A showed that almost one in five Chinese Australians reported being attacked or physically threatened in the past year due to their heritage.
The wide-ranging report found that of more than 1000 Chinese Australians surveyed, 37 per cent felt they had been treated differently or less favourably because of their heritage.
Furthermore, two-thirds of respondents attributed the COVID-19 pandemic as a contributing factor to this discrimination, while 52 per cent cited tensions between China and Australia as another aspect.
'Discrimination must be called out'
Chinese Australian Sally Zhang calls Sydney home. She was born in mainland China and moved to Hong Kong during her 20s, before embarking on her dream move to Australia.
She told SBS Chinese she felt surprised by the survey findings from the foreign affairs think-tank.
“It was shocking to see the result that almost one in five Chinese Australians were attacked or physically threatened.
“Based on my own experience, it doesn't feel like that much. However, maybe it’s just because of my limited experience.”
Ms Zhang and her family have been living in Australia for more than three years, and she admits that on some occasions, she's felt singled out.
She recalls a moment recently when she took her child to a tennis court to ride their scooter, which garnered a threatening reaction from a man standing nearby, who told her the courts are solely for tennis.
“I left right away with my child. I felt I did something wrong or broke the rules,” she said.
But later, a Caucasian guy went in there with his dog. The elder man saw it but didn’t say anything. I felt terrible about that.
The survey found that 66 per cent of respondents said the pandemic was one of the contributors to the increased discrimination over the past year. It's a statistic that Chinese Australian Yan Chang understands all too well.
In her opinion, discrimination against Chinese communities in Australia must've reached a "record high" over the past year.
She shared her own experience: “We used to have a chat with local parents when we met at kindergarten or playgrounds. After the pandemic started in China, they were trying to avoid me, sometimes quite obvious.”
“It’s getting better and now it’s basically back to normal.
“I think the results showed in this report are due to what happened in the last year. It’s important to address these issues. I’m very grateful that there is such a survey, so the majority of society can see the problems.”
'It must be called out'
Professor Yu Haiqing from RMIT University's School of Communication was not surprised by the survey results.
She personally noticed an increase in discrimination during the early to mid-stages of the pandemic in 2020 as she and her friends personally experienced verbal abuse.
“When it comes to racism, we must not be soft, it must be called out.”
In assessing the survey findings, Prof Yu points to a similar report conducted by a Chinese community organisation in 2020, which showed discrimination does exist, in some cases are horrible, but it was not a common issue experienced by the majority.
“Most Australians are friendly and racism is not acceptable here. So I suggest that Chinese communities should have an open mind before calling it discrimination. Sometimes, it’s not discrimination but misunderstanding.”
She encouraged Chinese communities to go out of their way to become a more stronger part of Australian society and suggested individuals learn more about how to communicate with people from other backgrounds and make friends with them.
“Instead of making complains, try to talk with others more. Sometimes, so-called discrimination may be caused by misunderstanding."
Edgar Liu is an influencer on YouTube with his channel 'Sydney Daddy'.
Dr Haiqing Yu, Professor of Media and Communication, RMIT University. Source: Haiqing Yu
He said as the world of Chinese social media gets bigger, Chinese-Australians run the risk of becoming increasingly isolated.
“In recent years, the comfort zone for Chinese communities here is growing larger and larger," he said.
"It’s becoming more and more self-sufficient. You can find a job and make money inside the circle, maybe even earn more money than the 'outside'. ”
He is concerned that Chinese communities in Australia can potentially become an "isolated island" in society.
It’s really hard to break the circle and step out of the comfort zone. It seems to create a ‘country within a country’.
"This is a very dangerous situation, where one group of people is completely isolated from others, and taking control of all available resources."
Chinese communities are “diverse and complex”
According to the Lowy survey, a third of the respondents say democracy is preferable to other systems, a far lesser proportion than the 71 per cent of the broader Australian population expressing that view.
Furthermore, 41 per cent of Chinese Australians say “in some circumstances, a non-democratic government can be preferable”.
Mr Lu, who is a pro-democracy figure online, believes this number is “looking no good”.
He pointed out that some members in this community may have their own opinions on democracy, as the results show 41 per cent of respondents would vote for either the Liberal or National parties.
“The questions and options about democracy in the survey need to be more refined so that it can really reflect how Chinese communities think about democracy," he said.
He questions the definition of “Chinese Australian” in the survey, which includes citizens, permanent resident visa holders and some temporary visa holders in one group.
Prof Yu pointed out that, “Most respondents surveyed are not Australian citizens. They don’t care about the same issues as Australian citizens do".
“Those who just came from China don’t know Australia very well yet, so if you ask about their feelings towards Australia and China, they would definitely feel more about China," he added.
“But if you ask Chinese Australians who are citizens, they must have a deeper understanding of democracy.
“Chinese Australians who are born here may have very different views.
“Chinese communities are very diverse and complex, different groups of Chinese Australians hold different views on democracy.”
She said a positive light from the survey was that it did touch on the diversity and complexity within these communities.
She suggested that future surveys on this broader topic could explore more on the diversity front.
The report showed that nearly 70 per cent of Chinese Australians say they feel accepted by Australian society, and about 80 per cent of them consider Australia to be a "good" or "very good" place to live.
In terms of foreign policy and national security, 72 per cent of respondents trust China to act responsibly in the world. Almost half, 46 per cent, of respondents, were concerned about China’s influence on Australia’s political processes.
Fewer than one in three respondents say that Australian media reporting about China is "fair and balanced".
Ms Zhang said her main sources for news were the ABC, SBS and the Sydney Morning Herald.
“I think they are fair and balanced. As you live here, you need to agree with mainstream values in Australia, like freedom, democracy and equality," she said.
Many members in Chinese communities here live outside the wall but their mind is still inside the wall. The truth is that we should really agree with the values of the country we choose to live in.
She believes the issues of discrimination in Australia need urgent attention, but at the same time, Chinese communities in Australia needed to "adapt their minds" to this country after moving here.
