Thread by @ChengxinPan

I cannot help thinking if this might be the resurgence of Chinese exclusion & expulsion that occurred in the 19th & early 20th centuries (so much for the End of History). Exclusion today is less about Chinese immigration than about political participation from Chinese immigrants.

https://twitter.com/kishor_nr/status/1315517483365801984

'Chinese Exclusion 2.0' now seems to sweep across the Five-Eyes countries. By coincidence or by design, the five countries were also known for their Chinese exclusion legislations and poll tax policies. Then as now Australia was the canary in the (gold) mine and led the way.

"The Victorian Act of 1855 was the first of its kind in the Australian colonies. It imposed a poll tax of ten pounds upon every Chinese arrival and limited the number of Chinese on board each vessel to one person for every 10 tonnes of goods." peril.com.au/topics/politic…

"Other countries, such as New Zealand and Canada, followed this Australian precedent of using a head or poll tax as an immigration restriction measure."

smh.com.au/politics/feder…

In the US "the Workingmen’s Party ... exploited existing Sinophobia to position the anti-Chinese movement as 'peaceful' advocacy for workers rights.... they leveraged the threat of violence to pressure Congress into considering Chinese exclusion." newrepublic.com/article/149437…

"Whilst there hasn’t been any Chinese exclusion policies, the British government did in fact have a Chinese expulsion policy which required the ‘Compulsory repatriation of undesirable Chinese seamen’"
alexanderchow.wordpress.com/2017/08/15/the…

The parallel with the Five Eyes countries' renewed fear of Chinese influence & interference is uncanny. Of course this can be purely coincidental or a result of paranoia on my part. Or there is no parallel at all, some would vehemently protest. History has progressed after all.

Note: If immigration policy could be tweaked to help with this new type of exclusion, all the better, according to some pundits.