". Chinese market dominance is present in Thailand, which is noted for its lack of resentment, while Singapore is majority ethnic Chinese.
Chinatowns in Australia
Perth has a Chinatown on Roe Street in the inner-city suburb of Northbridge. There are many more Asian businesses found on William St, Northbridge than at the official Chinatown. Historically many Chinese (usually of Malaysian, Singaporean or Indonesian background) settled in Northbridge alongside other immigrant groups. The city's low density population and comparatively cheap property encourages migrants to move to the expanding suburbs. Asian students often chose to live in suburbs near universities, such as Bentley, Murdoch and Nedlands.
Economy of Australia
Australia's special investor visa program introduced in 2012 encouraged Chinese investment. The visa program fast-tracks visas and eases the residency requirement for a permanent visa for those ready to invest over five million Australian dollars into state government bonds, specific infrastructure and property investments. Wealthy Chinese interested in retirement houses, top schools and cleaner air, began looking to Australia after Canada started scaling back its investment visa program in 2012 and eliminated its main investor visa program in 2014. In early 2014 it was reported that the Australia's special investor visa was granted to 65 mostly Chinese millionaires who brought over $440 million into the country. By 2017, almost 90% of the more than 1,300 foreigners who used Australia's special investor visa program were from China. Australia also has an investor visa program with a required investment of one million Australian dollars but with more restrictions and a lengthier period of time to get a permanent visa.
Chinatowns in Australia
Given the proximity to the Asian continent, Australia has had, and continues to witness, a massive immigration of Chinese and other Asians. The majority of ethnic Chinese immigrants to Australia are from Canton and Hong Kong. Chinese from various places of mainland China, Macau, Taiwan, Korea, Southeast Asia—especially Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Philippines, and Indonesia—and Latin America also settled Australia.
Chinese New Zealanders
Chinese New Zealanders are New Zealanders of Chinese ancestry. Many of the Chinese immigrants came from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other countries that have large populations of Chinese diaspora; today's Chinese New Zealand group is composed of diasporic communities from Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Singapore. As of 2013, Chinese New Zealanders account for 4.3% of the population of New Zealand, and are the largest Asian ethnic group in New Zealand, accounting for 36.3% of Asian New Zealanders. They constitute one group of overseas Chinese and represent the second largest Chinese community in Oceania, behind the Chinese community in Australia.
Scottish diaspora
According to the 2011 Australian census 130,204 Australian residents were born in Scotland, while 1,792,600 claimed Scottish ancestry, either alone or in combination with another ancestry. This is the fourth most commonly nominated ancestry and represents over 8.9% of the total population of Australia.
Australia–South Korea relations
Korean Australian is a person who has migrated from South Korea to Australia. Today Australia has the sixth biggest Korean community outside of Korea. Korean Australians number about 150,873 persons of Korean origin. The migration began in the 1970s and is still continuing the growth. In Australia according to MOFAT statistics 3348 Korean adoptees live in Australia. Since the late 1980s many Korean Australians come in under the business category required for economic growth. The Korean Australian population is a young population. There are also many Koreans studying in Australian Universities and schools. There are Korean populations in all capital cities. Most Koreans in Australia live in Sydney and Melbourne. Koreans in Australia have reached high standards in schooling, work and sport in Australia. AFL player Peter F. Bell who played for Fremantle Football Club and North Melbourne Football Club is of Korean origin.
Australian diaspora
The diaspora has been the focus of policy concerns over a so-called "brain drain" from Australia. However, the 2003 CEDA report argued the phenomenon was essentially positive: rather than experiencing a "brain drain", Australia was in fact seeing both "brain circulation" as Australians added to their skills and expertise, and a "brain gain", as these skilled expatriates tended to return to Australia and new skilled immigrants were arriving. Between 1999 and 2003, there were seven highly educated migrants to Australia for every one highly educated Australian who was living elsewhere in countries within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Levels of skilled immigration to Australia reflect Government policies to "practise a selective immigration policy based on human capital criteria".
Human capital flight
With rapid GDP growth and a higher degree of openness towards the rest of the world, there has been an upsurge in Chinese emigration to Western countries—particularly the United States, Canada and Australia. China became the biggest worldwide contributor of emigrants in 2007. According to the official Chinese media, in 2009, 65,000 Chinese secured immigration or permanent resident status in the United States, 25,000 in Canada and 15,000 in Australia. The largest group of emigrants consists of professionals and experts with a middle-class background, who are the backbone for the development of China. According to a 2007 study, seven out of every ten students who enroll in an overseas university never return to live in their homeland.
Taiwanese Australians
Taiwanese people in Australia are often mistaken for Mainlander Chinese (and might even mistake themselves for Mainlander Chinese), due to Australia's strict adherence to the 'One China Policy'. There have been instances where the Australian government or other high level organisations have conducted institutionalised discrimination against Taiwanese people (not against all Asians). For example, murals with the Flag of the Republic of China can legally be painted over and vandalized, based on the rules laid out by the One China Policy. Taiwanese people have also been fired from Chinese convenience stores as a result of saying "I'm from Taiwan" and not "I'm from China".
History of Chinese Australians
By the time of Australian Federation, there were around 29,000 ethnic Chinese in Australia: Chinese people in the capital cities of Sydney and Melbourne, were a significant group, running numerous stores, an import trade, societies and several Chinese language newspapers. There were also many Chinese still working in the north of Queensland in the banana trade. Tin mining in Tasmania was also a venture that lured Chinese workers to the state. They were also part of an international community involved in political events in China such as sending delegates to a Peking Parliament or making donations at times of natural disaster. There were many Chinese Australians who supported the Xinhai Revolution and Sun Yat-sen. The passing of the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901, however, froze the Chinese communities of the late 19th century into a slow decline. Thanks to Australian Chinese newspapers like the Tung Wah Times and the Chinese Times which were distributed to Chinese communities all over Australia and thanks to the many clan societies, the Chinese Australians were a rather united group. In spite of the geographical distances. This can be seen by the colourful debates that went on within the community over the future of China. Some in Australia and notably the Tung Wah Times believed China should keep a monarchy and they supported reform. Others believed China needed a republic and they supported Sun Yat-sen. Chinese regalia travelled around the country to be used by communities for Chinese new year and local events. In May 1901, to celebrate the sitting of the first federal parliament, Chinese people paraded two dragons through the streets.
China–Philippines relations
Chinese Filipinos constitute one group of Overseas Chinese and are one of the largest Overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. , Chinese Filipinos number approximately 1.5 million corresponding to 1.6% of the Philippine population. Chinese Filipinos are well represented in all levels of Philippine society, and well integrated politically and economically. The ethnically Chinese Filipinos comprise 1.6% (1.5 million) of the population or ~15-27% of the population including all variants of Chinese mestizos. Pure Chinese Filipinos comprise the 9th largest, and the largest non-indigenous ethnic group in the Philippines.
Malaysian Australians
At the 2006 Census 92,335 Australian residents stated that they were born in Malaysia. 64,855 Malaysian born Australian residents declared having Chinese ancestry (either alone or with another ancestry), 12,057 declared a Malay ancestry and 5,848 declared an Indian ancestry. The proportion of Malaysian-born individuals in Australia who claim Chinese ancestry is 70.2%, which is markedly different from the proportion of Malaysians in Malaysia who claim Chinese ancestry (22.9%). The proportion of Malaysians in Australia that claim Indian ancestry (6.3%) is similar to the proportion in Malaysia (7.1%). Taken together with the marked difference in the proportion who cite Islam as their religion (60% in Malaysia, 5% in Australia), it is clear that migration from Malaysia to Australia has not reflected a cross-section of Malaysia, but rather, is heavily skewed towards the ethnic Chinese community and to a lesser extent the ethnic Indian community.
Racism in Australia
Around Melbourne's Little Bourke Street precinct and Sydney's Lower George Street grew majority Chinese male enclaves and in total in Australia there were 50,000 Chinese labourers and ministers by 1870, with opium dens being a standard thing found around the Chinese ghettos, the Chinese men were married by poor white women or serviced by poor white women prostitutes, who filled the missing female niche in the Chinese community and this led to condemnation of the white women as opium users and inflamed anti-Chinese sentiment.
Overseas Chinese
In Australia, Chinese were targeted by a system of discriminatory laws known as the 'White Australia Policy' which was enshrined in the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901. The policy was formally abolished in 1973, and in recent years Australians of Chinese background have publicly called for an apology from the Australian Federal Government similar to that given to the 'stolen generations' of indigenous people in 2007 by the then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Chinese Australians
Chinese Australians () are Australian citizens of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Australians are one of the largest groups of Overseas Chinese people, forming the largest Overseas Chinese community in Oceania. Per capita, Australia has more people of Chinese ancestry than any country outside Asia. Many Chinese Australians have immigrated from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and other countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, while many are descendants of such immigrants. Chinese Australians are also a subgroup of Asian Australians and East Asian Australians and represent the single largest minority ethnicity in the country. As a whole, Australian residents identifying themselves as having Chinese ancestry made up 5.6% of those nominating their ancestry at the 2016 census and numbered 1,213,903.
History of Chinese Australians
The fall of the Qing dynasty was met with mixed emotions by Chinese Australians. Some of the older Chinese born men were supporters of the reform movement and in Sydney Chinese conservatives got together for a dragon flag parade in support of the old regime. Others, however, supported Sun Yat-sen. Some Chinese Australians even returned to China to fight for the KMT both before the Xinhai Revolution and afterwards during the Northern Expedition. The KMT had quite a following in Australia. There were many KMT branches around Australia. During the Second Sino-Japanese War the Darwin branch of the KMT was a valuable source of information for Chinese Australians. Chinese Australians also showed the support for the republic with monetary donations. In 1913 Chinese Australians, Chinese New Zealanders and others in the Chinese diaspora in the Pacific, donated ₤36,000 to China. A letter of thank you to the Chinese Australians from the Finance Minister of the Republic is on display at the Golden Dragon Museum.
Filipino Australians
Filipino Australians (Filipino: "Pilipino-Australyano") are Australians of Filipino ancestry. Filipino-Australians are the fifth-largest subgroup of the Overseas Filipinos. According to the 2016 census, there are over 304,015 Filipino Australians. In Sydney, people born in the Philippines comprise 5.9% of the population in the City of Blacktown and it is the largest directly born ethnic group in Blacktown.
Chinese Americans
The Chinese American community is the largest overseas Chinese community outside Asia. It is also the third largest community in the Chinese diaspora, behind the Chinese communities in Thailand and Malaysia. The 2016 Community Survey of the US Census estimates a population of Chinese Americans of one or more races to be 5,081,682. The Chinese American community comprises the largest ethnic group of Asian Americans, comprising 25.9% of the Asian American population as of 2010. Americans of Chinese descent, including those with partial Chinese ancestry constitute 1.5% of the total U.S. population as of 2017. According to the 2010 census, the Chinese American population numbered approximately 3.8 million. In 2010, half of Chinese-born people living in the United States resided in the states of California and New York.
History of Chinese Australians
Continued discrimination, both legal and social, reduced the occupational range of Chinese people until market gardening, always a major occupation, became far and away the representative role of 'John Chinaman'. It was as gardeners that most pre-1901 now granted status as 'domiciles' under the 1901Act, visited their villages and established families throughout the first 30 years or so of the 20th century, relying on the minority of merchants to assist them to negotiate with the Immigration Restriction Act bureaucracy. Only the rise of a new generation of Australian-born Chinese people, combined with new migrants that the merchants and others sponsored, both legally and illegally, prevented the Chinese populations in Australia from disappearing entirely.
Chinese Australians
In a 2004 study on the intermarriage pattern in Australia, the proportion of second-generation Chinese Australians with spouses of Anglo-Celtic ancestry was approximately 21% and for third generation it was 68%.
Chinese Australians
After the gold rushes the numbers of Chinese living in the cities swelled and their businesses and industries contributed much to growth of Melbourne and Sydney in the late 19th century. Mei Quong Tart was a prominent business figure in Sydney. However, there were very few Chinese women migrating to Australia. At one point in the 1860s the numbers of Chinese in Australia was around 40,000. Of these, it is believed only 12, were women. This gender imbalance meant that some Chinese men married women of European descent but many had it in their hearts to return to China.
Australia–China relations
Australia has been a haven for Chinese migrants for centuries who have, in the modern day, established themselves as a significant minority group in Australian society.
There are now large numbers of Australian-born Chinese and Chinese-born migrants/Australian Citizens in the cities of Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane with small Chinese communities in regional centres, particularly in Victoria, and New South Wales. There are also Chinatowns in every Australian capital city, including Darwin and large, public Chinese New Year Celebrations in Melbourne and Sydney. The former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, also has strong connections with Chinese culture having studied Chinese at the Australian National University in Canberra. His daughter is married to a Chinese man, and Mr. Rudd also speaks fluent Mandarin.
Chilean Australians
Chilean Australians are Australians of Chilean descent or Chileans who have obtained Australian citizenship. Chileans are the second largest group of Latin American Australians residing in Australia. The biggest Chilean Australian communities are primarily found in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.
Indian Australians
In 2005-2006 India was the fourth major source of permanent migrants to Australia behind the United Kingdom, New Zealand and China. Between 2000–2001 and 2005–2006, the number of migrants who came to Australia from India increased from 4,700 to 12,300 people. In 2011-12, Indians became the largest source of permanent migration to Australia forming 15.7% of the total migration programme. Australia's Indian-born population also recorded the fastest growth in the country in 2008-2009, increasing by 44,012 (17%). The largest Indian Australian population is found in the state of Victoria.
Immigrant health in Australia
According to the 1861 Colonial Census, Chinese-born persons made up 3.4% of the Australian population, equating to approximately 38,258 Chinese in Australia after 1842 when the Chinese first settled in Australia. Some arrived in Australia hoping to escape the civil disorder of China, although the majority of Chinese migrated to Australia after hearing about the gold rush.
Chinatowns in Oceania
Given its proximity to the Asian continent, Australia has had, and continues to witness, a massive immigration of Chinese and other Asians. As with Canada, the majority of ethnic Chinese immigrants to Australia are from Hong Kong and Canton. Chinese from various places of mainland China, Macau, Taiwan, Korea, Southeast Asia—especially Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Philippines, and Indonesia—and Latin America also settled Australia.
Fijians
Australia has the largest Fijian expatriate population, according to the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, while Fijians were also the fifth largest Pacific ethnic group living in New Zealand; a decrease of 8 percent between 1996 and 2001. The estimated Pacific Islander population size is 231,800 in 2001 Fijians comprising about 7,000 of that. Outside Oceania, a substantial Fijian diaspora is found in other anglophone countries, namely Canada, United States and the United Kingdom.
Australia-China Council
""China is not a habit of mind for Australians. The spread of Chinese influence is a process we do not understand. There is, of course, intrinsic worth in the understanding of Chinese culture for its own value. But the purpose of this dispatch is to suggest that there is a very specific Australian interest in the promotion of what is broadly described in China as cultural exchange. Without this, our relations with China will never be more than superficial, and we will be damagingly ill-equipped to adjust to a China dominant in our region.""
Chinese Australians
The early history of Chinese Australians involved significant immigration from villages of the Pearl River Delta in Southern China. Less well-known are the kinds of society Chinese Australians came from, the families they left behind and what their intentions were in migrating. Gold rushes lured many Chinese to the Australian colonies. (From the mid-19th century, Chinese dubbed Australia the "New Gold Mountain" after the "Gold Mountain" of California in North America.) They typically sent money to their families in the villages, regularly visited their families, and retired to their home villages after many years working as a market gardeners, shopkeepers or cabinet-makers. As with many overseas Chinese groups the world over, early Chinese immigrants to Australia established Chinatowns in several major cities, such as Sydney (Chinatown, Sydney), Melbourne (Chinatown, Melbourne, since the 1850s) and Brisbane (Chinatown, Brisbane), as well as in regional towns associated with the goldfields such as Cairns (Cairns Chinatown).
Australian Chinese Daily
The "Australian Chinese Daily" was founded on 19 March 1987 by the entrepreneurial Chinese immigrant Sandra Lau. Her vision then, which remains at the core of the publication today, was to bridge the gap and strengthen links between Australia and China.
Taiwanese Australians
Overall, it would seem, at first, that Taiwanese people have only started coming to Australia since 1973, when the White Australia Policy was abolished. The current Taiwanese community in Australia is decently large, at roughly 45,000–55,000 people, but it is also very young. 95 to 90% of Taiwanese Australians are first-generation (meaning that they migrated to Australia) or second-generation (meaning that their parents migrated to Australia). A possible extra 9.9 to 4.98% of Taiwanese Australians are third-generation, meaning that their grandparents migrated to Australia. Roughly 0.01 to 0.02% of Taiwanese Australians, which is roughly 20–50 people, are fourth-generation, meaning that their great-grandparents migrated to Australia. The number of fifth-generation Taiwanese Australians is currently believed to be 0%, though this will definitely change in a few years from now.
Australian diaspora
The term Australian diaspora refers to the approximately 310,000 Australian citizens (approximately 1.3% of the population) who today live outside Australia. The largest percentage of Australian emigrants (48%) are based in Europe, and the next largest percentage (24%) are in Asia. The Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement enables Australians and New Zealanders to migrate between Australia and New Zealand.
Malaysian Chinese
Australians of Malaysian Chinese descent make up the majority (65%) of the population of the Australian external territory of Christmas Island.
Overseas Chinese
Chinese diaspora vary widely as to their degree of assimilation, their interactions with the surrounding communities (see Chinatown), and their relationship with China.
Han Chinese
Of about 40 million "overseas Chinese" worldwide, nearly 30 million live in Southeast Asia. They are collectively called Nanyang Chinese. According to a population genetic study, Singapore is "the country with the biggest proportion of Hans" in Southeast Asia. Up until the past few decades, overseas Han communities originated predominantly from areas in southern China (especially the Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang areas). Christmas Island has 21.2% Chinese population and 12% Malay; large Chinese populations also live in Malaysia (25%) and Thailand (14%). Prior to the 1965 split, Malaysia and Singapore used to have the largest overseas Chinese population in the world, in terms of absolute numbers. This position has since been taken by Thailand.