536.4
A Half-Open Door to Africa: Chinese and Japanese Migrants in the Twentieth Century South Africa
A Half-Open Door to Africa: Chinese and Japanese Migrants in the Twentieth Century South Africa
Friday, July 18, 2014: 11:15 AM
Room: 313+314
Oral Presentation
Over recent years, amid the increased presence of China and residents of Chinese descent in African countries, growing attention has been paid to experiences of Asians migrants in interdisciplinary fields of studies in South Africa. What has been revealed by exploring their histories is that, despite their small numbers, the existence of Chinese and Japanese migrants had a considerable impact on 'white' South African racial policies. By focusing on those who migrated from East Asia at the beginning of the twentieth century, this paper seeks to examine how they confronted the technologies of exclusion that South Africa introduced in order to maintain the colour bar of the country.
While several countries and colonies had restricted Asian migration associated with the ‘Yellow Peril’ panic and a threat to the 'white' labour at that time, the British government imported Chinese labourers just after the Second South African War to compensate for the absence of labour in gold mines. Lake and Raynolds (2008) emphasizes that introduction of the Chinese strengthened 'white' labour unions and encouraged legislations which restricted skilled work to white men. As for the Japanese, they were listed as prohibited migrants under the 1913 Immigrant Regulation Act, and were later removed from the list because the Union government needed to allow Japanese business persons into the country in order to expand the wool exportation. This can be considered as a precedent for the ‘eminent visitors’ status under apartheid, or the privileged status granted to non-white inhabitants staying in the country for business or diplomatic purposes. The paper aims to contribute to wider discussions on South Africa’s history of immigration policies, some of which have not been adequately address due to Atlantic-centrism of academic research.
While several countries and colonies had restricted Asian migration associated with the ‘Yellow Peril’ panic and a threat to the 'white' labour at that time, the British government imported Chinese labourers just after the Second South African War to compensate for the absence of labour in gold mines. Lake and Raynolds (2008) emphasizes that introduction of the Chinese strengthened 'white' labour unions and encouraged legislations which restricted skilled work to white men. As for the Japanese, they were listed as prohibited migrants under the 1913 Immigrant Regulation Act, and were later removed from the list because the Union government needed to allow Japanese business persons into the country in order to expand the wool exportation. This can be considered as a precedent for the ‘eminent visitors’ status under apartheid, or the privileged status granted to non-white inhabitants staying in the country for business or diplomatic purposes. The paper aims to contribute to wider discussions on South Africa’s history of immigration policies, some of which have not been adequately address due to Atlantic-centrism of academic research.