| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 7,500 (~1.2% of Fijian population) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Suva | |
| Languages | |
| Fijian,English,Cantonese,Shanghainese | |
| Religion | |
| Buddhist,Chinese folk religion,Taoism,Confucianism,Christianity[1] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Chinese Australians,Chinese New Zealanders,Chinese in Samoa,Chinese in Tonga |
TheChinesediaspora in Fiji is a small but influential community in the multiracial society that makes up modern-dayFiji. In the early 2000s their numbers were estimated at around 6,000, or a little over half of one percent ofFiji's population. The most recent estimation puts the population at 7,500 making the concentration of Chinese in Fiji at around one percent.[2] Around 80% of Chinese in Fiji speakCantonese and around 16% speakShanghainese as their native language. Chinese in Fiji also speak the localFijian language. There are also a considerable number of Fijians who are of partial Chinese extraction, being descended from marriages between Chinese andindigenous Fijians.
Forelectoral purposes, Chinese people used to be counted asGeneral Electors, an omnibus category for Fijian citizens not of indigenous,Indian, orRotuman descent, who were allocated three seats in the 71-memberHouse of Representatives. This classification became redundant with the2013 Constitution, which abolished ethnic representation inParliament.
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The history of Chinese people in Fiji dates to the year 1855, whenMoy Ba Ling, also known asHoung Lee, reached Fiji in a sail boat from Australia and settled inLevuka. He later returned to China, before bringing his relatives and some others to settle in Fiji, in connection with the gold rush. Later arrivals came looking forsandalwood andbeche-de-mer. According toDixon Seeto, President of theChinese Association of Fiji in the early 2000s, the first shops in rural areas of Fiji were opened by Chinese merchants.
Chinese people were enfranchised for the first time in 1964. The formerEuropean roll was redefined to include other minority groups and renamed theGeneral Electors roll. Despite being only a splinter of the electorate, General Electors were then allocated 10 of the 36 seats in theLegislative Council, as thelegislature was then known, though this figure has gradually been reduced since independence in 1970.
Around a thousand Chinese settled in Fiji in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and in February 1995, the FijianCabinet approved a plan to allow up to 7000Hong Kong Chinese to immigrate to Fiji. Conditions included payment ofF$30,000 to the government, and investment ofF$100,000 in government-approved projects. Many of these invested in restaurants, retailing, and market gardening (mostly inKalabu,Tamavua,Delaivalelevu,Vikoba,Sawani andWaibau), and have intensifiedhorticulture aroundSuva. A further wave of Chinese has arrived since the late 1990s, many of them from the northern part of China. Many of the more recent immigrants have opened bakeries and other food outlets in Fijian villages, creating employment for local people, saysFiji Times editorSamisoni Kakaivalu.
The exact date of Moy Ba Ling's arrival is not known, but on 17 September 2005, the Chinese community celebrated the 150th anniversary.
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A 357-kilogramheroin bust in 2000 and aSuva drug laboratory, with a value estimated at close toF$1 billion, in 2004, raised public concerns about the activities of some of the more recent Chinese immigrants. The activities of a few of them, saysFiji Law Society PresidentGraeme Leung, have unfairly stigmatized the Chinese community in the eyes of the public.
On 4 October 2005, Military spokesmanLieutenant ColonelOrisi Rabukawaqa said that the Army had uncovered an immigrationscam. Almost seven thousandChinese nationals, he claimed, had entered Fiji illegally since 2003. He alleged that bribery in the office of theRegistrar General had resulted in massive falsification of documents, with Chinese immigrants being falsely identified asethnic Fijians. Military investigations showed that illegal immigration was related to increasing rates ofprostitution,gambling,money laundering, andillegal fishing.
On 6 October, Justice Ministry Chief ExecutiveSakiusa Rabuka challenged the Military to substantiate its allegations, telling theFiji Village news service on 9 October that the allegations made by the Military were "baseless." Only one case had been found, he said, of an Asian national trying to change his birth certificate.
As more evidence came to light, however, the local Chinese community called for a crackdown on corruption in the immigration service. Government-appointed Senator Kenneth Low, who was also President of theChinese Business Association in Fiji, alleged on 8 November that corrupt immigration officials were granting Fijiancitizenship to illegal Asian immigrants for money and sex, and called on the government to establish acommission of inquiry into illegal immigration.
Dixon Seeto spoke out on 15 December against violent attacks made against Chinese market gardeners and farmers. Both men and women were being assaulted by youths seeking cash, he claimed, when bringing their produce to the market at around 3 or 4 a.m. He called for morepolice patrols to prevent such attacks.
Well-known persons of whole or partial Chinese descent include formerCabinet MinisterPio Wong, formerSenatorsKenneth Low andJames Ah Koy,Peter Lee (former long serving General Manager ofCoca-Cola Fiji and currently heading Fiji's largest conglomerate -Carpenters) and prominent lawyerGraeme Leung. At the 150th anniversary celebrations, Fiji'sVice-President,Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, paid tribute to the contribution the Chinese community has made to Fiji."The Chinese community has never been a large one but their influence has been felt far beyond their numbers," he said.