CANADIAN IMMIGRATION POLICIES and the MAKING of CHINESE CANADIAN IDENTITY, 1949-1989 by Shawn Deng a THESIS SUBMIT

EBB AND FLOW: CANADIAN IMMIGRATION POLICIES AND THE MAKING OF CHINESE CANADIAN IDENTITY, 1949-1989 by Shawn Deng A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Master of Arts in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of History and Classical Studies) MCGILL UNIVERSITY (Montreal) August 2019 © Shawn Deng, 2019 ii ABSTRACT This thesis examines the ways in which Canadian immigration policies influenced the making of Chinese Canadian identity between 1949 and 1989, by focusing on three historic moments: the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the family reunification agreement between Canada and the PRC in 1973, and the Tiananmen massacre in 1989. I use these three historic moments to trace a state-community connection, and to show how state-community interaction on Canadian immigration policies shaped the perception of being Chinese in Canada. To clarify this process, my project brings two interrelated yet distinct concepts to bear in tracing the nuances of Chinese identity in Canada. The concept of “diasporic identity” draws attention to the way Chinese communities living abroad define and express their identities by building links between the local settler society and the ancestral homeland. The concept of “Chinese Canadian identity” draws attention to the way the Chinese in Canada developed their sense of belonging in Canada when the Canadian state met their needs in terms of diasporic identity. To these investigative ends, this thesis analyzes the responses of the Canadian state to key historical moments using government documents and parliamentary Hansards, and analyzes the responses of the Chinese in Canada using two Chinese Canadian newspapers: The Chinese Times and the Shing Wah Daily News. In this way, my project ties the changing nature of Chinese identity to events in the People’s Republic of China, developments in state relations, and Canadian immigration policy at three historic moments. iii RÉSUMÉ Cette thèse examine l’impact des politiques d’immigration canadiennes sur la constitution de l’identité sino-canadienne entre 1949 et 1989, en mettant l’accent sur trois moments historiques: la création de la République populaire de Chine (RPC) en 1949, l’accord de réunification des familles entre le Canada et la RPC en 1973, et le massacre de Tiananmen en 1989. J’utilise ces trois moments pour tracer un lien état-communauté et montrer comment l’interaction entre l’état et la communauté quant à les politiques d’immigration canadiennes a façonné la perception d'être chinoise au Canada. Pour clarifier ce processus, mon projet apporte deux concepts interdépendants mais distincts pour tracer les nuances de l'identité chinoise au Canada. Le concept de « l’identité diasporique » concerne la façon dont les communautés chinoises vivant à l'étranger définissent et expriment leurs identités en établissant des liens entre la société locale et la patrie ancestrale. Le concept de « l’identité sino-canadienne » concerne la façon dont les Chinois au Canada ont développé leur sentiment d'appartenance au Canada lorsque l'État canadien a répondu à leurs besoins en termes de maintien de leur identité diasporique. À ces fins d’investigation, cette thèse analyse les réponses de l’État canadien à des moments historiques clés à l’aide de documents gouvernementaux et de hansards parlementaires, ainsi que les réponses des Chinois du Canada à l’aide de deux journaux sino-canadiens: le Chinese Times et le Shing Wah Daily News. De cette manière, mon projet lie la nature changeante de l'identité chinoise aux développements de la politique d'immigration canadienne, à trois moments historiques. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT...………………………………………………………………………………..ii RÉSUMÉ...…………………………………………………………………………………..iii TABLE OF CONTENTS.…………………………………………………………………...iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.……….………………………………………………………...v TERMINOLOGY……………………………………………………………………………vi ROMANIZAITON OF LANGUAGES……………………………………………………..vii INTRODUCITON.…………………………………………………………………………...1 Contextualizing the Making of Chinese Canadian Identity at Historic Junctures CHAPTER ONE.……………….……………………………………………………………22 Responding to China: The Emergence of a Communist Regime and the State-Community Relations in 1949 CHAPTER TWO.……………………………………………………………………………47 State for Community: Family Reunification and a Sense of Belonging for the Chinese in Canada in 1973 CHAPTER THREE.…………………………………………………………………………80 Changing Identity: The Case of Chinese Communities in Canada after the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989 CONCLUSIONS…………………………………………………………………………...108 Witnessing the Making of Chinese Canadian Identity in the Ebb and Flow of Historic Moments BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………….115 APPENDIX………………………………………………………………………………...122 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without the support from many people I met at McGill. I have to express my gratitude first to my dear supervisor Laura Madokoro who took me on as her MA student. She has always been caring, supportive, and encouraging during my studies. I always enjoyed discussing my thoughts with her. Without all those fruitful and inspirational conversations, I would never have been able to meet my goal. For any success I may find, much of the credit must go to her. It was also an honour to benefit from the supervision of John Zucchi in the latter stage of my studies. He heartened me and encouraged me in working my thoughts out fully on paper, giving me much-needed confidence about my semi-finished thesis. I’m sincerely grateful for his generosity and motivation. Aaron Ricker was a great proofreader who helped me finish the thesis in good shape. Thank you very much, Aaron. Mitali Das deserves thanks for all the administrative assistance provided throughout the time I spent in the Department of History. She was always responsive and helpful. I will always remember how she showed me around the department the day I arrived, and how she assisted me to submit my thesis at the end. Her help made the seventh floor of Leacock feel more like home. The graduate student experience at McGill definitely enriched my life with all its unsolved questions and its musings. I especially enjoyed those moments spent reading on Lower Field, by the Old Port, and in the sassy cafés of Montreal. Those were good, relaxing times. Of course, the past two years involved a lot of isolation as well; this was not a good feeling, yet I luckily made it through. The spiritual support of my parents helped the most. As a surgeon and an engineer, my parents did not, or may still not, fully understand what I was doing in my “identity” studies, but they never questioned my purpose and were profoundly supportive all along. I am indebted by their unconditional love. Many thanks go as well to some very important friends. Those long-hour phone calls and chats with Bree Dong, Fay Chang, Julian Ip, Lenny Chen, Lilly Jiang, Nanyou Chen, Sally Zhang, and Tongyao Zhang were a real support. I value those moments of being my true self with them. Catherine Burgeon, Heather Nicole, and Wayne Fiddler were always there too. Our frequent reunions in Boston and Atlanta make me nostalgic for the wonderful days we had in university. Mino Guo and Jingxi Xu always allowed me to be their guest no matter what, in London or in New York. Allison Pan and Amy Yu took good care of me between Vancouver and Montreal. Min-Jee Kim showed me the “best” dumpling place on Saint Laurent, and Nancy Pham introduced me to cute bistros in the Plateau. These experiences all made my graduate studies more meaningful. I treasure these long-lasting friendships. Mere thank-yous can never accurately express my feelings to you all. vi TERMINOLOGY In this thesis, some important ideas, such as “Chinese Canadian identity,” will be used in a singular form. In term of “Chinese Canadian identity,” for instance, the singular use of it is not negating the plural or multi-faceted nature of “identity” in some situations. Rather, because of my purpose of writing this thesis, I aim at demonstrating how some historical incidents and historic moments gave a general impact on a larger sense of identity. Thus, in the most cases of the thesis, I will insist on using singular form in some relevant terms in my writing. Please also note that I intend to use both “Chinese in Canada” and “Chinese communities” at different junctures to reflect the localized, diasporic dimension of the Chinese Canadian experience. vii ROMANIZATION OF LANGUAGES This thesis uses the pinyin romanization to standardize the Chinese language in English, recognizing the trend to use the pinyin romanization in Chinese and English- language scholarship. The use of other romanizations, such as the Wade-Giles system, may cause unnecessary confusion for the audiences of different backgrounds. For instance, Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) will be transcribed as Guomindang; Peking will be transcribed as Beijing; Chou En-lai will be transcribed as Zhou En-lai. In the most of circumstances, this thesis will be based on the use of the pinyin romanization. 1 INTRODUCTION Contextualizing the Making of Chinese Canadian Identity at Historic Junctures Chinese communities in Canada are a vibrant part of the Chinese diaspora, despite the fact that their integration was not always easy in comparison with Chinese diasporic communities in other regions. The integration of Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, for example, was relatively smooth and successful.1 The immigration policies implemented by governments in this area in the twentieth century helped their Chinese populations to settle down, “turning the Chinese sojourners to citizens.”2 For the Chinese who came to North America, the process was much more difficult, at least until the second half of the twentieth century. Many arrived intending to go back home eventually, and their position as sojourning labourers was reinforced by white supremacist legislation that made it hard for them to stay in the United States and Canada. The white majority complained that the Chinese were “racially inassimilable” and that their “cheap labour undercuts white wages.”3 Such discriminatory social attitudes had practical effects in the legal sphere as well.

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