Chinese People in Papua New Guinea - Culture - Ethnicity and Identity

Ethnicity and Identity

Due to gender imbalances, mixed marriages between Chinese men and indigenous women have long been common in PNG's Chinese community. The offspring of such marriages tended to be accepted as Chinese if they were raised within the community and learned the language. However, at the same time, the Chinese community tended to look down on indigenous people as "savages"; prior to independence, Chinese were in the middle tier of a racial hierarchy, discriminated against by whites but equally lording it over the indigenous people; after independence, they came to resent the political power those same indigenes had been given over them.

Even within the Chinese community, tensions exist between different groups of immigrants. Local Chinese in particular blame mainland Chinese for disrupting previously-peaceful inter-ethnic relationships between the Chinese community and indigenous peoples. In particular, mainland Chinese migrants' activities have earned them a poor reputation not just among indigenous people, but among local Chinese and ethnic Chinese expatriates from Southeast Asia as well; the latter view them as "crooks" and "conmen". Mainland Chinese migrants' practise of illegally opening shops in sectors which are restricted to PNG nationals, such as low-end hospitality and retail businesses; these bring them into direct economic competition with local people. For example, during September 2007 anti-Chinese riots in Mount Hagen, PNG's third largest city, Chinese-owned warehouses became targets for arsonists and armed robbers.