20世紀初期澳洲報刊中的排華運動與社會輿論

Anti-Chinese Movement and Social Response in Chinese-Australian Newspaper in the early 20th century

The White Australia Policy in the early 20th century sent a subliminal message of Australian society to coloured migrants. The policy that implemented a dictation test on incoming migrants successfully forbade non-Europeans from immigrating to Australia. Although it did not mention any race, reviewing the preceding colonial governments’immigration acts, it was clear that the policy aimed at the Chinese. The act also prompted racial extremists to grasp the opportunity to promote anti-Chinese movements. In 1904, New South Wales country storekeepers formed an‘Anti-Chinese and Asiatic League’to conduct a crusade for the eradication of the Chinese and Asiatic in pursuit of a pure white Australian society. The formation of the league successfully attracted the attention of newspapers and the Australian public but later deteriorated and soon vanished within a year of its establishment. This paper explores the rise and fall of the league by reviewing local newspapers’articles and columns, through its contents, explicates the different voices of the Australian public. In the past, scholars have attempted to debate the rightness of the policy by examining the Australian Chinese community, but rarely any discussion on the internal dynamics of the Australian public. This paper does not intend to overturn the fact that the Chinese experienced discrimination during the early 20th century but would like to offer a different perspective when it comes to the discussion of racial discrimination in Australian history. The incident of the anti-Chinese league demonstrates how the Australian community voiced their opinions against the radical movement, balancing their sentiments between the Chinese questions and the British’s fair play and equality.