Mid-Week Post

China's meeeeeaaannnn:

China is considering its first immigration law following a surge in the number of foreigners seeking to take advantage of the booming economy in the world's most populous nation, state press said Saturday. Preparations are underway for a first draft of the law which would likely divide potential immigrants into categories such as skilled or unskilled workers and job and investor immigration, Xinhua news agency said.

Given the absurdity of certain immigration arguments as of late, I thought I would throw this in here. China is a hot spot for anyone willing to make a quick buck off of cheap labour (slave labour, really). Migrants from outside of major city centres face all manner of discrimination and it remains to be seen how foreigners will be treated under this proposed system.

The lot of the migrant worker's life in China:

The household registration system was set up in 1958 to serve three purposes: government welfare and resource distribution, migration control and criminal surveillance. Chinese citizens were assigned either a rural or an urban household (hukou) based on their place of residence. Local governments were responsible for providing everyone whose hukou was in its jurisdiction with daily needs and services, such as education, housing and medical care. Urban residents were also entitled to food rations, grain subsidies and job allocation. To prohibit internal migration, residents were not allowed to work or live outside the administrative boundaries of their household registration without approval of the authorities. Once they left their place of registration, they would also leave behind all of their rights and benefits. For the purpose of surveillance, everyone, including temporary residents in transit, was required to register with the police of their place of residence and their temporary residence. By the 1970s, the system became so rigid that "peasants could be arrested just for entering cities."

In their hometowns, Chinese citizens with a rural household registration are entitled to basic rights and social services. However, once they leave their registered place of residence, they lose these basic benefits and become second class citizens, with no access to urban social services. With a lower social status than that of urban residents, migrant workers are subject to daily exploitation and discrimination.

Imagine for a moment a plant shutting down in Ontario (not too difficult to imagine, actually). The workers, still with enough pluck to carry on, decide to move to Saskatchewan where there are jobs waiting for them. However, the government forbids them. They have neither the papers to move nor the security of being fed or the access of legal counsel should they need it.

That's China in a nutshell.

For one's information:

There are restrictions on certain religious activities, such as preaching, distributing literature, and associating with unapproved religious groups, including some Christian, Buddhist, and Muslim organizations. The Falun Gong movement has been banned in China. Participants in Falun Gong activities or Falun Gong-related demonstrations are subject to legal action that may include detention, deportation, arrest, and imprisonment.

The welcome mat for Chinese students:

There are more than 150,000 international students who go to Canada every year to study, and more than 9000 are from China. In addition, many more come to Canada to learn English or French. International students bring a rich culture to our classrooms. Your knowledge and skills are welcome in our schools.

• Canadian universities are among the best in the world
• Tuition fees for international students in Canada, and the cost of living, are among the lowest in the world
• Eligible students can gain valuable Canadian work experience through off campus employment
• Canada is a multicultural country. Regardless of your ethnic origin, you will feel at home in Canada
• According to the United Nations, Canada offers one of the highest standards for quality of life in the world

But I digress...

From the first article:

"But to have a stronger appeal and competitiveness in the global arena, a nation must properly resolve social and economic issues arising from immigration."

There's the rub.

There are fifty-six different ethnic groups in China, the predominant being the Han. Because there are so many ethnic, linguistic and cultural minorities, the need to solidify China under the Hans became an urgent one for the communists:

The Communists' 1934-35 Long March, a 6,000-mile trek across China from southwest to northwest to escape the threat of annihilation by Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang (KMT) forces, took the Communists through some of the most heavily populated minority areas. Harried on one side by the KMT and on the other by fierce "barbarian" tribesmen, the Communists were faced with a choice between extermination and promising special treatment to minorities--especially the Miao, Yi (Lolo), Tibetans, Mongols, and Hui--should the party ever win national power. The Communists even offered the possibility of true independence for minorities. Chairman Mao frequently referred to Article 14 of the 1931 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) constitution, which "recognizes the right of self- determination" of the national minorities in China, their right to complete separation from China, and to the formation of an independent state for each minority. This commitment was not kept after the founding of the People's Republic (Gladney 1996: 60-75). Instead, the party stressed maintaining the unity of the new nation at all costs. The recognition of minorities, however, also helped the Communists' long-term goal of forging a united Chinese nation by solidifying the recognition of the Han as a unified "majority." Emphasizing the difference between Han and minorities helped to de-emphasize the differences within the Han community. The Communists incorporated the idea of Han unity into a Marxist ideology of progress with the Han in the forefront of development and civilization, the vanguard of the people's revolution (Gladney 1994a: 97). The more "backward" or "primitive" the minorities were, the more "advanced" and "civilized" the so-called Han seemed and the greater the need for a unified national identity.

Sounds similar to a Russification project to me. For as diverse as China is, it is the Hans who are "advanced".


Speaking of ethnic and linguistic nightmares:

If Quebec were independent there would be no discussion about a bilingual Supreme Court, that’s one of the new arguments from the Bloc Quebecois. The fight for a bilingual high court went to a new level Tuesday as Heritage Minister James Moore was grilled before the Commons Official Languages Committee on why the government opposes the private members bill that would make bilingualism a prerequisite for an appointment.


Moore was before the committee to talk about the government’s road map for bilingualism in the public service but most MPs, especially from the opposition side wanted to focus on the court. Jean Dorion, a Bloc MP from Longueuil, asked Moore, “In an independent Quebec, can you imagine the judges not speaking French?”


The bill may be about requiring judges to speak and understand both official languages but opposition to the bill is being portrayed as tantamount to opposing French. Question after question was put to Moore on why the government would not support French. Liberal MP Denis Codderre was one of several MPs to declare that by not making bilingualism a prerequisite for the court that the government was in effect treating Francophones as second class citizens.

Placing power in the hands of less than ten percent of the entire population is outrageous. I have been to Quebec and I loved it. It is a beautiful province rich in culture and history. It's Gilles Duceppe who ruins it:

For the past few months any insult real or perceived, in the Bloc’s eyes, is further proof that the motion declaring the Quebecois a nation within a united Canada was a farce and the remedy is, you guessed it, an independent Quebec. The claim that Canada is not respecting the Quebec nation has been used so many times by the Bloc in recent months that I asked Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe whether this was a new tactic. His answer, yes.


Duceppe was seen as being on the losing end of the battle when the tactician Stephen Harper was able to convince Parliament to adopt the Quebec is a nation motion. Duceppe may have lost the battle but he’s planning on using that motion to help him win the longer war which includes the Supreme Court bilingualism skirmish being fought not only by Bloc troops by also his allies in the Liberals and NDP. Anyone doubting that Duceppe’s strategy is helping his party need only look at poll after poll showing the Bloc with a commanding lead in Quebec polls.

If there must be a separation, it is Duceppe who should separate himself from Canada.

I didn't want to touch on this but I will. A reasonable person can decide that when writing a book about another person, an interview with the subject or her familiars might be in order, not moving right next door to her.

Just saying.