The China Syndrome

The Chinese new year is almost upon us. With this in mind, we have injected a special flavour of the east into the first two issues of hotpress of 2005. Last time out, there was a marvellous interview, by Tara Brady, with Wong Kar-Wai, the Hong Kong-born director of the acclaimed 2046, as well as a report from Mark Godfrey in Beijing on the revolution that sees rock stars all over the world playing instruments that are made in China.

This time out, we have spread the net of Eastern influences somewhat wider, with Tara Brady reflecting on the success of the fashion label Hello Kitty and Anne Sexton offering a primer in the wonderful art of tantric sex. Next issue, Colin Carberry will report from Belfast on the difficulties being faced there by the Chinese community, with the incidence of racism starkly on the increase.
The increasing engagement of China in particular with Ireland has been one of the most significant cultural developments here, over the past few years. It is widely acknowledged, albeit unofficially, that Mandarin is now the country’s second language, spoken on an everyday basis by a greater number of people in Ireland than use Irish.
The increased presence of Chinese nationals here has become widely apparent in shops, petrol stations, cafes and other places where casual workers are to be found. Now, however, that trend seems to be under threat with a change in policy in relation to work arrangements for immigrant students being proposed by the Department of Justice.
It might be described as a typical knee jerk reaction on the part of the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell. Special arrangements had been put in place to allow non-EU students to work 20 hours per week during their stay in Ireland. This provision extended to students at a variety of language schools around the country and was a significant factor in attracting the influx of Chinese students to Ireland.
While here, they spend a lot of money – the cost of courses is not inconsiderable; they also contribute to the economy by working and add more than a little bit to the gaiety of the nation with their distinctive presence. While the Chinese community have a reputation for hanging together, on the streets of Dublin at least, there is plenty of evidence that Chinese students are integrating with locals, forming relationships – and in doing so, hopefully opening younger Irish people up to the diversity of human life in general. For anyone with a sense of openness and curiosity, overall the phenomenon has to be seen as a good thing.
However, these special work provisions, which allowed non-EU students to work here, were subject to abuse by a small number of language schools. This much is not in dispute. The response of the Minister to this minor complication, it seems, is to withdraw the entitlement to work from students other than those attending third-level colleges.
The decision may well have a dramatic effect on the number of Chinese coming here. In many cases, the language colleges provide a necessary preparatory stage before students are ready for the more advanced demands of third-level education. In addition, the speed at which students pick up a wholly unfamiliar language is greatly increased by exposure to English in work situations.
To now cut off this part of the learning process, on the basis that the system was abused by a small number of colleges is both lazy and daft. But it is symptomatic of the way the State operates now, abnegating responsibility for the hard detail of making things work and running scared at the first suggestion that there might be a problem.
The decision seems madly contradictory too, given that an Irish trade delegation, headed by the Taoiseach, was in China last week, with the express aim of developing business relations with what is the world’s fastest growing economy.
Whatever anyone feels about the appropriateness of Bertie Ahern’s participation in that exercise, given the abysmal human rights record of the Beijing government, the plain fact is that by far the best way to establish an awareness of Ireland in China is through being involved in the education of many Chinese students as possible. The multiplier effect of having 20,000 students here at any time is immense – but that is now being put at risk.
What’s worse is the sense that this is fundamentally a racist reaction on someone’s part to the proliferation of Chinese – that there is a feeling among the hard men and women in the immigration department that some kind of floodgate is being closed off. On that basis alone, the plan should be opposed.
Coupled with the decision to use electronic tagging, and specifically the suggestion from the Minister that it might be used in the case of first time public order offenders, the feeling that the current regime is pushing us down an ever more reactionary path is inescapable.
The time has come for the opposition to re-engage – or die.