As some of you sharper readers may have noticed, I’ve become interested in our significant new bloc of immigrants, those people from mainland China.
(Okay, I’ve always been interested. I got an Asia Pacific Foundation fellowship in 1990 that allowed me to live in China for three months, another different fellowship that took me to Hong Kong briefly in 1994, and I’ve watched the migrations from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China ever since, occasionally reporting on them)
There are so many people writing about this new group, but the overall coverage has been strange and dehumanizing. No one ever actually talks to any of these new immigrants or tries to understand them. They’re just “investors” here to “park their money.” Or they’re outright criminals.
Undoubtedly there are people like that from China. The legitimate stories about crimes or abuses deserve to be covered and some other reporters are doing that. Good on them.
But I’m interested in the people who are coming here, why they’re here and what they make of their life in Canada. I wrote a big story about a month ago that was the result of several months of talking to more than a dozen people and trying to get a handle on their lives in China and here. (It’s here.)
It’s a little strange that more reporters haven’t done some of this. Usually that’s a first move in journalism. If there’s an interesting sub-group in town, you go out and talk to people and find out who they are. I know some fellow reporters haven’t because they’re worried about exposing this group to the blasts of hatred that unmistakably proliferate on social media. I’m hoping more people will start to do more reporting on this new group of immigrants (about 150,000 — three times the number from Taiwan) in future.
Even at the universities, there isn’t much exploration going on that I know of. I asked UBC geography professor David Ley, who did wonderful, sensitive, and empathetic research on the new immigrants arriving from Hong Kong and Taiwan in the 1990s (much of it in his Millionaire Migrants book), if he knew of anyone doing research on this new group. He didn’t.
But, over in sociology, it turned out someone was working on something.
My story today is a far-too-condensed summary of a new study, where UBC PhD student Jing Zhao interviewed almost three dozen people who were about to immigrate or had immigrated to Vancouver, and sociology professor Nathanael Lauster analyzed and co-wrote the results. (The full 31-page study is here, for those wanting more details or source material to quibble with my reporting.)
They found, as I had, that some in this group, despite their privileges (they’re usually well educated and are comfortable financially, if not the billionaires and fuerdai so beloved of many reporters), see themselves as refugees from China, with its rigid education system, terrible air and water pollution, dicey food quality, and restrictive policies on having children.
And they don’t care that much about starting new businesses or getting jobs here because that’s not why they came here. It’s a turnaround from the way many, many academics and policymakers think about immigration, which is usually seen as being strictly about improving economic life. As Lauster says, it’s about time we understand that and maybe adapt our thinking about who these new trans-national immigrants are.
14 responses so far ↓
1 Everyman // Sep 7, 2016 at 12:02 pm
Wow, how nice for those “refugees” who don’t have to worry about working. At least now they can devote all their time and money to snapping up real estate. Sucks for all the rest of us though.
2 Kirk // Sep 7, 2016 at 2:23 pm
It’s unfortunate that this adds to the stereotype of rich Chinese who come here to take advantage of our taxpayer-funded and government-regulated environmental standards and social programs such as clean air and schools and don’t contribute anything back except buying up expensive real estate.
I remember the big Hong Kong wave in the 80s/90s. And, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. was in the daily news trying hard (and succeeding) in helping them integrate into their communities. We had the Chan brothers donate to UBC. Chinese food here became way better. It wasn’t always smooth sailing, but eventually stereotypes fell because pretty soon everyone knew at least someone from Hong Kong.
Hopefully, these new immigrants will integrate well too. They have some unique challenges though. Most Hong Kongers spoke English and grew up in a “westernized” democracy with rule of law and all that. And, they’re pretty social in terms of work and meeting their neighbours. Plus, they weren’t just the 1%. Many were middle class who had to find jobs, make friends and send their kids to public school and hockey practice.
Sometimes it now feels like we’re just getting the ultra-rich. The Lamborghini crowd. People that you won’t run into at work or MEC. Imagine if 10,000 Saudi princes moved here and just kept to themselves.
Anyway, as often repeated, Canada is a country of immigrants. And, the new Canadians will bring with them threads to weave into our national identity. I see Toronto is also dealing with newcomers trying to fit in: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/fathers-cultural-demand-ends-on-a-flat-note-with-toronto-school/article31732246/
3 Cindy // Sep 8, 2016 at 10:21 am
Congratulations Frances. Great article and nice of you to be considerate of this immigrant group whom everyone likes to hate on because they are hard working.
4 francesbula // Sep 8, 2016 at 11:59 am
Hi Kirk. Well, to be fair, this actually isn’t the Lamborghini crowd. These are people who did moderately well in China running small businesses or working in management. They’ve accumulated some money, but they’re not spending it wildly here. If you look at the study that Lauster and his student did, you see they’re not all buying houses in expensive areas. They’re more the equivalent of a teacher/engineer couple in Vancouver who do well and then buy property in Mexico — rich by Mexican village standards, a little richer than Mexican middle class, only comfortably middle class in Canada.
I agree that the Hong Kong wave got assimilated more easily because of the British traditions, the connections with the older waves of Hong Kongers who came in the 1960s and 1970s.
But all these people have their kids in the local (public) schools and universities and those kids are really assimilating. I think it will be interesting to see that generation in another 10-15 years. And I’m not sure you could say they’re contributing nothing. There is a push both inside this immigrant community and from outside it to emphasize contribution. So they are being told by some of their own members to do their part by contributing to hospitals and other causes. Many of the parents I’ve talked to put in a lot of volunteer time at the schools.
As for the tax part, well, that’s something the country has to deal with. We’ve been relatively loose about letting people (Caucasian, Chinese, Lebanese, you name it) declare themselves as non-residents, not pay Canadian taxes while they live royally outside the country, and then they become residents when they need the services. It’s an issue that will continue to boil as we see more trans-national residents of all types.
5 Kirk // Sep 8, 2016 at 4:00 pm
Hi Frances, I don’t know anything about Canadians in Mexico. Are they immigrating in as big numbers as Chinese are in Vancouver? Do the Mexican medical and schools systems work the same for Canadians moving there?
6 sthrendyle // Sep 9, 2016 at 11:59 am
Just checked out the story in the Globe. Hmm, doesn’t look like too many readers agreed or sympathized with these new immigrants. That, or most likely they didn’t even read the story and just jumped to add in their 2c worth.
7 Cindy // Sep 9, 2016 at 12:38 pm
in my experience, many people are haters on the internet and ANY story about ANYTHING Chinese related will have mostly racists responses. Most of the time the posters dont read the article but hate based on the headline.
8 Decided // Sep 10, 2016 at 2:12 pm
I expect, you know, the outrage at the massive fraud and corruption in the real estate sector by Chinese foreign nationals – with the assistance of our passive regulators – has something to do with the hostility. Just call it a hunch.
9 Decided // Sep 10, 2016 at 2:19 pm
I guess none of us should be surprised apologist Frances Bula continues to ignore the massive corruption in BC’s real estate market enabled by our passive loop-hole laden regulators. And she also ignores the impact of foreign “investors” taking up seats in elementary and secondary public schools, not to mention universities because our neoliberal governments aren’t funding them properly. She also ignores the fact that the former CEO of SUCCESS railed against the “newcomers” exploiting the real estate market and flagrantly flaunting outrageous wealth on the streets of Vancouver. Even he has the sense to understand this isn’t going over very well with Vancouver’s increasingly deprived middle class who can’t afford housing and the ever ballooning homeless population. Yes, keep posting your apologist rubbish and call those of us who are alarmed and frightened by the trends “racists.”
10 Decided // Sep 10, 2016 at 2:29 pm
“Sometimes it now feels like we’re just getting the ultra-rich.”
Maybe you should come down from your cloud and take a good look at reality. Good grief… http://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/vancouver/out-of-the-shadows/article31802994/
11 Lysenko's Nemesis // Sep 10, 2016 at 8:31 pm
Not including you or this article here, Frances but cheap journalists pushing sensational stories only encourage disgusting racist tendencies. Some people cannot understand that immigrants may well have spare money, cash money. There are successful business people all over the world. There are wealthy people all over the world. Vancouver continues to become more cosmopolitain and grow and people will continue to come here to live. I welcome them as those here earlier welcomed me.
12 Everyman // Sep 11, 2016 at 5:56 pm
Or maybe sthrendyle they just don’t feel a lot of sympathy for people who made their money through collaboration, aiding and abetting the ruling Communist part elite in China. Perhaps they don’t like being priced out of their neighbourhoods by people arriving with a suitcase of cash made who knows how.
13 Norman12 // Sep 13, 2016 at 10:53 am
This isn’t Little Gold Mountain anymore?
14 Norman12 // Sep 19, 2016 at 8:12 am
How can you be a refugee due to pollution and other conditions you helped to create in becoming wealthy? I want to know the source of immigrants’ wealth regardless of where they come from.