[yehzhaofeng]

Chinese Immigration Act of 1923

The Chinese Immigration Act 1923, known in the Chinese-Canadian community as the Chinese Exclusion Act was an act passed by the Federal Government of Canada, banning most forms of Chinese immigration to Canada. This was an example of institutional racism.

After various members of the Federal and some Provincial (especially British Columbia) governments put pressure on the Federal government to discourage Chinese immigration, the Chinese Immigration Act was passed. It officially went into effect on July 1, 1923. The act banned Chinese immigrants from entering Canada except those under the following titles:

Merchant
Diplomat
Foreign Student
"Special circumstance" (This is the class that Governor General Adrienne Clarkson's family fall under)
It should be noted that this act did not only apply to Chinese from China - ethnic Chinese with British nationality were banned from entering Canada as well.

Since Dominion Day coincided with the enforcement of the Chinese Immigration Act, Chinese-Canadians at the time referred to Canada's birthday as "Humiliation Day" and refused to take any part in the celebration.

Due to both a feeling of horror after Nazi race-oriented deathcamps were discovered and the contribution of Chinese communities in Canada during World War II, the Canadian Government repealed the act on May 14, 1947. However, independent Chinese immigration to Canada only came after the liberalization of Canadian immigration policy in 1967.


1923年華人移民法案

1923年華人移民法案，被加拿大華人稱為的排華法，是加拿大聯邦政府通過的一個禁止華人進入加拿大的法案。

加拿大各級政府盡力阻止華人移民到加拿大以後，聯邦政府（加拿大最高級的政府）在1923年（民國12年）通過了排華法，而在同年7月1日執行。這個法案規定除了以下的例子，所有華人都不可以進入加拿大。

1923年華人移民法案裏容許進入加拿大的華人是：

商人
外交官員
留學生
「特別個案」（現任加拿大總督伍冰枝的家庭就是用了這個例子在戰時移民到加拿大）
這個法案不是局限于中國公民。儘管是有英籍的華人也被禁止進入加拿大。

因為排華法開始被執行的日期和加拿大國慶的日期是一樣的，所以當時的在加華人都稱國慶日為「恥辱日」而拒絕慶祝加拿大國慶。

因為在加華人在第二次世界大戰對加拿大的貢獻，加拿大聯邦政府在1947年（民國36年）5月14日廢除了排華法。可是，加拿大在1967年開放了它們的移民政策才有華人用「獨立移民」身份來加拿大。











Chinese Exclusion Act (United States)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Chinese Exclusion Act, signed into law May 6, 1882, followed revisions made in 1880 to the Burlingame Treaty of 1868. The revisions to the treaty allowed the U.S. to suspend immigration and Congress acted quickly to implement the suspension.

The act excluded all Chinese laborers to the United States for 10 years. Amendments made in 1884 tightened the provisions that allowed previous immigrants to leave and return, and clarified that the law applied to ethnic Chinese regardless of their country of origin. The act was renewed in 1892 by the Geary Act for another 10 years, and in 1902 with no terminal date. It was repealed by the 1943 Magnuson Act, allowing a national quota of 105 Chinese immigrants per year, although large scale Chinese immigration did not occur until the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965.

The act was passed in response to the large number of Chinese who had immigrated to the Western United States as a result of unsettled conditions in China and the availability of jobs working on railroads. It was the first immigration law passed in the United States targeted at a specific ethnic group.

Although the law has long been repealed, it was around long enough to be made part of the United States Code. Even today, although all its constituent sections have long been repealed, Chapter 7 of Title 8 of the U.S.C. is headed, "Exclusion of Chinese." It is the only chapter of the 15 chapters in Title 8 (Aliens and Nationality) that is completely focused on a specific nationality or ethnic group.

From 1910 to 1940, the Angel Island Immigration Station on what is now Angel Island State Park in San Francisco Bay served as the processing center for 1,750,000 attempted immigrants, most of whom were returned to China.

[HappyHistorian]

Restrictions on Chinese immigration were common during the early 20th Century. In Australia there were restrictions on Chinese Immigration under the White Australian Policy. The Immigration Restriction Act 1901 was one of the first acts the newly founded Commonwealth of Australia ennacted. In fact fears of the "Yellow Peril" encouraged the federation of the Australian states, as during the late 19th Century many Australians held irrational fears of being overwhelmed by the Chinese population. This was a common feature in the Anglosphere during this time. Why?

I think it has to do with Chinese stereotypes during this period. Many parts of the Anglosphere were lucrative places for Chinese immigration due to the prosepct of gold or service as an indentured labourer, such as Australia, USA and South Africa. Consequently prejudices evolved and led to restrictions on Chinese immigration. The threat of the "yellow peril" is like the fear of communism or terrorism but confined to the later half of the 19th Century and early part of the 20th Century.

This post has been edited by HappyHistorian: 28 October 2008 - 06:18 AM