History of Overseas Chinese in Australia 澳大利亚华侨华人史

History of Overseas Chinese in Australia

澳大利亚华侨华人史

Chapter 3 The Historical Context of White Australia Policy

第三节 白澳政策产生的历史背景

The White Australia Policy was implemented in Australia for over a century, from when 1855 when Victoria became the first state to enact laws restricting Chinese immigration with the Chinese Immigration Act, until 1974 when the Federal Government officially announced the end of racially, ethnically, and nationality-based discriminatory immigration policies. While some Australian politicians were not willing to acknowledge the original aim of the White Australia policy or attempt to downplay its significance, impartial Australian historians and scholars openly recognize its indisputable historical reality in their writings.  

从1855年维多利亚第一个宣布实行排华法直至1974 年联邦政府正式宣布实行无人种、肤色或国籍歧视的移民政策时止，澳大利亚实行白澳政策前后超过了一个世纪。尽管澳大利亚的一些政治家不肯承认这是白澳政策或者给它加上引号，但是，公正的澳大利亚历史学家及其他学者在他们撰写的著作中坦率地承认，无论如何白澳政策的存在是不可争辩的历史事实。

The formation of the White Australia policy underwent a historical progression. In the mid-19th century, its focus was predominately on targeting overseas Chinese individuals, and by the 1990s, it expanded to include immigrants from other Asian nations. The peak of the White Australia policy came with the enactment of the Dictation Test by the Federal Government in 1901, marking a significant advancement in the systematic and refinement exclusion of Chinese immigrants’ policy.

白澳政策的形成有一个历史发展过程。19世纪中叶，它的打击矛头明显地指向华侨，到90年代则已扩及到其他亚洲国家移民。1901年联邦政府成立后通过的《语言测验法》则是白澳政策的顶峰，它使排华政策越来越完善和系统化了。

Racist politicians and trade union leaders espousing racist views were among the first to spearhead the anti-Chinese movement. Initially, ranchers and merchants did not actively support Chinese exclusion since they relied on Chinese labour to make profits. However, as the gold mines depleted and the overseas Chinese switched to industrial and commercial sectors, conflicts arose between them. Then their stance shifted, and they turned to advocating for anti-Chinese movements.

最早掀起排华运动的是持种族主义观点的政客、工会领袖等。牧场主和商人因经济利益关系需雇佣华工，起初对排华并不积极。等到金矿枯竭，华侨转去从事工商业活动，同他们的利益发生矛盾后，他们就转变态度，加入了排华的队伍。

Here are some main reasons for supporting the restriction, exclusion, and suppression targeted towards overseas Chinese and other ethnic minorities.

主张限制、排斥、打击华侨以及有色民族的主要因素是:

1. Economic Reasons

The majority of Chinese immigrants in Australia were originally impoverished peasants and urban dwellers living in dire circumstances. Since they had no means to support their lives in China, they viewed Australia as a beacon of hope. With the relatively low living requirement and a strong work ethic, these Chinese immigrants were regarded as the most skilled and cost-effective labour force.

一、经济原因 

绝大多数移居澳大利亚的华侨原是中国的破产农民和城市贫民，他们是在中国实在无以为生的状况下才去澳大利亚谋生的。因而对物质生活要求不高，勤奋劳动，是最佳和最廉价的劳动力。

In the mines, Chinese miners earned only half the pay of their white counterparts, while Chinese labourers in the pastures also received significantly lower wages compared to white men. Similarly, Chinese sailors earned only a quarter of what white sailors were paid. Because of their low payment, Chinese labourers naturally became the first choice of white employers. This inevitably stirred up jealousy and resentment among white union leaders and workers, who felt that Chinese labourers had taken away their jobs and diminished their earnings. They complained that Chinese labourers swarmed like locusts. They were anywhere, wanted anything, seized the mineral resources discovered by the white miners and left nothing behind. Many white union leaders and miners believed that gold mining rights should be reserved for them, considering it unfair for Chinese workers to be involved. In 1857, white miners in the Fryer’s Creek mine area said, “The depression in the mine area is due to the harmful influence of the Chinese presence.” In 1887, when the Chinese Ambassadors went to the United Kingdom, lodged a protest with the British authorities based on reports from Wang Ronghe and Yu Sui, who had conducted investigations into the situation of overseas Chinese in Australia. On January 23, 1888, the British Colonial Secretary forwarded a request to the Governors of various regions in Australia for clarification. The replies from these Governors were largely similar: “It has been confirmed that Chinese labourers are formidable competitors to white workers in various industries in Australia. If left unrestricted, allowing them to compete will inevitably result in low wages and make life difficult for white workers.”

在矿区，华侨矿工的工资只有白人矿工的一半，牧场华工工资也比白人低得多，华侨水手工资只及白人水手的1/4。因为他们的报酬低，自然成为白人雇主首选的雇佣对象。这就不可避免地引起白人工会领袖及工人的妒忌和不满，认为华工抢去了他们的饭碗，降低了他们的收人。他们埋怨“华工就像蝗虫一样挤在一起，无孔不入，什么都要，连白人矿工发现的资源也给他们截留了，被耗尽后什么也没给留下”。许多白人工会领袖及矿工认为金矿的开采权应该是属于他们的，而现在却让华工介入，自然很不公平。1857年弗莱尔斯溪矿区的白人矿工说:“矿区的萧条是由于华侨带来的有害的影响。” 1887年，中国驻英公使根据王荣和、余㻪考察澳大利亚侨情的报告向英方提出交涉。1888年1月23日，英国殖民大臣转送给澳大利亚各地总督请求解释，这些总督回电的答复大致相同:“经验证明，在澳百业，华工是白人工人的劲敌，如不加以限制，听其竞争，必然导致工资低廉而使白人工人生活窘迫。”

In 1850, Chinese immigrants remitted gold worth 500,000 pounds back to Canton, arousing envy among the white population. In 1888, the Governor of South Australia said, “The life habits of these Chinese made them easy to survive and make a big money, but European immigrants and their families will starve or die of hunger.” Similarly, an official in New South Wales expressed, “Considering the temporary stay rather than permanent settlement of these Chinese immigrants, their work is going to be not beneficial to Australian society.” 

1850年，澳大利亚华侨汇回广州的黄金折价50万镑，也使白人眼红。1888年，南澳总理说:“华侨的生活习惯使他们易于生存而且能赚很多钱，欧洲移民及其家属却将挨饿或饿死。”新南威尔士的一位官员认为:“中国人到澳大利亚只作短暂停留而不定居，他们的劳动对澳大利亚社会是毫无利益可言的。”

When gold mines gradually depleted, many white miners switched to laundry, furniture, grocery, and banana trade industries. Meanwhile, there were also numerous Chinese workers in those sectors, who could work for a long time with lower wages. Additionally, Chinese workers were adept at improving technology and reducing costs, and all those above led to dissatisfaction among their white colleagues. In the 1890s, Australia experienced economic downturns and intensified competition. Given that, Laundry Association Australia criticized Chinese workers for competing with them on unequal terms. The association demanded the government revise the relevant law to impose stricter restrictions and crackdowns on the economic activities of overseas Chinese. They prohibited the opening of new laundry businesses owned by overseas Chinese and even revoked licenses from existing ones owned by overseas Chinese.

当金矿逐步枯竭后，不少白人矿工转去从事洗衣、家具、杂货和香蕉贸易业。在这些部门也有不少华侨从业人员。他们工作时间长，为雇主打工者工资较低。再加上华侨善于改进技术，降低成本，因而引起白人同行的不满。19世纪90年代澳大利亚经济不景气，经济竞争尤为激烈。在这种情况下，白人洗衣协会就指责华侨同行是在不平等的基础上同他们竞争。他们要求政府修订法律，更严厉限制及打击华侨经济，不准新的华侨洗衣店开业，甚至吊销已有的华侨洗衣店执照。

2. White Supremacy

Europeans were the pioneers of early colonialism. They always fabricate some so-called scientific theories to justify their aggressive expansionist actions, like exploiting the abundant natural resources of other continents, seizing other countries’ territories and oppressing and exploiting the aboriginal peoples and other ethnic immigrants who lived in those areas. They distorted Darwin’s theories of evolution, whose cornerstone principle is survival of the fittest, but propagated ideas of Social Darwinism and The White Man’s Burden theory. They foolishly claimed that only white people and Western culture are the most advanced, and gorgeous in the world, and thus, white people have the right and the duty to disseminate their culture to other parts of the world. Those views had long been disseminated by the White supremacist expansionists though this set of fallacious doctrines was officially introduced by the Western governments in the late 19^th century.

二、白人种族优秀论

欧洲人是早期殖民主义者的先锋。他们为了掠夺其他洲丰富的自然资源，侵占他国的地盘，压迫和剥削这些地方的原住民及其他族移民，总要制造一些所谓的理论依据，来为他们的侵略扩张行为辩护。他们歪曲达尔文“适者生存”的进化论，宣扬“社会达尔文主义”及“白种人责任论”，胡说什么只有白种人和西欧文明才是世界上最先进的最优秀的种族和文明，白种人有权利并且有义务把西欧文明传播到全世界。尽管这套谬论19世纪后期才正式系统出台，但是白人种族主义扩张分子很早就已经在散播这些观点。

As veteran imperialists of colonialism, proponents of British imperialism had long distributed a misleading statement that there is no race more superior than the Anglo-Saxons and used it as a justification for building colonial empires in these territories. Upon Australia coming under British colonial rule, most of the white immigrants in Australia were from England, fostering a pervasive belief in white racial supremacy among governing and upper classes, including landowners, mining owners, and union leaders, which eventually led to strong racial sentiment. When they saw there were more and more overseas Chinese in the same land, they harbored deep-seated racial prejudices towards Chinese immigrants. They strongly opposed Chinese immigration and devised various pretexts to restrict or even prohibit the immigration of Chinese. For those who already made their living in Australia, white immigrations utilized every method they could come up with to ostracize and tamp down on them. In such circumstances, the phenomenon of discrimination against overseas Chinese was prevalent in both upper classes and common people, with insulting terms “Chow” and “John Chinaman” commonly used to demean overseas Chinese.

作为老牌殖民主义者的英帝国主义分子，很早就开始宣扬所谓盎格鲁—撒克逊民族是地球最优秀民族的谬论，并将其作为他们建立殖民地帝国的理论依据。澳大利亚成为英国殖民地后，白人移民绝大多数来自英国，各地的统治阶层、农牧场主、矿主、工会领袖等一些上层分子脑子里装满了白人种族优秀论，种族主义情绪异常强烈。当他们看到华侨逐步增多时，种族偏见油然而生，开始起劲地起来反对中国移民，制造各种借口来限制甚至禁止中国人入境，对于已在澳大利亚谋生的华侨，则想尽办法加以排斥打击。在这种情况下，无论是在澳大利亚上层社会还是在民间，普遍存在歧视华侨的氛围。白人习惯用侮辱性的字眼称呼华侨为“Chow”(中国狗)或“John Chinaman”(中国佬)。

Some white people in the White Cliffs opposed the practice of “The inferior nation (referring to overseas Chinese) to cohabit with Europeans” which was permitted by the government. In the eyes of some white supremacists, “white people are superior, advanced and educational, while Chinese people are deemed inferior, characterized by backwardness, stagnation, stubbornness, and aging.” They perceived that “people of colour conduct themselves like animals, such as hyenas, ants, bees, cockroaches, or octopuses. Chinese immigrants are viewed as useful slaves for Capitalism while they are also considered dangerous and threatening.” John Plunkett, a lawyer from New South Wales, regarded Chinese immigrants as “the most ferocious and blood-thirsty race he had ever seen.” Consequently, Europeans must not engage in intermarriage with Chinese as it would only produce “the inferior breed”, thus tainting the purity of the white race.”

白崖矿区的一些白人反对当局允许“低等民族(指华侨)同欧洲人混居在一起”。在一些白人种族主义分子看来，“白人是优秀的、先进的、有文化的民族，而中国人是劣等民族，其特点是倒退、停滞、顽固及老化。”在白人眼中，“有色人种就像动物一样，如同一群豺狼、蚂蚁、蜜蜂、蟑螂、章鱼那样活动。华侨对资本主义来说是有用的奴隶，但又是危险的和有威胁性的民族。欧洲人难以同他们相处。”新南威尔士律师普龙克特认为，华侨是从未见过的残忍而又嗜血成性的民族，因而欧洲人绝不可以同华侨通婚，通婚只能生下下等人，白人就不纯洁了。

Some scholars thought that the primary cause of the White Australia policy was to maintain the pure blood of the local British. Australians were afraid that non-Europeans would undermine the characteristics of British society. Henry Parkes, the Premier of NSW, explained that, the White Australia policy “is a question of policy of the first magnitude to cement society together by the same principles of faith and jurisprudence, the same influence of language and religion, and the same national habits of life.” Given the difficulty for overseas Chinese and other Asians to integrate into the community, exclusion was seen as a largely necessary measure to maintain ‘White Purity’. Alfred Deakin, Australia’s second Prime Minister, also expressed his opinions that “The White Australia policy goes down to the roots of our national existence, the roots from which the British social system has sprung.”

一些学者认为，实行白澳政策的主要原因是要维持在澳大利亚的英国人的纯洁性。澳大利亚人害怕非欧洲人会摧毁英国社会的特征。这一点，新南威尔士的总理帕克斯也表白得很清楚。他解释白澳政策是“这样的一种政策：根植于相同信仰和法律原则组成的团结的社会，这个社会具有相同的语言、宗教影响以及共同的民族生活习惯”。而华侨及其他亚洲人是很难融入这种社会中去的，为了维持“白人社会的纯洁性”，因而抵制他们就是非常必要的了。联邦政府的第二任总理迪金也认为，白澳政策深深扎根于英国民族中，扎根于英国的社会制度之中。

To deepen public acceptance of the White Australia Policy and garner support from the white people community, Australian government officers or newspapers were constantly propagating the fallacy of white superiority and the inferiority of people of colour. Deakin expressed, “We here find ourselves touching the most profound instinct of individual or nation”. Member of Parliament, Wilkinson said, (we) should make the Australian people the best in the world and not be the slaves of the Asians. Chris Watson of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) remarked, “The objection I have to mixing of coloured people with the white people of Australia… lies in the main in the possibility and probability of racial contamination.” A white racist in Victoria smeared, “In Warrnambool and Gomorra, there lived a horrendous group of nomadic Chinese who were thieves, murderers, and adulterers. They were cruel and violent, seducing and insulting white women. Young white women fall prey to their delusion.”

为了使白澳政策更加深入人心，以取得白人社会的拥护与支持，澳大利亚的官员或报纸不断制造白人优秀、有色人种低劣的谬论。迪金认为：“我们是最天才的民族”。国会议员威尔金森说：应该使澳大利亚民族成为世界最优秀的民族，而不能成为亚洲人的奴隶。工党的沃森说：“我反对有色人种同澳大利亚白人的融合，因为这样一来可能造成人种的污染”。维多利亚的一个白人种族主义分子污蔑说：“在索多姆、戈莫拉的华侨住宅区住着一群可怕的华侨游牧民族，他们是贼、杀人犯、通奸犯。他们残忍、凶暴，勾引并侮辱白人妇女。年轻的白人妇女在他们迷糊下上当受骗了”。

White racists not only discriminated against pure-blooded Chinese immigrants but also against the second and third generations of mixed-race Chinese immigrant descendants. William Liu^, a prominent leader among overseas Chinese, whose father was a first-generation Chinese immigrant and whose mother was a British immigrant, deeply felt the impact of this discrimination. Liu said, “I was born in Sydney. My mom was from London and she moved to Australia with her family when she was four years old. Like thousands of other Chinese immigrants, my father participated in the reclamation of the Riverina which was almost cultivated by the Chinese. My mother served as an assistant pianist at the Overseas Chinese Christian Church in Sydney. However, when she married my father, her family members refused to acknowledge the relationship and didn’t attend the wedding ceremony. They also did not visit when my siblings and I were born. He added, “The way white people in Australia treated overseas Chinese is the same as what they had done to Tasmanian Aboriginals.” Due to the discrimination, Liu was excluded from the white social circle and was unable to grow up like other normal Australian children.

白人种族主义者不仅歧视纯血统的华侨，而且歧视混血的第二代、第三代的华侨子女。这一点，著名的华侨领袖、父亲为第一代中国移民、母亲是英国移民的刘光福体会很深。他说:“我出生在悉尼。母亲来自伦敦。她4岁时随家人移居澳大利亚。我父亲在里弗赖纳垦荒。那里有数千华侨种地。里弗赖纳几乎是华侨一手开垦出来的。我母亲是悉尼华侨基督教堂的助理琴师。当她与我父亲结婚时，母亲一家人都不承认，也不参加婚礼。我们兄弟姐妹出生时，也不来看望。”他还说:“澳大利亚对待华侨就如同以前对待塔斯马尼亚的土著那样。”由于刘光福受到歧视，因此被拒之于白人生活圈之外，不能像澳大利亚儿童那样正常成长。

3. The Differences Between Cultures

Early Chinese immigrants were born in China, they were deeply rooted in Chinese traditional culture while white immigrants in Australia retained the British culture and traditions. Naturally, significant differences existed between the two cultures, which widened as White nationalist sentiments grew.

三、文化传统的差异

早期华侨出生在中国，深受中国传统文化的影响。澳大利亚白人移民则保留英国文化传统。两种文化自然有很大不同。这种文化方面的鸿沟随着白人民族主义情绪的增长而扩大。

Jefferson, a former official in New South Wales, said “History will prove that the characters of the Chinese will pose a greater danger to us than their vices. We need the dominance of British culture, British laws, and the social norms prevalent in Australia. A large influx of Chinese immigrants would be detrimental to our future, thus we must refuse their entry.” The Tasmanian government telegraphed the British government in March-April 1888, stating “Chinese culture has a long history and has continued influence on Chinese people, which is fundamentally distinct from the prevailing European culture in Australia. Therefore, Australia must continue to preserve European culture.”

曾任新南威尔士官员的杰佛斯说: “事实将证明，对我们来说，中国人的品德将比他们的恶习更具危险性。我们需要英国文明、英国法规以及英国的社会生活方式在澳大利亚占统治地位。如果中国人大批涌来并占多数，其结果对我们的将来将是非常不幸的。因而必须将他们拒之于境外。” 塔斯马尼亚政府于1888年三四月间致电英国政府说:“中国文化源远流长。它同与已在澳大利亚广为流行的欧洲文化有本质上的区别。澳大利亚必须继续保留欧洲文化。”

4. The Different Religious Believes

The European immigrants to Australia were almost Catholics or Christians, while Chinese immigrants were more influenced by Buddhism, Taoism or Confucianism. Those Christians who harboured religious prejudices against overseas Chinese perceive themselves as the cultural children of God, while overseas Chinese, who do not believe in God, are regarded as “‘cruel’ and ‘dishonest’, were guilty of ‘secret societies’ and ‘atrocities’, …, and were of a ‘different colour’ and of ‘most immoral, filthy and treacherous habits’”.

四、宗教信仰的不同

澳大利亚的欧洲移民基本上是天主教徒或基督教徒。而中国移民则多受到佛教、道教或儒家学说的影响。那些对华侨怀有宗教偏见的基督教徒把自己看成是有文化的上帝的子民，而华侨不相信上帝，是异教徒，被描写成“残暴、不诚实、秘密结社的犯罪分子以及凶恶的人。是不同肤色的人，最不道德、不清洁和很危险的人。”

These European immigrants who believed in God aimed to establish a “democratic society” in Australia. However, the arrival of Chinese people was perceived as an obstacle, as they were believed to undermine the democratic social system. White people considered it their prerogative to drive them out of Australia.

这些信仰上帝的欧洲移民要在澳大利亚建立一个“民主社会”，中国人的到来被认为是一种障碍，他们将破坏民主制，白人认为将他们赶出澳大利亚理所当然。

5. The Concern about China Exploiting Overseas Chinese to Encroach Upon Australia

In the early population of Australia, apart from European immigrants, overseas Chinese constituted the largest group of non-white immigrants. According to statistics from 1861, among men over the age of 20 in New South Wales, there were 114,944 white men and 12,986 overseas Chinese, that is, overseas Chinese accounted for 1/8. The statistic instilled fear and unease among some white people. After the first intercolonial conference, statements such as “yellow fever” and “Australia belongs only to Australians” went viral, causing white people to worry about the escalating influx of Chinese immigrants potentially taking over Australia.

五、担心中国利用华侨侵占澳大利亚

早期澳大利亚的总人口中，除欧洲移民外，华侨是最多的外来非白人移民。据1861年的统计，新南威尔士20岁以上的男子中，白人为114944人，华侨为12986人，即华侨占1/8.47 这就引起一些白人的惊恐和不安。1880年第一次州际会议后，“黄祸论”及“澳大利亚是澳大利亚人的澳大利亚”的言论开始流行，白人担心华侨人数的猛增将会吞噬掉澳大利亚。

For instance, John Downer in South Australia believed that “a young nation, such as any of the Australian colonies, ‘should not make its relation with a powerful nation at its doors so friendly that in future times we might have cause for bitter regret’”. W. Forrest in Queensland advocated Chinese exclusion, citing China’s proximity to Australia and its large population. The investigation of conducted by Wang Ronghe and Yu Sui heightened the concerns of white Australians, who feared that more immigrants would be sent from China. They warned that these Chinese immigrants would “swarm in like locusts; that without restriction European labour would be swamped by the ‘pent up torrent of humanity in China’; that, though numbers might now appear to be relatively small and the Chinese unoffending, ‘the moment they became a majority in any locality or arrive in any great numbers… they act on the aggressive.’”. Overseas Chinese were depicted as military conquerors and barbarians. The Courier Mail of Brisbane published articles in December 1878 and January 1879, stating that “The aggression of the Chinese immigrants is imminent. The yellow peril is at our doorstep. We must fight. The issue of Chinese immigrants is becoming increasingly serious. Due to the crisis becoming more urgent and threatening, we must be prepared to face reality, and we must address this issue.” A newspaper in Victoria stated: “Chinese secret societies are attempting to overthrow the Australian government.”

例如南澳的约翰·唐纳就认为，澳大利亚任何一个年轻的殖民区都不能同中国这样的大国保持联系。因为中国是不友好的国家。否则我们将会后悔不已。昆士兰的福雷斯特赞成排华，理由是中国离澳大利亚很近，人口又多。王荣和、余㻪的考察使更多白人担心中国将会派更多移民到澳大利亚，他们将“像蝉那样成群而至，如果不加限制，欧洲移民将大批被涌来的中国人所淹没。华侨现在是少数，但会变成多数。他们会以各种方式进入澳大利亚，他们的目的就是要侵略澳大利亚”。华侨被描写成军事征服者，是野蛮人。1878年12月及1879年1月的布里斯班《信使报》发表文章说：“华侨对我们的侵略迫在眉睫。黄祸就在我们家门口。我们必须战斗。华侨问题变得日益严重了。由于危机日益迫切及更具威胁性，我们必须准备面对现实，我们必须来解决这个问题。”维多利亚的一家报纸说：“华侨秘密会社企图推翻澳大利亚政府。”

Obviously, the statements above were all based on racism, and those slanderous words were backed by no evidence.

显然，上述种种说法是出于种族偏见的，这些污蔑性语言是毫无事实根据的。

6. The Difference in Lifestyle Habits

When Chinese immigrants arrived and settled in Australia, they still wore traditional Chinese clothes with a braid on their heads, which surprised white immigrants. Even Chinese immigrants’ simple activities like cooking outdoors and chatting were considered unfavourably by some white people.

六、生活习俗的差异

当华侨大批到达澳大利亚并定居下来时，他们的头上还扎着辫子，身上穿的是中国式服装，当然会使白人移民深感惊异。甚至华侨在屋外煮饭，一起聊天，也被认为是缺点。

Richard Lawal, a Victorian senator, said, those Chinese immigrants were dirty and didn’t pay attention to their hygiene. They were accused of spreading diseases such as leprosy and fever, bringing various bacteria to Australia. The newspaper owned by white people claimed that the plague brought by Chinese people led to death, and their work shelters were always smelly. They not only had diseases like fever, and leprosy, but also the Black Death, smallpox, cholera, ulcers, measles, and so on. Leprosy, in particular, instilled fear in white people as it was a disease that was exclusive to people of colour. White people also considered the clothing, vegetables and furniture of Chinese immigrants posed a risk of spreading diseases. Moreover, white people also thought that Chinese immigrants waste water and polluted water sources. In a nutshell, in the eyes of white supremacists, all the lifestyle habits of Chinese immigrants were considered inferior and wrong, and they were seen as the source of every disease.

维多利亚议员理查德・瓦尔说:华侨不讲卫生，肮脏。他们传染麻风病、发热病，带来各种各样的病菌。白人办的英文报纸说:华侨瘟疫使人得病死亡。华侨的工棚散发出阵阵恶臭。他们不仅患发热病、麻风，还有黑死病、天花、霍乱、溃疡、麻疹等等。麻风是有色人种才有的病，是白种人所最害怕的。华侨的衣服、蔬菜及家具也都有传染疾病的危险。白人还认为华侨用水浪费，不卫生，污染了水源。总之，在白人种族主义分子看来，华侨的生活习俗都不顺眼，他们是传播一切疾病的根源。

In 1900, there were only twenty to thirty overseas Chinese who suffered from leprosy in Victoria, however, public opinion distorted the fact to portray all Chinese immigrants as lepers. The government responded by isolating suspected leprosy-afflicted overseas Chinese, prohibiting them from leaving their homes and forcing them to live in remote areas. Every week, those Chinese could only get 5 cents from the government, which was barely enough to stave off hunger. Consequently, some Chinese people succumbed to malnutrition while some resorted to begging to survive. In 1884, a Chinese patient in Ballarat was homeless after his house was burned down by white people, and eventually died in the cemeteries near the hospital.

1900年，维多利亚只有二三十个华侨麻风病患者，却被舆论宣染成全澳华侨都是麻风病人。政府隔离这些被怀疑有麻风病的华侨，禁止他们上街，住在远离人群的地方。每周只发给每人5个先令，说是既不会饿死，也不会太舒服。结果，有的人因营养不良而死去，有的靠行乞苟延残喘。1884年，巴勒拉特的一个华侨病人，被白人烧掉了房子，最后死在医院附近的公墓。

7. Safety Considerations

In the late 19th century, people of colour who were excluded by the White Australia policy were not limited to Chinese immigrants but also included other Asian immigrants. At that time, Japan was powerful defeated China and Russia, and sent warships to Australia to show off its military capacity. Meanwhile, the number of Japanese in Australia was increasing gradually, reaching 3,248 Japanese immigrants in Queensland in 1898. Just like white people were concerned about Chinese immigrants invading Australia, they also had the same concerns regarding Japanese immigrants. During the First World War, Australian Prime Minister William Morris Hughes said, “White Australia would be an illusion without military capacity backed up. We already declared to the world that Australia belongs to white people, with a 4,200,000 population, only 21,000 soldiers, and 5,000 to 6,000 reserve forces. Besides, we don’t allow people of colour to come to Australia.”

七、安全方面的考虑  

19世纪末，白澳政策所排斥的有色人种已不限于中国移民还包括其他亚洲移民。当时日本国力强盛，曾先后战胜中国及俄国，并派军舰访澳炫耀武力。与此同时，在澳的日本侨民也日见增多。1898年，在昆士兰的日侨即达3 248人。就像担心华侨侵占澳大利亚一样，白人也担心日本侵略澳大利亚。第一次世界大战时，澳大利亚总理休士就曾说过:“若无武力为后盾，则我们的白澳政策只是废纸而已。我们已向世界宣称，澳大利亚乃一白种人国家。我国人口420万，士兵才2.1万，后备力量5000人至6000人，我们不许有色人种进人。”

It is needed to know that the implementation of the White Australia policy was highly related to the international anti-Chinese movement. The Chinese Exclusion Supplement Act of 1884 in the United States declared that overseas Chinese nationwide and their descendant would always be regarded as overseas Chinese no matter whether they were naturalized or not. In 1885, the Canadian government increased the border tax for Chinese from $10 to $50 per person. In March and April 1888, all Australian governments asked the British government to introduce America’s Chinese Exclusion Act and supported the Australian government to impose more severe restrictions on further immigration. Given that we can know that the Chinese exclusion movement in North America has played a great role in boosting the anti-Chinese movement in Australia.

必须指出的是，白澳政策的推行与国际排华浪潮密不可分。美国1884年的排华补充法案规定，世界各国华侨及其后代不论是否已归化，永远当华侨看待。1885年，加拿大政府将中国人的人境税从每人10加元增至50加元。1888年三四月间，澳大和亚各地政府即曾要求英国政府援引美国排华法，同意澳大利亚更严厉限制中国人人境。可见，北美的排华运动对澳大利亚的排起着推波助澜的作用。

Some white people considered Chinese immigrants as a group of heinous people whose entry should be limited or even prohibited. However, among the white masses, some objective people opposed restriction and spoke for the overseas Chinese.

尽管在某些白人看来，华侨是“十恶不赦”的中国移民，必须限制或禁止他们人境。但是在白人群众中，也不乏主持公道，为华侨说话的有识之士。

Some humanitarians argued that Chinese people were sober and hardworking, and they can become good servants, miners, porters or fishermen. Morris and O’Brien, who came from New South Wales, believed that overseas Chinese were not heinous and immoral, but honest and peaceful. Therefore, the campaigns against them were merely a stupid and spontaneous act of racial prejudice of some people. Hay, Dickson and Rotton went further, they believed that the restrictions were a denial of justice, and it was also unfair to the early Chinese immigrants.

一些人道主义者认为，中国人严肃勤劳，可以成为很好的佣人、矿工、搬运工或渔夫。新南威尔士的莫里斯及奥不赖恩认为，华侨并不凶残、不道德，而是诚实及热爱和平。排斥他们只是一些人的种族偏见所造成的，是庸人的无政府行为。哈伊、迪金森及罗顿认为，排华论是对正义的否定，对早期华侨史来说也是不公正的。《墨尔本月刊杂志》表示欢迎华侨，认为他们是好朋友。他们之中有好佣人，有些人是市场的好顾客。

Reverend J. West, the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald and a Congregationalist minister, remarked that the Chinese were an equal part of God’s creation, which he took for granted. He criticized the simplistic views of some, who regarded the Chinese as nothing more than a ‘herd of cattle’, unable to see beyond their unfamiliar appearance and clothing. However, he argued that their common humanity was evident in their well-organized, cooperative migration schemes and their desire to earn money in Australia to support their families back home. He praised the achievements of Chinese civilization and challenged those who harped on the superiority of the British race to compare the drunken white labourer with the sober, law-abiding, industrious Chinese. 

《悉尼先驱晨报》编辑、公理会教徒雷文德·韦斯特认为，华侨是上帝公平创造出来的一员。有些人把华侨看成是兽群，仅从穿着、肤色来判断他们是奇异的种族，显然是错误的。华侨的普通人性表现为有良好的训练、团结协作的移民精神。他们到澳大利亚来的目的只是为了攒钱养家。他赞扬中国文化。他说：那些老说英国种族优秀的人比一比吧：白人劳工是醉鬼，而华侨则不喝酒，而且遵守纪律，勤奋工作。

Some members of parliament in Western Australia thought that Chinese were clever, hardworking, patient, and free from the bottle. They also received better education than Europeans. Chinese people planted vegetables in Perth and other places in Australia, while there were no white people would like to undertake such tasks. Those Chinese immigrants were willing to work for low wages that white people could not accept. Gambling was a common phenomenon. In terms of health issues, both white people and Chinese immigrants faced similar challenges.

西澳的一些议员认为华侨聪明、勤劳、有耐心、不喝酒，教育程度比欧洲人高。他们在珀思等地种植蔬菜。除了华侨，没有一个白人男子愿意种菜。华侨愿意干白人不愿干的低工资得到劳动。赌博是普遍现象。至于疾病问题，白人及华侨都有。

The Radical in New South Wales expressed, “taking an anarchist egalitarian line supporting both European and Chinese workers, as equals, …, the Earth is the Lord’s and that all men are created alike in His image, that there should be no barriers against ‘the free circulation of people on God’s Earth’, and that that restrictive legislation was tantamount to ‘libelling’ the Creator.” The violent anti-Chinese riot at the Lambing Flat Folk, Member of Parliament Henry, pointed out in his letter to the Governor-General of New South Wales that: from the perspective of Australian interests, there should be no legislation to expel Chinese people; Chinese people are diligent and kind, especially skilled in agriculture.

新南威尔士的《激进报》认为，白人工人与华工是平等的。既然基督教认为种族皆兄弟，地球属于上帝，所有人都是上帝所创造，就不应该有反对自由人的围墙，限制移民等于污辱上帝。蓝坪摊排华事件中的议员亨雷在致新南威尔士总司令函中指出：从澳大利亚利益方面考虑，实不应有任何驱逐中国人的立法。中国人勤劳和善，尤其擅长农业。

Some white people pointed out impartially that white prostitutes in Chinatown were working as prostitutes long before the arrival of Chinese immigrants. The crime rate among Chinese was noticeably lower than among Europeans and alcoholism was almost entirely absent.

一些白人还公正地指出，唐人街的白人妓女早在中国人到来之前即已存在。犯罪的华侨比白人少，酗酒几乎没有。

However, in the pervasive atmosphere of racism across Australia, the voices advocating for ethnic equality and the fair treatment of Chinese immigrants were naturally disregarded by racists. The voice “White Australia” finally gain ground. In a Queensland parliamentary debate in 1888, one could even hear statements like: “We want no Chinese here at all; we do not want this country a mixture of Chinaman and whites; we want it for whites along.” On January 1, 1901, one member of the new Federal Parliament requested that the new nation retain “the noble ideal of a White Australia-a snow-white Australia if you will. Let it be pure and spotless.” This statement clearly uncovered the motives of the proponents of the White Australia Policy.

但是，在种族主义论弥漫全澳的形式下，那些坚持民族平等、善待华侨的呼声自然是不为种族论者所接受的。要建立“白人的澳大利亚”的论调终于占了上风。1888年在昆士兰议会辩论中甚至能听到这样的言论：“我们不要华侨留在这里，不要在这个国家有中国佬同白人生下的混血儿。我们只要纯白的白人。”1901年1月1日，一位议员说：我们要建立的新国家要立足于“高贵的白澳思想：一个雪白的澳大利亚，纯粹的澳大利亚，纯洁的澳大利亚。”它赤裸裸地表达了白澳政策论者的动机。

Chapter 4 The Resistance and Struggle of Overseas Chinese

第四节 华侨的反抗与斗争

Overseas Chinese in the early period did not give in when facing the discrimination and persecution of white supremacists, as well as oppression and exploitation from white ranchers and factories. They made every effort to fight back.

面对白人种族主义者的歧视迫害以及白人农牧场主、工厂的压迫与剥削，早期澳大利亚华侨并没有屈服，他们尽可能利用各种方式展开反抗与斗争。

The main methods they used include:

Petition

这些方式主要有：

请愿。

In 1857, the Victoria Parliament passed a regulation that charged overseas Chinese a one-pound residence tax. In response, the Chinese community collectively signed a petition to the Victoria government, requesting the cancellation of this tax. In the petition, they detailed the various hardships they faced due to exploitation by ship owners and brokers. They wrote:

“We were so happy to come to this mine for gold. We originally thought that British people were friendly, which made us cheerful. However, now we know that they were complaining about us in the newspaper, saying that the Chinese did not bring their wives with them. We did that for reasons. First, we intended to leave our wives at home so that our aging parents could be taken care of. Second, the climate in Victoria was harsh, plus Chinese women did not like British women, they could not even stand steadily on the ships, not to mention walk. Finally, we cannot afford their travel costs. Some also complained that the Chinese neither buy land nor work on the farms. However, this is due to our lack of money that is required for those activities. The fact is that we worked in fields abandoned by Europeans, and the money we earned only met the basic needs of our lives. If we had as many chances as the Europeans to obtain gold, we would not be that poor. As long as we got our wages, we would send them to elderly parents at home, as the old sayings told us. Just like the British people, thousands of Chinese have never been home since we came to this goldfield. the difference between us and the British is that they are rich while we are poor. Therefore, only two or three pounds of gold will satisfy us when we go back to China.

1857年，维多利亚议会通过每月征收华侨1镑居住税的条例。华侨集体签名联名上书政府，要求取消此税。他们在信中诉说了受到船主、经纪人盘剥的种种苦况。请愿书上写道:

“我们华人高高兴兴来到这矿场淘金，当初以为英国人是很友善的。我们为此觉得欣喜。现在我们知道报纸在埋怨，说华人不带妻子来。我们这样做是为了留下一些家人来照顾年老的父母，而这边气候也非常恶劣。况且我们的女人不像英国女人，她们在船上不会走路，也不能站立。还有，我们无法付出那笔旅费。另一种埋怨说:中国人不买土地也不到农场去工作。这是因为需要很多资本的缘故。我们在欧洲人弃置不要的场地上做活，仅足活命而已。如果我们有欧洲人取得那么多金子的机会，我们也不该像今天那么穷了。一有点钱，我们便要寄给家里的年老父母，这是古训教导我们的。我们数以千计的人到这金矿区来，正和英国人一样，没有几个人能再回去。英国人都有钱，我们华人都穷。我们回国的话，只要两三磅的金子就心满意足了。

Sometimes, Chinese people were seen taking lots of gold back home. That was because there were no post offices in China, and friends would ask them to carry some gold to support their starving parents and wives. As for those Chinese who were on board from Guichen Bay, not all of them evaded tax. In fact, some paid for that. This was not the fault of Chinese immigrants. At first, merchants and captains from Hong Kong were supposed to pay the tax and take us to Port Philip, rather than Guichen Bay. (Port Philip belongs to Victoria, and each Chinese person was required to pay a 10-pound entry tax. -Shen quoted.) ……Now the captain had taken our money away, and we heard that the Australian government required us to pay that tax. ……Neither did we understand English nor realize we had to go through a long and tough journey. We had never heard of the word “tax” when we were in our hometown. We were suffering since we had already paid the tax, but still had to endure hardship. (This showed that this petition was issued jointly by all Chinese immigrants. Some of them landed at Guichen Bay to evade taxes, while others landed at Port Philip and paid taxes. -Shen quoted.) Therefore, many people are hungry, get sick, and some even died. Now we heard about a requirement to pay 1 pound every month as a residence tax, which we cannot manage. Being a gold digger is hard work, and it’s difficult to survive. If we were taxed one pound per month, we will have no money have no money left for food. We are hereby hoping that the Parliament to exempt the tax, considering our poverty. All Chinese immigrants here would be grateful and would not forget the governor and senators who pleaded for the poor for good. We will be grateful for your mercy, our kind leader of the poor, even after we return to our hometown.

有时候我们中国人回去时，好像带了许多金子，其实因为我们没有邮局，朋友们都托他带一点给他们在饥饿中的父母妻子的缘故。至于打圭晋湾上岸的华人，并不是全部都在逃税，有些人的确是付了税的。这不是中国人的过失，先是香港的商人和船长议定要付税，把我们载到菲力蒲港，而不是到圭晋湾登岸（菲力蒲港属维多利亚，照规定在这边上岸，每一位华人该付10镑入境人头税—沈注）……现在船长把我们的钱拿去了，才听到政府说要我们交税，……我们不懂英语，也不知路途遥远，在家时，我们也不知什么叫做税。我们万分痛苦，付了税给船长，还要长途跋涉。（这表明这封请愿书是所有华人联名发出的，他们有的从圭晋湾上岸逃税，有的则到菲力蒲港登陆交税的——沈注）。许多人因此受饥饿、生病，有的死亡。现在听到每月要1镑的居住税，我们不晓得怎么办。淘金很辛苦，真难活下去。如果每月要付1镑的税，我们有断炊之虞。祈求议会为贫民着想，免除此税。我们所有华人将因此得到快乐，而不敢忘记为贫民请命的州长和议员先生。对于如此仁慈的贫民领袖，即使我们将来返国后，亦将感恩戴德。