Study reveals evidence of 'substantial racism' against UK's Chinese community

A new Government-funded report into levels of racism experienced by members of the UK Chinese community should start a national debate on how best to tackle the problem, Cohesion Minister Sadiq Khan said today.

Hidden from Public View, published by The Monitoring Group-Min Quan Project following a Connecting Communities Grant from the Department for Communities and Local Government, examines how best to monitor and tackle racist incidents against UK Chinese people.

The report finds that:

• Chinese-origin people in the UK experience substantial racism - perhaps as much as or more than any other minority ethnic group.
• Perpetrators can be as young as 10, with their behaviour often dismissed as 'a bit of fun'.
• In particular, the report cites numerous examples of owners and workers in the Chinese catering industry facing verbal abuse and non-payment for goods on a daily basis - in some cases escalating to physical assault and even murder.

Mr Khan reiterated Government support to combat racism in all its forms, and pledged to respond to the report's full list of recommendations by the summer.

Sadiq Khan said: "As a Government, we are committed to tackling racism wherever it occurs.  That is why we have funded today's report, which should start a national debate about the plight of the UK Chinese community.

"Sadly, the Min Quan Project's findings confirm our worst suspicions, offering a rare insight into the harrowing physical and verbal abuse that members of the UK Chinese community often face.  Clearly this is unacceptable.

"We have taken steps to ensure a victim of any hate crime is able to report it, and have it investigated in an appropriate and sensitive manner.  Like all communities, UK Chinese people should be able to live their lives free from the fear of attack."

The Government agrees that efforts should be made to improve the reporting of race hate incidents against UK Chinese people.

A number of initiatives are already underway to tackle racism and race hate crime wherever it occurs, which the UK Chinese community can also benefit from.

This includes True Vision, a project established in May 2004 and funded by all 23 police forces, which provides information on hate crime in all its forms, and how victims can report it - including through the True Vision website.

The Government also agrees that the good work undertaken by some police forces and criminal justice agencies to tackle race hate crimes should be encouraged and shared more widely.