I have read all the media surrounding the candidacy of Taiwanese Australian Shan Ju Lin with One Nation. Her reasons for defending Pauline Hanson and standing strong with a bigoted political party is a sign of her ignorance and lack of understanding on the intersections of race relations in Australia. Where many people will laugh and dismiss her as a joke, her candidacy presents many implications in how Australia views racism, bigotry and cultural diversity.
Shan will be standing as a candidate for Queensland in 2018, and just a quick check up on her social media already indicates how problematic her public displays of affection for Pauline Hanson actually is. Just a little bit of background, Shan is of Taiwanese descent and has made Australia home for 26 years. A woman who is passionate about politics, and in particular Asian geo-politics, Shan has spouted and fear mongered about how the rise of China will be to the detriment of Australia and to the rest of the western world. Shan is also an active participant within the Falun Gong movement, a group which promotes meditation and peace, but really is a front to blame and shame China for the ills of the world. And where I am not condemning Shan for her views because she has every right to hold them, I do believe her methods of promoting her views is wrong and she has managed to blur the lines between what it means to be anti-Chinese Government and what is seen as China bashing and promoting racism and hate. In addition, Shan is also anti-LGBTIQ and pretty much has dribbled extremely problematic views which works against the cause of promoting a harmonious and diverse Australian society.
Her five minutes of fame really came to light when she made a statement saying “good Asians” will vote for her and One Nation. This statement as simple as it sounds is extremely ignorant and divisive. The fact that she is attempting to create a wedge within the Asian Australian community is a huge problem, and One Nation knows that and is manipulating Shan for their own ambitions and agendas. Having Shan on their side will validate that One Nation is not against Asians, and that the racism and hate which they stand for should also resonate with Asian Australian voters. This is an extremely sad state of affairs, and Shan has played into this plot. Other statements which Shan has made to the media to validate her reasons for standing as a One Nation candidate are flawed and hold no substance in terms of being reputable reasons:
“For European people it’s very difficult to distinguish Chinese or Korean or Japanese, and I can understand why she said it. She sees the problem ahead of everybody, including you and me. Everything she said is happening now.”
So this is problematic in that it has reinforced racial stereotyping, which in itself is racist. Asian Australians have fought for equality for decades and this statement only pushes this work backwards. Shan again demonstrates that she has no understanding about the intersectionality of race relations in Australia and clearly has no inkling about the history of racism in Australia. She has also now given the green light for racists and ignorant Australians to generalise all Asians as the same. She also has endorsed the famous maiden speech Pauline Hanson made back in 1996 (see video below), when she just got elected into the Australian Parliament, that “Australia is being swamped by Asians”. If Pauline got her way back then, Asian Australians such as Shan would be isolated, targeted and cleared out, so the question is whether Shan is just ignorant or whether she is a combination of ignorance and opportunism.
“I feel the Chinese Communist Party is a great threat to Australia because they bought a lot of businesses and our harbours and properties. They will take over power of Australia. They will form their own government” (ABC online).
This statement is all wrong and again demonstrates the failure of Shan to understand what is being against a Government and what is being racist. The other fact which Shan has omitted is that the Chinese are not the biggest investors in Australia. In actual fact the US, UK and Canada beats China in terms of the amount of foreign investment in Australia. So why does she not go after them? The other statements that the Chinese Government will take power in Australia and will form their own Government is the dribble of a woman who has been over consumed by her hatred of the Chinese Government that she is now spewing the same racist words which come out of racist Australians and the mainstream media.
“There are two groups of Asians … the good Asians will be like me. The other group will be supporting CCP, and those people who support CCP are selfish people” (ABC online).
Again, Shan has contradicted herself in her own statement and has an extremely narrow view of defining what it means to be Asian in Australia. The statement should be that no Asians will like her, unless they are the ones who support the same anti-Chinese Government dribble like she does. The majority of Asian Australians do not even think about the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), nor do they support them. And even those who do support the CCP, it is unfair to label them as “selfish”. Shan has failed to discern the difference between supporting racist rhetoric and being opposed to a political ideology. This statement is extremely damaging to the cultural diversity and social cohesion of Australian society.
Finally, Shan is truly an embellishment to the Asian Australian brand. She does not represent any sectors of the community and she does not represent me. Shan is not stupid, she is calculating and has joined One Nation for her own selfish reasons, due to her opposition to a political ideology. She is an opportunist and has used the media storm surrounding her to peddle the China bashing rhetoric. Of course Pauline Hanson and One Nation can capitalise on this, and behind her back are probably showing her disrespect. But Shan is blind to this and will refuse to see it as it is: One Nation is nothing more than a racist and bigoted political party and is no different from the white supremacist/nationalist cavalry.
Erin Chew is Convener of the Asian Australian Alliance, and Asian Australian Alliance Women’s Forum.
