Why do Chinese diaspora have so little political representation compared to Indians?
I'm ethnically Chinese and I grew up in Australia. Over the last 20 years or so, migration from India has increased five-fold and is likely to keep growing under discriminatory immigration policies aimed at increasing the Indian population in Australia (source). Apparently this "pivot to India" strategy was engineered by an Australian diplomat of Indian heritage, Peter Varghese. An Australian politician even wrote a book about it. Meanwhile, we had the resurgence of the "red scare" in the last few years (source) and the government has imposed more restrictions on Chinese international students coming to Australia (source).
The Chinese community in Australia has existed for much longer than the Indian community, and has a much more visible presence and larger geographical and economic footprint, yet Chinese immigrants have made almost no impact on Australian politics. There are politicians of Chinese descent, but they are mostly local MPs and tend to be quite...timid, for lack of a better word. They try not to rock the boat, and avoid drawing attention to themselves. Chinese migrants are viewed with suspicion by the government (source) despite our lengthy presence in Australia, but Indian newcomers are seen as an "asset" (source) and are being welcomed with open arms. Their increasing influence in Australia is not viewed with suspicion but rather lauded as some sort of victory (source), as if a goal was scored by the home team.
Why is this? Why are Indians so much better at influencing politics and winning the hearts and minds of the Anglosphere? It seems to be happening everywhere in the Western world. Count the number of political leaders of Indian descent. In the corporate world, Indians also tend to get into managerial positions much more easily than Chinese and other East Asians. Is it our culture? Our upbringing? Racism? Self-hating Chinese who like throwing other Chinese under the bus? (Example) The CCP? Xi Jinping? What's the reason? All I know is that apart from Muslims, we are always the convenient scapegoat for xenophobes, and this has been happening before Covid (source), yet somehow Indians get the in-group treatment.
(Regarding the CCP, I should mention that most, if not all, mainland Chinese immigrants over a certain age were either former members of the CCP or had family members who are or were members of the CCP. This does not imply that they are or were involved in Chinese politics in any way, shape or form, or have any political connections or influence. The vast majority of the 90+ million CCP members have absolutely no say in China's governance and are simply fee-paying members of an organisation that functions like a quasi-religious organisation, only secular - think of the Catholic Church for an organisation with comparative power and influence. Most of them are normal people living their lives. Some joined purely for career advancement or networking opportunities. The West's failure to understand this will continue to cause Chinese immigrants to be viewed with suspicion and treated in a discriminatory manner, which is contrary to Western democratic values. Also remember that before the CCP was founded, anti-Chinese immigration policies were enacted in an almost coordinated manner across the Anglosphere, so I don't think the CCP is the reason for the persistent fear and suspicion of Chinese immigrants. Even the Dutch did not like us in 1740.)
Update:
- Somebody already wrote an article about this. I'm glad there's awareness but more needs to be done.
- The global Chinese diaspora community seems very disconnected and fragmented. We don't have any leaders. We need something like Indiaspora or we are doomed to be the minority underdogs or to be assimilated eventually.