Racial attacks stun old Chinese

By AMANDA SPRATT

The teenage girls who threw eggs at 61-year-old Ruifang Ye and her 71-year-old husband hissed "Chinese, Chinese".

A group of young men threw stones at Xiaoxiang Chang, 67, and his 70-year-old wife while they were waiting by the bus stop near their home.

Sixty-nine-year-old Liwen Sun has been afraid to leave his home since a youth hit him with a road cone.

The incidents are among 14 cases of abuse of elderly Chinese people in Northcote recorded by the Chinese Association of North Shore City, where Asian numbers have more than quadrupled from 1991 to 2001 to reach 17,360 - 12.3 per cent of the local population.

Chairman Zhongchen Pan said the attacks occurred almost every week, mostly in broad daylight, and the situation was getting worse.

Mr Pan said he wished the incidents were just typical teenage pranks, but he believed they were racially motivated.

A group of 10 of the victims, aged between 65 and 75, gathered for an informal meeting in their local community house to talk in their native Mandarin about their worries for their personal safety.

Most came to New Zealand five or more years ago to be with family. Many have citizenship, but few can speak more than a few words of English. All consider themselves New Zealanders, and all love it here.

But now, they say, things are changing. Sufang Liu, 64, was a teacher in China. When she came here five years ago, she remembers, everyone was friendly. But recently a group of young people abused her.

"If they behave like this as teenagers, what will they be like in the future?" she wonders.

Mr Sun, who was a mechanical engineer in China, arrived in New Zealand six years ago to be with his daughter and her family.

He said he was knocked to the ground when struck on the back of the head with the traffic cone. Two other youths watched it happen.

"I don't like to go out in the night," he told the group. "Even in the day I look behind me when I hear people running."

Others spoke of teenagers throwing bottles at them, punching them and trying to take their purses. But only Mr Sun had gone to the police.

A few were scared, but for most the language barrier and the belief that the police could not do anything to help stopped them from reporting the attacks.

North Shore's policing development manager, Kerry Kay, said he was aware of the problem, but police could do little unless the victims came to them directly.

Staff had investigated Mr Sun's case but could not find the offenders.

The police were considering stationing a Chinese speaker at the community constable's office in Northcote, and other options such as the free Government-run language line were available to anyone with language difficulties, Mr Kay said.

Asian crime squad detective Tim Chao said although he was not aware of an increase in racially motivated violence against Chinese in the city, he urged those who had been victims to go to the police, regardless of how minor they thought the crime was.

"Sticks and stones - and eggs - can break your bones," he said. "They could be assaults."

But Birkenhead-Northcote Community Board chairman Jennifer Yorke said there was no local anti-Asian problem.

"You always get little toe-rags but they're going to do it for everyone.

"They will chuck eggs at you if you're 60 whether you are black, brown or brindle."