How Chinese in Australia respond to talk of war in mainstream media
- A recent poll found that more than half of Chinese-Australians in Australia would be ‘extremely concerned’ for their well being if there was a war with China
- Same study found most respondents did not identify with Chinese state media propaganda, and didn’t think Australian media were balanced in reporting on China
After complaints and an open letter condemning the paper for racially profiling the Chinese communities and throwing around baseless accusations, the story disappeared from the Mail’s site without explanation.
The Daily Mail, like many other media outlets, possibly believed it could make insinuations of spying with impunity, since many of its intended readers would likely be sufficiently primed to accept such narratives as common sense.
In fact, a 2022 poll revealed: “Just over four in 10 Australians (42 per cent) say ‘Australians of Chinese origin can be mobilised by the Chinese government to undermine Australia’s interests and social cohesion’.”
Commenting on the Mail’s “spy” story, La Trobe University’s Nick Bisley tweeted, “Yep, this is what happens when the red menace crap is thrown around carelessly”, apparently connecting it with the Red Alert series. Several foreign affairs specialists have called the series “pretentious”, “hyperbolic”, “irresponsible” and “implicitly racist” reporting.
A full analysis of the survey will be detailed in a forthcoming ACRI report. But one survey question was: “To what extent would you be concerned about your own well-being and that of the Chinese-Australian communities if Australia were at war with China?” More than half (54.68 per cent) were “extremely concerned”. Another 36.10 per cent were “quite concerned”. Only around 9 per cent said they were not concerned.
When juxtaposed, these two sets of survey figures raise a “red alert” of another kind: regardless of whether a war with China will ever eventuate, Chinese Australians are rapidly becoming the first casualties of persistent war talk.
Yet, while there has been a highly polarised response to the Red Alert series, very few commentators on either side have thought much about how these publications affect Chinese Australians, especially first-generation migrants from mainland China. As Yun Jiang observes: “Among all talks about preparation for a war, preparing the population for a potentially divisive society is not part of it.”
Mainstream media outlets and commentators seem to concern themselves even less with the emotional and psychological impact such media stories have almost daily on Australian citizens with Chinese ancestry.
Our recently published study, based on three years’ longitudinal research of Chinese-language digital and social media in Australia, has revealed many first-generation Mandarin speakers here experience a high level of internal conflict in relation to mainstream Australian media coverage of China. Funded by the Australian Research Council, the study found these migrants, who by 2021 numbered more than half a million, were caught in an increasingly hostile relationship between the two countries.
The study also found most respondents did not identify with the propaganda of Chinese state media. However, they were increasingly disillusioned with the Australian English-language media’s interest in reporting on China with fairness and balance.
For many in the various Chinese-Australian communities, including mainland migrants, reading speculation whether there will be a war with China within six months, two years or three years is not a matter of neutral speculation. It is a constant source of anxiety, fear and uncertainty.
Third, my interviewees, like many other Chinese Australians – and Asian Australians generally – know too well they will be more vulnerable to random racist attacks in public, and treated as potential agents of a hostile country, as long as talk of war persists in the media.
It is for precisely this reason that the Daily Mail’s “spy” story sends a chill down the spine of many people and has aroused widespread condemnation from Chinese-Australian communities. As one interviewee said: “These days, it doesn’t take too much to provoke a racist. All it takes is seeing someone who looks Chinese.”