[BRIEF NOTE] Another clash of diasporas
Apr. 14th, 2008 03:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldThe unrest in Tibet has, as probably should have been expected, triggered a collision between the Chinese and Tibetan diasporas, despite the disparity in these diasporas' sizes (more than 1.3 million Chinese Canadians (more than 1.3 million)versus a few hundred Tibetan Canadians).
Numbers aren't the only factor involved in the protests--the issue of Tibet commands a fair amount of sympathy among quite a few non-Tibetans in Canada, as it does in many other parts of the world--but the protests and counter-protests and the angry people all stem from a basic conflict between the political and other hopes of two different populations. It's no different, really, from the conflicts in Canada between Serbs and Croats in the 1990s, or the ongoing tensions between Jews and Arabs in many Canadian urban centres. Doubtless this conflict is taking place in other countries around the world, in the quietly amazing fashion in which these inter-diasporic conflicts can take place in our late modern world.
- Canada's Tibetan community is concentrated in the neighbourhood of Parkdale, home to some interesting-looking restaurants and some community institutions. The Tibetan community and its supporters have engaged in mass protests against the repression in Tibet and have gained a fair amount of publicity.
- Chinese Canadians have protested, too. There has been a widely-publicized protest on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and more demonstrations elsewhere in Canada including Toronto. According to The Toronto Star, many Chinese Canadians feel somewhat conflicted about the Tibetan issue, caring for human rights and political freedom while also being wary of foreign criticism of China.
Raymond Wang is quick to complain about the lack of freedom in China, but the Mainland Chinese immigrant is also fast to defend Beijing's crackdown on the Tibetan protests leading up to the Summer Olympics.
"I was in Beijing during the (Tiananmen Square) June 4th massacre in 1989," says the Markham investment adviser, 45, who moved here six years ago. "China handled it poorly. They made a mistake. I'm not a Communist. I'm not a fan of the government. I know there's no freedom of the press there.
"But the Tibetans and the Western boycotters are hurting Chinese people a lot. We do have the human rights to join the Olympic games and to share the spirits of the Olympics."
[. . .]
In the eyes of many expatriates, an attack on the Chinese government becomes an attack on their homeland and its 1.3 billion people, even though many hold grudges against the Communist party for whatever social, economic and political problems they have.
"It's like me and my mom," says Victor Wong, executive director of the Chinese Canadian National Council in Toronto. "I can complain about my mom's cooking, but if a friend comes to my house and complains about her being a bad cook, I'm going to be all over (him)."
Numbers aren't the only factor involved in the protests--the issue of Tibet commands a fair amount of sympathy among quite a few non-Tibetans in Canada, as it does in many other parts of the world--but the protests and counter-protests and the angry people all stem from a basic conflict between the political and other hopes of two different populations. It's no different, really, from the conflicts in Canada between Serbs and Croats in the 1990s, or the ongoing tensions between Jews and Arabs in many Canadian urban centres. Doubtless this conflict is taking place in other countries around the world, in the quietly amazing fashion in which these inter-diasporic conflicts can take place in our late modern world.
