| WE SAY: Anti-Chinese chant, a new phenomenon? |
‘Is the recent ‘anti-Chinese chant’ a new phenomenon the Pacific has to prepare for? Who will be targeted next? What town or city will fall victim to this new blight next? Answers are needed, and quickly, if this emerging problem is to be nipped in the bud’
What we saw and read regarding looting of ‘Asian’-owned (that is, ethnic Chinese and Korean) businesses in Papua New Guinea was extremely disturbing. It is time to look seriously at race riots and their ramification for the region.
Chinese-owned business were closed on the 18th and 19th of May in the PNG Highlands city of Mt. Hagen. In neighbouring Wabag, armed police were on high alert and patrolling the streets after having shot dead two men and having seriously injured another three in an attempt to prevent lootings.
The situation in Goroka, the commercial hub of Eastern Highlands, was equally disconcerting. Security remained tight with Asian-owned shops being guarded by ‘long bush-knife’ wielding guards.
The lootings of Asian businesses started following a protest in Port Moresby, but then spread quickly to Lae, Madang, and then on to the Highlands. The protestors have denied any responsibility for the violence.
The Government of Papua New Guinea has condemned the attacks. Parliament has set up a bipartisan committee, on the motion of Morobe Governor Luther Wenge, to investigate the reasons for the outbreak of the recent lootings. The systemic nature of the crime suggests they were anything but random.
PNG is not alone in having witnessed anti-Asian violence over the recent past. Chinese businesses were looted and burnt following rioting in Honiara and Nuku’alofa in 2006.
The PNG-Parliamentary Committee may also want to consider the consequences of such rioting, drawing lessons from Solomon Islands and Tonga.
Is the recent ‘anti-Chinese chant’ a new phenomenon that the island pacific has to prepare for? Who will be targeted next? What town or city will fall victim to this new blight next? Answers are needed, and quickly, if this emerging problem is to be nipped in the bud.
Anti-Chinese sentiments are racist and nothing less. Chinese constitute close to one fifth of the world population. And like any other ethnic community, they come in all shapes, sizes, and shades of character. Stereotyping them as a homogenous group is dishonest at best.
Many of the ethnic Chinese being victimised have lived within the islands for generations. Except for their names, and possibly complexion, these are people of the islands.
They have mingled with Pacific islanders, married into the clans, and participated in every facet of island-life. Thriving bakeries, restaurants and trade stores around the region is evidence of their entrepreneurship. Instead of being credited for their contributions, the entrepreneurs are now being victimised for their success.
There is a large and growing number of new arrivals. And much of the resentment has been against them. This group is easily identifiable given their inability to converse and mix with the local population.
Many of them supply green groceries to the market, run the local trade store, and work the gardens. Without them, the ordinary consumer will end up paying a higher price for many of the produce that we all consume.
Prices for everyday items such as recharge cards for mobile phones shot up by close to double for the two days that Chinese businesses were closed in the Highlands.
Their departure from the islands will mean higher prices for everyday consumer items. Worse still, many of these services may disappear altogether.
The lootings were widely reported in the region. People in China and Korea have been made aware of these developments. The Pacific has a poor image amongst international investors.
The recent spate of violence against ‘Asian’ businesses in PNG is only going to make matters worse. Our leaders need to act quickly and decisively if this problem is to be nipped in the bud.
A common complaint amongst the locals is that the Chinese are highly corrupt. A taxi driver in Honiara told of ‘under the counter payments’ made by Chinese businesses to acquire prime land in the city.
Similar stories on acquisition of entry permits into PNG and Tonga have also been heard. But who is letting these criminals in? If it is indeed true that many of the recent arrivals are criminals, then this is a reflection of our own failures at border control.
Opposition leader, Sir Mekere Morauta, questioned the government on the means used by the recent migrants.
Poor border control is a region-wide problem. The Pacific has always complained about its remoteness from the major markets.
Costs of transportation remain a major impediment to international trade. Reaching Nauru, the Republic of Marshall Island, and Tonga illegally—say on fishing boats—is close to impossible. Swimming to these destinations from China is hard work! Thus, all of the arrivals have got into the countries via the official channels.
Ethnic Chinese comprise approximately one fifth of humanity. On the law of simple averages, one in every five criminals on the planet ought to be an ethnic Chinese. Surprisingly, we do not see anything even close to this proportion.
The Pacific produces its fair share of conmen, as does Australia and labelling Chinese, even the new arrivals, as being criminals is racist and wrong.
Finally, inciting ethnic divisions in the community has the potential to snowball into deepened racial conflict.
It is the Chinese who are victims of racism now but it could be you next. A community like humpty-dumpty once crumbled is hard to put together again. Better not start on this journey!
First and foremost, the lootings have to be stopped. Our leaders must work hard and fast to achieve this goal. Second, we must draw lessons from the recent ethnically targeted lootings within the region.
The report by the PNG Parliamentary Committee is both timely and warranted.
Third, some serious investigations must be undertaken to establish the effectiveness of immigration policies. It is not the illegal entrants but border control that deserves close scrutiny. An arms-length audit of border control is long overdue.
Finally, the Pacific has to work towards improving its image as a destination to visit and invest in. China is a large and rapidly expanding market.
Its large population offers a range of skills, and at a highly competitive price. Many of these skills are in short supply within the region.
With more care in vetting entrants, the ethnic Chinese in the region and their links to the mainland can be a major asset for the Pacific.
The major challenge for the region, according to Dr Charles Yala of Papua New Guinea, is that of integration. PNG is ethnically divided enough. There are several recent cases of ethnically divisive disintegration within PNG. Highlanders, Morobeans, and Sepiks were forced out of East and West New Britain; Islanders and Sepiks out of Madang; Sepiks, Madangs, and Highlanders out of Lae; Engans, Southern Highlanders, Chimbus, and Eastern Highlanders out of Mt. Hagen; Bainings into the interior by the Tolais; the chant of ‘Oro for Oro’; and the list goes on and on.
The consequences of these divisions could be disastrous. The anti-Chinese chanters better wake up to this fact.
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