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George Hua knows what racism looks like when Australians vent about China and the Chinese. He woke one Saturday during the last federal election to find that a billboard with his face on it had been covered with a cross and two words in black, capital letters: “NO CHINA.”
That was before the pandemic. And it was before last year’s slide in Australia’s relations with China.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Credit:AP, PMO
So there is a logical question for Hua to consider about the community today, almost two years after he ran as the Liberal candidate for Hotham, the safe Labor seat in the southern suburbs of Melbourne.
Victorian Liberal senator Sarah Henderson welcomed Mr Morrisonâs request.
âWe want Chinese Australians to know that the Morrison government stands shoulder to shoulder with them, their families and their aspirations for the future,â she said.
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Liberal MP Fiona Martin, who holds the seat of Reid in western Sydney, said the Lunar New Year events showed the depth of Chinese roots in Australian communities.
âIt is critically important that we donât conflate our Chinese Australians with the actions of the Chinese government,â she said.
The president of the Chinese Australian Forum, Jason Yat-sen Li, a former Labor candidate for Federal Parliament, welcomed Mr Morrisonâs message but said the racism and abuse showed there was a significant problem.
Australia-China row: I m Australian - why do I need to prove my loyalty?
By Frances Mao
Earlier this year, a junior adviser for the Australian government, Andrew Chen , visited the nation s Department of Defence for a meeting.
As he and a colleague stepped into the building in Canberra, they pulled out their government IDs. Mr Chen was stopped by a guard, who took him aside. They asked to take a photo of me - like a portrait - there in the lobby, he said. And it was just me. The Caucasian colleague who was with me - he wasn t asked to do that, added Mr Chen, who is Chinese-Australian.