Asian invasion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Asian invasion is a term that has a wide variety of meanings related to Asian people. The term is used for perceived "invasion" or coming of Asians to a variety of different places or sectors. "Asian invasion" is also a racist term some teenagers use for an increasing amount of Asian people, usually referring to a town or region where Asian immigration is rapidly increasing. Another spelling of "Asian invasion" is borrowed from internet slang: "aZn invaZn."

[edit] Other examples

Concern about an "Asian invasion" in New Zealand during the 1990s largely mirrored public disquietude across the Tasman in Australia^{[citation needed]}. Controversial Australian politician Pauline Hanson made headlines in 1996 when she warned in her maiden speech to parliament that Australia was "in danger of being swamped by Asians" due to immigration from Asia, arguing that "they have their own culture and religion, form ghettos and do not assimilate." [1] Hanson's comments were enough to spark a heated national debate over immigration and multiculturalism in Australia.

A candidate of Canada's second largest political party, the Canadian Alliance, was forced to resign during the country's 2000 federal election for remarks that she made to a crowd of university students concerning an "Asian invasion." Betty Granger was quoted as saying that "Canadian students can't get into some of our university programs in Vancouver and Victoria" because of an influx of Asian students, and made reference to "a well-monied population buying up blocks and blocks of real estate" in British Columbia. Concerning a recent influx of refugees from Hong Kong, she was quoted as saying "There was a realization that what was coming off these boats was not the best clientele you would want for this country." [2]

The emergence of the Chinese as the fastest growing ethnic minority in Russia over the past decade^{[citation needed]} has reignited age-old Russian suspicion about a Chinese takeover of Siberia and the Russian Far East, mainly in part of illegal immigration. In 2002, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned local authorities in the Far East that if demographic and economic problems were not addressed, the region will be "speaking Chinese or some other Asian language." [3]

[edit] Further reading

Nicholas Tarling International students in New Zealand: The making of policy since 1950
'Asian Invasion' in Metro' July 1988, pp. 150-163
Manying Ip (ed) The Chinese in New Zealand