Competition, not solidarity: Austin Tseng, ‘First Nations in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Chinese-Australian writings: the lack of settler colonial empathy’, History Australia, 2026 | settler colonial studies blog

Competition, not solidarity: Austin Tseng, ‘First Nations in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Chinese-Australian writings: the lack of settler colonial empathy’, History Australia, 2026

30May26

Abstract: late nineteenth and early twentieth century chinese-australian discourses on First Nations peoples and issues were strongly influenced by prevalent writings on race and political concerns of that time. this article explores chinese-australian print media pertaining to First Nations affairs, demonstrating that this media conceived of relations with First Nations people under a paradigm of competition rather than solidarity. these findings highlight how First Nations issues were used by chinese-language media in australia to construct narratives both to express and shape the beliefs of their readership and to articulate their relationship to their ancestral and host countries. Furthermore, my findings moderate a tendency within scholarship to overemphasise the role of anti-colonial sentiment in chinese discourses, showing that this is subject to many caveats and nuances.

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