澳洲移民
The promised land
希望之地
Chinese immigrants are remaking entire suburbs of Australia's biggest city
中國移民重構悉尼郊區
Dinkum incomes in China Town
繁華的唐人街
NANCY LIU arrived in Sydney from China as a “skilled immigrant” with an economics degree 14 years ago. With her husband, she set up a business consultancy in the suburb of Hurstville, once an Anglo-Celtic working-class stronghold. Since then, Chinese investment has transformed it: most of its shop signs are now in Chinese. Last year, Ms Liu was elected Hurstville's deputy mayor.
14年前,擁有經濟學學位的劉南希作為“技術移民”從中國來到悉尼,與丈夫一起成立了一家商業咨詢公司。這家公司位于赫斯特維爾的郊區,曾一度是英國凱特尓工人的大本營。自那以后,中國投資便改變著它:如今大部分商店的標示都是中文。劉女士也在去年當選赫斯特維爾的副市長。

Ms Liu was a forerunner of a new wave of Chinese immigrants to Australia's oldest and biggest city. Hong Kong once supplied most of Australia's Chinese settlers, but over the past few years the pattern has shifted. Now it is the rising middle classes from mainland China who go there, looking for a cleaner, more relaxed lifestyle. About 4% of Sydney's 4.6m people were born in China. Hurstville's China-born population is about a third of its total and almost half its residents claim Chinese ancestry.
劉女士是新一輪中國向澳洲歷史最悠久也是最大城市移民潮中的先行者。澳洲中國移民中一度以香港移民為主,不過在過去幾年中,這種格局已經悄然改變。如今越來越多的中產階級從中國大陸來到這里,期冀一種潔凈、輕松的生活。悉尼460萬人口中大約4%生于中國。赫斯特維爾中生于中國的人口大約有1/3,而且近半居民有中國血統。
But China's emergence as Australia's biggest trading partner, and its largest source of foreign university students, has revolutionised the relationship. In the fiscal year 2011-12, more than 25,000 Chinese people obtained permanent residence in Australia. Most of them were from the new middle classes. Then in late 2012 Australia launched a “significant investor” visa, aimed at China's super-rich. To get one, people need A5m to sink in “qualifying” investments. After investing for four years, successful applicants can apply for permanent residence.Sydney's first Chinese immigrants arrived as farm workers in the 1840s. The gold rush a decade later drew more. “Celestial City: Sydney's Chinese story”, an exhibition at the Museum of Sydney, shows what happened next. By the 1880s, political fears of a “Chinese invasion” sparked anti-Asian immigration laws known as the White Australia policy, which lasted well into the 20th century.
不過中國成為澳大利亞最大的貿易伙伴、最大留學生來源,這讓兩國關系有了翻天覆地的變化。在2011—2012財年中,超過25000中國移民獲得了永久居住證。他們中的大部分來自新興中產階級。此后的2012年,澳大利亞又針對中國超級富豪推出了“重要投資者”簽證。在澳投資5百萬澳元就可以獲得這一簽證。投資4年后,優秀申請人可以申請永久居住證。悉尼第一位中國移民在19世紀40年代抵達后,成為農場工人。十年后的黃金熱吸引了更多移民。在悉尼博物館展出的“天空之城:悉尼的中國故事”展也講述了接下來的事情。19世紀80年代,出于“中國入侵”的政治擔憂,澳大利亞發布了反中國移民法案,業即“白色澳大利亞”事件。這一狀況直持續到20世紀才得以改善。
The visas are called “subclass 188” and “subclass 888”. As the number eight represents luck and prosperity in Chinese culture, the visa's main target is obvious. More than 90% of 702 applicants so far have been Chinese.
這種簽證被稱為“幸運188”和“幸運888”。因為在中國文化中數字8代表著好運和財富,所以這種簽證針對對象也顯而易見。目前,702名申請者中超過90%的是中國人。
Many of the emigres are media-shy. But their influence is visible in Chatswood, another formerly Anglo-Australian suburb. Towers of apartments, many owned by Chinese immigrants, now overlook the Edwardian-era stone and timber bungalows. Shops on the main street are crammed with Chinese noodles and vegetables, and Mandarin is the chief language among shoppers. Stacks of Chinese newspapers outnumber English ones.
許多流亡者避免出現在媒體前。不過他們在查斯伍德區的影響力顯而易見,后者是另一個原英屬澳洲的郊區。許多公寓樓由中國移民擁有,這里可以俯瞰愛德華時代的石頭和木平房。中央街區的店面滿是中式面條和菜式,普通話則是商家們的官方語言。成堆的中國報紙比英國的還多。
Yan Zhang, who settled in Sydney after studying at Macquarie University, orders a lunch of pork dumplings at the New Shanghai restaurant. He reckons the new wave of middle-class Chinese immigrants, who arrive with residence already granted, come to Australia for the same reasons he did. “They want to make life more enjoyable and more secure,” he says. “If I'd returned to China, I'd have had to be more selfish to survive.”
楊正從麥考瑞大學畢業后便定居于悉尼 。在新上海飯館點了份豬肉餃子后,他認為,這次中產階級移民浪潮中取得居住許可的移民們,多與他出于同樣的原因。他說:“他們想讓生活更加舒適、穩定。如果我想回中國,那我將為了生存而更加自私。”