The forced expatriation of Chinese seamen who had families in Liverpool and after they have spent years risking their lives helping with the British and its allies in their war effort during the first and the second world wars were taken from the American political playbook of 1882, the year when they came up with the 'Chinese Exclusion act' twelve years after the thousands of indentured Chinese workers finished building their Transcontinental railroad and the act was only partly repealed at the beginning of the second world war in order to bring Chinese seamen into the Trans-Atlantic merchant navy and paying them pittance for the same work their European and US fellow workers were being paid to do.
These kind of openly humiliating treatments of the Chinese people were handed down by the Europeans ever since the Chinese government were defeated in the two opium wars (1839-1860). Even the great Albert Einstein joined in with his what can only be described as extremely racist and derogatory comments about the Chinese in his 1922 travel diary. Even today, when China is the trade and cultural hub of the world, most people in the western world still have trouble trying to understand the general characteristic of Chinese people which is understandable given the country is the only one that has a continuous cultural history of five thousand years and has never even tried to colonise an inch of overseas territory during all those millennia whereas in the case of the US, in its shallow 250 years of existence, have invaded, raped and pillaged countries on every continent on the globe.
I am glad I have chosen Liverpool as my home all those decades ago, not only because it has the oldest established Chinese community in Europe. Unlike inhabitants from other cities, I noticed Liverpudlians have a very similar stoical attitude on most things in life as the Chinese.
The piece from the Guardian is quite interesting and contained the story about the Chinese seaman that were forcibly removed after the British Government decided they were undesirable. Times haven’t changed really have they. It must have been absolutely devastating for everyone it affected. I first heard about this terrible story after watching a BBC documentary series DNA Family Secrets. I felt like crying for the poor woman who had lost her husband over 60 years ago and still believed he had been sunk in the Irish Sea.
There is a moving memorial on the waterfront opposite Port of Liverpool building - the UK government should be ashamed of their conduct to the Chinese community.
The forced expatriation of Chinese seamen who had families in Liverpool and after they have spent years risking their lives helping with the British and its allies in their war effort during the first and the second world wars were taken from the American political playbook of 1882, the year when they came up with the 'Chinese Exclusion act' twelve years after the thousands of indentured Chinese workers finished building their Transcontinental railroad and the act was only partly repealed at the beginning of the second world war in order to bring Chinese seamen into the Trans-Atlantic merchant navy and paying them pittance for the same work their European and US fellow workers were being paid to do.
These kind of openly humiliating treatments of the Chinese people were handed down by the Europeans ever since the Chinese government were defeated in the two opium wars (1839-1860). Even the great Albert Einstein joined in with his what can only be described as extremely racist and derogatory comments about the Chinese in his 1922 travel diary. Even today, when China is the trade and cultural hub of the world, most people in the western world still have trouble trying to understand the general characteristic of Chinese people which is understandable given the country is the only one that has a continuous cultural history of five thousand years and has never even tried to colonise an inch of overseas territory during all those millennia whereas in the case of the US, in its shallow 250 years of existence, have invaded, raped and pillaged countries on every continent on the globe.
I am glad I have chosen Liverpool as my home all those decades ago, not only because it has the oldest established Chinese community in Europe. Unlike inhabitants from other cities, I noticed Liverpudlians have a very similar stoical attitude on most things in life as the Chinese.
I always look forward to reading The Post's articles - plenty of substance , well written and researched - and no clickbait.
A proper newspaper ethos about Liverpool - keep going from strength to strength.
We need an article on the lines of " Stop the Rot" please.
Thanks Steve! What a lovely comment to wake up to
The piece from the Guardian is quite interesting and contained the story about the Chinese seaman that were forcibly removed after the British Government decided they were undesirable. Times haven’t changed really have they. It must have been absolutely devastating for everyone it affected. I first heard about this terrible story after watching a BBC documentary series DNA Family Secrets. I felt like crying for the poor woman who had lost her husband over 60 years ago and still believed he had been sunk in the Irish Sea.
There is a moving memorial on the waterfront opposite Port of Liverpool building - the UK government should be ashamed of their conduct to the Chinese community.
I didn’t know, I’ll make sure I visit it. Thank you.
There’s so much our governments over the years are responsible for but this was truly disgraceful.
Great read as always. My daughter is a Dragon and is expecting a baby this year - could be an interesting household in the years to come!
Proper music history in the Guardian. That article is over 12 years old!