For New Zealand-Chinese, global rise in anti-Asian hate a reminder of painful past
- In the 19th century, the Chinese community faced intense discrimination as New Zealand sought to preserve a white-majority population
- As the #StopAsianHate movement grows worldwide, some ethnic Chinese today are reminded that equality is still a distant proposition
The government in 1944 axed the Chinese Immigration Act, a measure established in 1881 at the height of anti-Chinese sentiment that saw restrictions including a poll tax of £10 – later raised to £100 (worth about US$14,000 today) – levelled on ethnic Chinese entering New Zealand. They were also denied naturalisation rights and kept out of welfare or pension schemes, among other rules.
While an official described the act as a “blot on our legislation” when it was abolished, it was not until almost six decades later that New Zealand-Chinese citizens received a national apology for the discrimination their ancestors faced.
“No other ethnic group was subjected to such restrictions or to a poll tax,” said then-prime minister Helen Clark in 2002. “The government’s apology today is the formal beginning to a process of reconciliation.”
