American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Christopher Marut yesterday acknowledged the contributions made by Chinese immigrants to the US since the 1850s, saying they “have helped make the US what it is today.”
At the opening ceremony of an exhibition titled “Immigrants Building America,” Marut said he hoped that visitors to the exhibit would “feel a sense of pride in how Chinese immigrants played a critical role in the American success story.”
What the Chinese immigrants have experienced in the US are all “inspiring stories” and they have contributed to the growth of the US, he said.
Chinese immigrants, known as “ethnic Chinese (華裔)” in Mandarin, are defined as people from Taiwan and China who immigrated to the US to help build US society, AIT spokesman Mark Zimmer said.
The AIT is hosting the exhibition in conjunction with the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission and National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to highlight the important contributions Chinese immigrants have made to the US over the decades.
Marut said he apologized if there were some people whom visitors consider important who were left out of the exhibition.
“The truth is, there are so many inspiring stories, we did not have time or space to include them all. And that is the point. These are inspiring stories. People like the ones we talk about in the exhibit and those we didn’t mention who have helped make the United States what it is today,” he said.
The three-week exhibition, which will run until Oct. 10 in the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, gives visitors an overview of the history of Chinese immigration in the US, and shows the hardship the immigrants have endured and the perseverance they have shown.
Like so many other immigrants who came to the US to earn money and send it home, the lives of Chinese immigrants were filled with hard work and many difficulties, but they faced more difficulties than some other immigrant groups, Marut said.
In 1882, the US Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Acts to limit the number of Chinese who were able to come to the US. The law was not repealed until 1943.
When the law was in force, the only Chinese allowed to enter the US were merchants, diplomats, students and tourists, and neither the federal nor any state government could nationalize any Chinese.
On June 18, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution expressing regret for the restrictions that had been imposed on Chinese immigration, Marut said.
“It is only the fourth time in US history that the House has apologized for historical actions. In passing the resolution, the House acknowledged and applauded the important contributions that Chinese-Americans have made — and continue to make — to the success of the United States,” Marut said.
On Thursday next week, Arthur Dong (曾奕田), an Academy Award-nominated US documentary filmmaker whose films focus on topics such as Asian American history and identity, and gay rights, will be in Taipei talking about his documentaries and his life as an immigrant in the US.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
IDENTITY SHIFT: Asked to choose to identify as either Taiwanese or Chinese, 83.3 percent of respondents chose Taiwanese, while 8.4 percent chose Chinese An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese, 71.5 percent, think that Taiwan should compete in international competitions under the name “Taiwan,” a Taiwan Brain Trust survey published yesterday showed. Referring to Taiwan’s victory last month at the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12, the survey results showed that 89.1 percent of respondents said that Taiwan’s exceptional performance in sporting competitions furthers national unity. Only 18.8 percent of respondents supported Taiwanese teams’ continued use of the name “Chinese Taipei” in international sporting competitions, the survey showed. Among Taiwan’s leading political parties, the name “Team Taiwan” was supported by 91.1 percent of self-identified Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters,
RSS