A British group has launched a drive to get the country's Chinese population to vote in Europe-wide elections set for this summer.
The British-Chinese Project, a volunteer organisation, kicked off the campaign in London on Sunday aimed at raising voter participation in the Chinese community, which has one of the lowest levels of voter registration and participation in elections.
Volunteers set up a stall in London's Chinatown to encourage passers-by to sign up to the electoral register so they were eligible to vote. Volunteers handed out bilingual registration forms and pamphlets in Chinese, and addressed the passing crowds in English, Cantonese and Putonghua. The group cites statistics showing that as many as 30 per cent of eligible Chinese voters in Britain are not registered. Britain's electoral commission says that compares with the 37 per cent rate for blacks, the country's highest. In contrast, the rate of non-registration for whites is only 6 per cent and 17 per cent for all ethnic minorities.
'It's time for Chinese people to be seen and heard,' said Christine Lee, a lawyer who helped found the BC Project in October 2006.
'With China being such a big and powerful country now, it's a really good time for the Chinese community to show people that we are here not just to do business but we are integrated into society as well.'
It is estimated there are anywhere between 250,000 and 400,000 Chinese living in Britain, yet there are only a handful of Chinese city councillors and no members of Parliament.
Along with a lack of information and the language barrier, Ms Lee said a main reason British-Chinese did not take part in politics was general scepticism. She said Chinese parents discouraged their children from politics because of a fear that it would lead to trouble.