{"id":10258,"date":"2015-05-05T21:51:04","date_gmt":"2015-05-05T05:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinaworker.info\/?p=10258"},"modified":"2016-04-13T20:10:27","modified_gmt":"2016-04-13T12:10:27","slug":"hong-kong-migrant-workers-rage-against-regina-ips-racist-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2015\/05\/05\/10258\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong: Migrant workers rage against Regina Ip’s racist outburst"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hong Kong Exco member forced to apologise for racist slur on Filipino migrant workers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sally Tang Mei-ching, Socialist Action<\/p>\n

The affair surrounding the racist outburst by Executive Councillor Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee shows the growing confidence of migrant workers to protest and challenge Hong Kong\u2019s capitalist elite. Ip, who is chairman of the pro-government New People\u2019s Party, eventually issued an apology on 25 April, several days after she made headlines with racist and sexist remarks in a Chinese-language newspaper column against migrant domestic workers from the Philippines. Ip\u2019s recantation cam only after numerous protests organised by migrants and their supporters.<\/p>\n

In her newspaper article, Ip said she had received complaints from \u201cforeign women\u201d living in Hong Kong that the government was \u201callowing Filipino domestic helpers to seduce their husbands\u201d. Her article went on to describe the women as \u201csexual resources\u201d for Westerners. Similar racist content was carried on Ip\u2019s facebook page, although this was later removed.<\/p>\n

The reaction from the city\u2019s Filipino community was swift. On 23 April, migrant groups protested outside the headquarters of the New People\u2019s Party, chanting \u201cRegina Ip, Shame on you\u201d, and \u201cRacism is a social virus\u201d. A spokesman for the Asian Migrants\u2019 Co-ordinating Body, Eman Villanueva, said Ip\u2019s remarks had offended 170,000 Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong. The following day, Ip who is widely expected to run for the post of Chief Executive in the (rigged) elections of 2017, issued an apology, while still insisting her remarks were neither racist or sexist. But this, given her earlier refusal to take back her racist comments, failed to cool the anger among migrant domestic workers. Several hundred took to the streets again on Sunday 26 April, rejecting the apology as hypocritical.<\/p>\n

Stella, working in Hong Kong for six years, told Socialist magazine: \u201cWhat she said is racist, makes me very angry. I have read her apology, it\u2019s totally not sincere or honest. It\u2019s just because she felt pressure, she\u2019s trying to end the affair.\u201d Christina who came four years ago, said angrily: \u201cI came to Hong Kong just to make a living, to earn money to feed my family! Not to seduce my boss!\u201d Christina is afraid that Ip\u2019s speech will create a negative impression about Filipino migrants.<\/p>\n

Regina Ip\u2019s track record<\/strong><\/p>\n

The latest controversy follows a history of Regina Ip supporting anti-labour and anti-democratic causes been notorious, and this is not the first time she has attacked the rights of foreign domestic helpers. Furthermore, as the former Hong Kong Secretary for Security, Ip\u2019s remarks give an accurate reflection of the outlook of government officials, shaped by elitism and arrogance towards the working class. Ip was one of many establishment politicians who opposed the right of abode for foreign domestic workers when the current racist immigration rules were being challenged in the courts. She urged the government to request China\u2019s National People\u2019s Congress (fig-leaf \u2018parliament\u2019) to give a ruling to solve the problem, which for right-wing politicians like Ip also serves a double purpose as a way to strengthen the Chinese dictatorship\u2019s control over Hong Kong\u2019s nominally independent legal authority.<\/p>\n

She has also advocated the establishment of a \u201ctrial period\u201d for foreign domestic workers of three months in which time the employer would have the right of summary dismissal, with the required paid notice cut from one month to seven days. In 2011, she supported proposals that employers\u2019 requirement to pay the medical expenses for foreign domestic workers should be capped.<\/p>\n

Article 23<\/strong><\/p>\n

Previously, Ip has also made highly exaggerated claims about Hong Kong being overwhelmed by immigrants from mainland China. As the Secretary for Security in 1999, she opposed the right of abode for mainlanders born out of wedlock to a Hong Kong parent, making the wildly inaccurate prediction that within a decade 1.67 million people from mainland China would emigrate to Hong Kong. Actual migration during the period was less than half the level she claimed.<\/p>\n

She is most well know, of course, for her strong push during 2003 as the Secretary for Security to implement the draconian Article 23, a national security law that would gag criticism of the Chinese dictatorship and impose sever restrictions on political freedoms in Hong Kong. The legislation was stopped by a massive protest movement and Ip was forced to resign. After last year\u2019s mass umbrella movement during she was a vocal supporter of a tougher police response and has recently spoken up again for resurrecting Article 23.<\/p>\n

There are important lessons form this episode. Organisations representing migrant workers did the right thing to quickly and clearly come out not only through the media but by organizing collective action and protests. This is the best way to expose racist politicians and build anti-racist support.<\/p>\n

It is clear that Ip\u2019s attack on Filipino migrants is linked to unease within the ruling elite over recent victories for the migrant struggle, most notably in the case of Indonesian domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, whose employer was jailed for six years for serious abuse. The Erwiana case saw an upsurge in activism by migrants and widespread sympathy from Hong Kong people. The establishment clearly fears this growing self-confidence and willingness to fight for migrants\u2019 rights and can be expected to launch new attempts to turn the tables.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, another less positive feature of this affair is that once again most Hong Kong political parties, even the ones that claim to support democracy, refuse to lift a finger to oppose racism (aside from some comments to the media) and for fear of \u201closing votes\u201d have never actively supported migrant workers\u2019 rights. This lack of a working class and internationalist approach is also a reason why the pan-democratic parties have been incapable of effectively fighting for democracy in Hong Kong and challenging capitalist interests and the Chinese dictatorship.<\/p>\n

\"Migrant<\/a>
Filipino domestic workers protest on 26 April. Picture: Socialist Action.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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