Gallery - The Chinese Community

The average New Zealander doesn't see much of this. There are few public signs that traditional Chinese culture is alive and thriving in New Zealand. This anonymity is pretty indicative of the 10,000 Chinese who make up the local community.

– Reporter Geoff Walker on a Chinese lion dance in a Wellington church

...people who have immediate family and who have special skills are supposed to be allowed into the country. In practice it doesn't quite work out like this. The number of Chinese who are admitted into the country is very small, and in the case of people who are of immediate family, sometimes they're made to make a declaration where no other member of the family will apply for immigration afterwards...

– Jack Ho on immigration policies for Chinese

...I think it's true that the immigration policy makes it easier for a European who has no skills to come into the country than for a Chinese who has special skills ... and the government has lots of fine words for explaining this, but I don't think in fact that they have a very reasoned policy at all. It's just emotional reaction through their being indoctrinated since they were young with the idea of the yellow peril, and more recently of the red menace.

– Jack Ho on whether New Zealand's immigration policies towards Chinese are racist