Kiwi 'racism' doesn't remind me of apartheid

“It won’t take your mom long to get permanent residence,” said the immigrations official to Michelle, the Chook’s mom, on the phone. “She isn’t an Asian.” When Michelle, who as the daughter can sponsor her mother to New Zealand told us this story that evening, I breathed a sigh of relief as my permanent residence application was dependent on my wife’s. Then I felt uncomfortable about what many would see as a racist inference.

Why would a Kiwi government official, a public servant with a responsible position, say that openly on the phone? This column takes a peek at the possible answers and at the issue of where does racism and discrimination end, and taking responsibility for a nation’s own citizens begin. A delicate issue. Or a cut and dry issue.

Our laptops, bought in China, with us here in New Zealand, I have now discovered have been heavily compromised by the Chinese. Brett, just short of seven feet tall, is the Chook’s son-in-law and an IT boff who was also some years ago one of the very best gamers in the world. Computers and IT are a huge part of his life. He looked at my laptop and after an initial check muttered, “I wonder if this laptop will beat my previous record of finding 18 spyware infections on a PC. Let’s see.” He found roughly 388 spyware infections, all from China. It should be a while before his new record is broken. Further, when Brett set up the wireless on my laptop, he discovered that all my traffic was still being routed through China via Google.co.nz. In other words all my emails and my internet activity could still feasibly be monitored from China or intercepted. Brett said they could use my ISP to send spam anywhere in the world and all sorts of other nefarious things.

That didn’t surprise me. When I was living in China people get spied on all the time, especially “foreigners”. I made many friends in China. But, sadly, at the end of the day, I learned during my five-year stay not to trust a single Chinese person because of the spying and duplicity. Whereas there are Western people I would trust with my life, not necessarily friends. This spying includes all my emails and where you go on the internet. (This snooping culture, where you are your “brother’s keeper”, is one reason why communism spread so successfully in China.)

My Thought Leader blog was hacked into by the Chinese and one hacker left the following odd, Chinglish message and title as a draft in my Thought Leader blog account. Notice how he had been keeping up to date with my blogs at the time. For example, a blog about gorgeous babes on Twitter and Facebook enticingly inviting me to let them follow me (I couldn’t in China, boo hoo) or my response to one of Sandile Malema’s many non sequitur blogs. This message, below, is not edited at all except for one unfortunate censorship.

“All your bases are belong to us

Do not be afraid. I am a ‘white hat’ hacking for good and not for bad. Two tips I offer to you:One – change your password here the computer generated passcode used to create your passcode is the same for all TL users. Do not use this information to hack into other user accounts and write on their behalf. Even if sandilememela (memelas) is a [censored by Rod]. Although could be funny.

Two — use a proxy server to bypass Chinese controls over the internet. Do so and facebook babes can be yours.”

After that all TL bloggers were asked to change their passwords. I have had to change it more than once as my account got hacked into again and again. I don’t think “hacked” is the right word. With all that ridiculous spyware the Chinese could pretty much do as they pleased, my personal affairs as easy to open as a paper envelope.

My mail to South Africa got intercepted by the Chinese. For example, a hard copy of my now published memoir, Cracking China (see my profile on the right) just never got to SA. My publishing contract with my publisher got returned several months later. An innocent publishing contract! Probably because it contained the name of the book and I have decided only to send the contract once in New Zealand. My other paper manuscripts, prior to 2009, and other correspondence to SA were never intercepted by the Chinese.

I am not alone in this. Many “foreigners”, lawai, Westerners living in China, will tell you stories of having their private affairs pried into. Or read accounts in memoirs like Tim Clissold’s Mr. China and Peter Hessler’s River Town. One Australian friend discovered her landline was bugged. She changed phones. Foreigners teaching and living on college campuses have told me that various school officials would arrive at their door at inconvenient times, ostensibly to visit, but to snoop on what they were doing.

I made many mainland Chinese friends and acquaintances. Some I will always keep in touch with, including students who adopted us as a mom and dad, as recounted in my memoir.

The point is that the Kiwi authorities feel that the “Asian” culture is just far too different from the Western culture for people like the mainland Chinese to adapt to. I understand that, having experienced both cultures. In conversations with the family, who have been in Kiwi land for more than six years, and who have Chinese friends living here in New Zealand, the Kiwi authorities also often deem the mainland Chinese as just too much trouble, as I touched on in a previous blog.

It is stated in the New Zealand immigrations website that photocopies of required documents that are certified by the Chinese police will not be accepted. That speaks volumes. Can you argue that this is just New Zealand protecting its own people and culture? I think so. Over to the readers.

It reminds me of the Kiwi authorities’ previous generosity in allowing HIV-positive people to immigrate to New Zealand. That has now been changed because of its thorough abuse which can be seen here, about a Zimbabwean practising unsafe sex in New Zealand infecting Kiwi women or here and here. These stories are clearly an example of a country that wishes to protect and serve the needs of its own people. A far cry from South Africa, where many people are “allowed” in over the borders with disastrous consequences. This laxness is an overreaction to the horrific discriminations of apartheid, which unfortunately takes the Rainbow Nation to the other extreme.