Political participation of working class Chinese marriage migrants in Hong Kong SAR

Abstract

Since the early 1980s, marriage between Hong Kong men and Mainland Chinese women has become prominent. The majority of Chinese marriage migrants are female. After the reunion with their Hong Kong husbands after several years of waiting for one-way permits in China, the Chinese wives have to undergo another seven years to enjoy the right of abode. At the same time, these marriage migrants are stigmatized, and hatred and shame will often persist after they obtain permanent residency. Some extraordinary Chinese marriage migrants, who suffer but are far from hopeless, have responded to the unfairness in their own way. Since 2004, a self-organized NGO, Tonggen, has provided free services to working class female Chinese migrants, most of whom are marriage migrants. In order to tackle a variety of cases on the intricate immigration and welfare legislation, Tonggen has learnt to negotiate with the SAR government and cooperate with various local organizations and political figures. So far Tonggen has become an active participant of local democratic politics, which calls for further reflection on the emergent political involvement of working class Chinese immigrants. The purpose of the study is to investigate how the working class Chinese marriage migrants in Tonggen have created a space in local democratic politics, in which they become able to not only challenge the prevailing anti-immigrant discourses but also actually participate in Hong Kong politics. The study draws upon mostly primary sources including legal documents and interviews of the members of Tonggen. According to the interviews, relevant news reports and legal documents, the study has made a description of Tonggen participating in Hong Kong politics as a low-budget organization. Tonggen and its members become and act as political subjects. Based on its experience of tackling cases, Tonggen has made various policy advocacies in conferences and consultation sessions held by the SAR government with the help from sympathetic local politicians and in social movements initiated by the other social organizations. Through the established channels of political expression in Hong Kong, the members of Tonggen become able to articulate their demands. The collective political participation of working class Chinese marriage migrants via NGOs such as Tonggen challenges the existing conception of Chinese immigrants as uninformative and passive political subjects manipulated by either the Chinese government or the pro-establishment camp. This primary research also enables further inquiries into how political participation of working class Chinese immigrants may transform Hong Kong identity politics that have reinforced anti-immigrant discrimination and how they may become part of the global immigrant movements.