The history of Chinese people in New Zealand

Ni hao! There is one particular group we talked about rather often, but didnt go particularly into detail. The came from over the pacific sea, just like the first Maori settlers, but their travel is much more recent. I’m talking about Chinese New Zealand people

Due to the geographic nature of New Zealand(close to Asia) one of the most well-represented groups of ethnicities are the Asians. Malays, cambodians etc. But if we’re talking about the biggest group of them, it’s the Chinese, being a group that represents about 44% of the total New Zealand population and about 4% of New Zealand’s total population(in 2013). The biggest Chinese community is in the region Auckland, with about 112.000 Chinese people living there, about 8% of the total population, which is also due to the fact that most of the Chinese population lives in urban areas.

But how did this all come to be like this? The first immigration of Chinese people to New Zealand took place in the 1860s The Dunedin Chamber of Commerce invited the gold miners of the Chinese Guangdong to mine mines as miners in the Otago gold mines. And thus the Chinese came. To this day they are referred to as Chinese of the first generation, which within todays Chinese population only pose a minority. The new Chinese mining communitites weren’t originally well-received by the European settlers, as they posed economic competition. Also, they were irritated by the way the Chinese look. Huh. Despite there not being a strict pro white policy in place(looking at you Australia) some measurements against the Chinese immigrants were taken. Like a poll tax, for every Chinese immigrant. A pretty racist thing for sure, for which the New Zealand government recently apologised. Despite all of this, the Chinese population in New Zealand managed to grow, which was also due to the New Zealand government being generally open to Pacific immigration. During the 2nd WW, New Zealand became home to a lof ot Chinese refugees. After 2nd WW though the new Chinese communist governemnt stopped emigration and thus ended the stream of Chinese people.

After 1965, it was mainly the ethnic Chinese refugees from countries in crises, like Laos and Cambodia to fill up the slowly establishing Chinese communities. But fleeing from a catastrophe wasn’t the only motivation for Chinese people to come to New Zealand. A substantial amount also came from the richer and much more free Commonwealth states like Hong Kong and Taiwan, to make their money as e.g. traders and investors. Since 2002, the numbers ahve been steadily increasing, so that China has become New Zealand’s №1 source country for family immigration. This is also due to official programs that allow Chinese people to study and the later work in New Zealand. Overall in history, we can see a steady trend upwards the social ladder for the Chinese people.

But how do Chinese people place in New Zealands society today? Pretty good overall. A lot of them speak English so they can work and study there. In fact, they do it so well that they boast a higher than average percentage of university degrees and a lower than average unemployment rate(with NZ-born Chinese people vastly outdoing their cousins born in China). They also earn about more money on average, even than the Paheka and Maori people of New Zealand! Part of this reason is the almost infamous Chinese approach to educating their kids. Apparently, the focus on the education is pretty heavy, so that of it is motivating the kids to do well academically, which is probably frankly the diametral opposite of how you expect a New Zealand to treat their kids. And here you thought the “you doctor yet” scene from Family Guy was just a joke.

Further than that, Chinese people could establish themselves in the daily life of New Zealanders. Peter Chin, a first generation Chinese descendant, was mayor of Dunedin from 2004 to 2010. Pansy Wong was the first ethnically Chinese MP in New Zealand’s parliament, and served under John Key as the first Asian cabinet minister, as minister of ethnic affairs. There are “Chinatowns” everywhere in the bigger cities, and even Chinese newspapers to keep you connected to mother RussiaChina. Criticism has been heard, especially by a certain New Zealand First party, and due to the fact that New Zealand nowadays has a lot of financial dependancies with China. But still, Chineseremain among the most successful and well-received minorities in New Zealand.