I was invitedto give the annual 2020 Henry Chan lectureat a time when Chinese-Australians had well and truly become objects of suspicion and distrust. I have been doing research onChinese-language media inthe Chinese diaspora for two decades.

The worddiaspora has been ajargonword in academia, whichoften is usedwithout any hint of positive or negative connotation.Diaspora studies isnow awell-establishedsub-field of scholarly research, and there are quite a few refereed journals dedicated to diaspora studies.

In recent years, however, I have noticed a curious trend ofweaponizingthe term.English-language mainstream journalistshavenownot only learnedtoproperlyspell and pronounce the word, they have also taken to using the term with gusto when referring to members of the Chinese community, especially those from China.Politicians loveto use this term as a short cut.A few months ago, acting Immigration Minister AlanTudge observedwith regret that, instead of being proud Australians, some communities are still seen by their former countries as _their_diaspora.

The default assumption about the political connection betweentheChinesediaspora and the Chinese government is most clearly evidenced in SenatorAbetz request tothe three Chinese Australiansin a senate inquiryintoissuesfacing diaspora communities in Australia.He asked them todenounce the Chinese Communist Party.

AsLouise Edwards,UNSWsScientiaProfessor of China Studies recentlycomments,diasporapeople are only really heard when they are useful to fulfilling some other agenda. She reminds us that some groups, such as the_white_diaspora, dont even get called diaspora because the term has become a way of marking those who are racially, politically or culturally different from us.

When our Prime Minister expressed outrage and demanded apology from the Chinese government over ZhaoLijianstweeted image, MrTudgepromptlyheld a teleconference withsomeChinese Australian community leaders. In his media statement, MrTudgesaidthe imagetweeted by Zhao was shameful and offensive,and he was glad to report that every one of Chinese community leader who spoke at the teleconference was just as appalled by the fake image.

Upon readingTudgesstatement, I wondered:ifanyone from the Chinese Australiancommunitydidnot share MrTudgeand our Prime Ministers outrage, wouldhe or she dare to speak up? Wouldthey bedeemedless Australian or evenunAustralian? We have seen a wide range of opinions inthe mainstream Australian publicin response to the Chinese tweet andour Prime Ministers reaction,so why shouldnt weexpecta similar level ofpluralism within the Chinese Australian community?

Reading MrTudgespraise of the Chinese community leaders for saying therightthing, I was again reminded ofwhatJan Fransaid to Osmond Chiu ina recentepisodeof the Q&AregardingSenatorAbetzquestioning:It is just a confirmation that you, actually, are not really Australian, that you are here conditionally You are here on a good-behaviour bond.

I know that I might sound like what some may describeasan ungrateful migrant after all, why whinge about MrTudge, who was full of praise for the 1.2 million Chinese Australians?But the honest truth is that instead of feelingprivileged by this special treatment MrTudgedidnt go to anywhere else except the Chinese Australian communityI felt, for the lack of a more colloquial word, interpellated. I feltlike a child whose parent hovers over her and says, Look at that child. Hes naughty, isnt he? Now we dont want to be naughty like that, do we?As Jan Fran said to Osmond, you need to be constantly proving your loyalty to this country. That is not asked of other people.

Many people in my WeChat groupshave taken up Australian citizenship and consider themselves Australian. Somehave mixed feelings in response to MrTudgespraise. Many people in this first-generation migrant cohort experience what I call chronic Chinese influence fatigue syndrome. Some say, why cant I just be left alone and get on with our lives? I no longer care about China-Australia relationship. I just dont want to be a pawn between them.

It is againstthe backdrop of this complex political realitythat I wrote this lecture.The conceptual starting point for my lecture was the fact that Australias multiculturalism is in trouble, partlydue tothefact that China is not only ourlargest tradingpartner,but also, in recent years, has been the largest source of immigrant population. In my talk, Iengage with Professor AndrewJakubowiczsworkand ask how the Chinese question could help modernize Australias multiculturalism.And I offer a two-pronged pathway: engagement and respect for human rights.

The lecture starts witha brief review of recent changes in Chinese migration to Australia in the last four decades, pointing to a dramatic demographic shift in the Chinese migrant community in Australia in terms of language and cultural practice. Thefirstmain messagefrom this overviewis thatthe PRC migrant community is marked by diversity in terms of social values, political views, cultural sensibilities, and consumption habits. They by no means constitute a single interest group.The second message is thatthere is a high level of ambivalence on the part of many individuals in this group about their identity and their sense of belonging, and many feel stuck between a rock and a hard place.

This brief history is followed by a review ofthe main issues facing first-generation Mandarin-speaking migrants, as well as those facing Australias multiculturalism as a result of the Chinese question.Here, Idiscuss a set of push and pull dynamics which impact on this cohorts capacity to develop a sense of belonging andfeeling at home in their adopted country.While the pull factors include DFATs public-diplomacy-through-diaspora agenda andChinassoft-power-through-diaspora agenda, the push factors in Australia include anti-Chinese racism, security establishments tendency to see them as a risk, andthe current political discoursethatmostlyquestions their loyalty.

Pitching my message to the Australian government, media, older and southern dialect speaking Chinese communities as wellthe first generation mainlander migrant cohortitself Isuggestthat engagementwith this new migrant cohortis a pre-requisite totheirintegration. Sadly,so far,thisengagementis not happening some people in the Cantonese speaking community eye mainlanders with suspicion, even hostility. And many mainlanders find it difficult to communicate with Chinese-Australians who dont speak Mandarin.

Finally, revisiting Andrew Jakubowicz, I ask how Australias multiculturalism can be modernized through a genuine attempt to engage first-generation Chinese migrants, on the one hand, and an ungrudging respect for their human rights, on the other. I suggest that the most effective way of starting this engagement is to treat members of this cohort as rights-bearing citizens, and, first and foremost, as Australians.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wghOI6bw-D0&ab_channel=ChineseAustralianHistoricalSociety

This was the 4thHenry Chan lecture sponsored by the Chinese Australian Historical Society,in association with the State Library of New South Wales, the original intent of which was to bring China based scholars of Australian studies to Australia. In response to pandemic restrictions this aim has broadened to include Australian based scholars discussing topics of value and interest to the Chinese Australian and broader Australian community. The topical nature of Wanning Suns lecture only demonstrates that history begins now.

• Chinese Australian Historical Society (CAHS)

Henry Chan Lectures