Four Whites Slain by Japanese in 1907 March -- 100 Years Of Spin

"A UBC student from Taiwan has uncovered Chinese-language newspaper
reports
of a 1907 race riot in Vancouver. And they provide a significantly
different account from English-language newspaper records, which have
shaped
historians' views over the last century. In September 1907, hundreds
of
angry Caucasians went on a rampage in Chinatown, beating up local
residents.
Then the mob moved on to Japantown. [In fairness, the triggers were a
little
more complex than simple racial animus: The event was known as the
Working
Man's Revolt. But here's the ironic part -- at the time,]
English-language
newspapers stated that there were no deaths. ... Woan-Jen Wang said
that
Chinese-language newspaper records in Taiwan, on the other hand,
reported
multiple deaths in the riot. For example, the Taiwan Daily News
reported on
September 22, 1907, that Japanese residents killed four white men."
(Georgia Straight, May 31, 2007) And you thought CBC was economical
with
the truth. Wang's paper notes: "Major local English newspapers focused
on
the sympathy of federal and British officials and their regret for the
[Asian] victims in the riot. One newspaper reported that the Prime
Minister
of Canada, on order of the Governor-General, sent a telegraph to the
Mayor
of Vancouver: 'The Governor-General and the King of England had close
relations and they heard the Emperor of Japan's subjects were insulted
and
expressed their deep regrets and hope that order could be restored and
the
offenders [that is, the Caucasian rioters] punished as soon as
possible.'"
(Woan-Jen Wang, Perspectives on the 1907 Riots in Selected Asian
Languages
and International Newspapers, 2007) So weasely reporting is a
venerable
Canadian tradition. -- Who knew?

C-FAR has published a study of the Asiatic Exclusion League, including
the
protest 100 years ago in 1907, when a third of the population of
Vancouver
rallied against massive Oriental immigration. The booklet The
Workingman's
Revolt: The Asiatic Exclusion Rally of 1907 is available from C-FAR
postpaid
for $5.00.

[This story will appear in the Crime Watch section of the
Canadian
Immigration Hotline, Canada's premier immigration reform newsletter
this
month. The Canadian Immigration Hotline is published monthly and costs
$30.00 per year by subscription, Send your check or VISA to Canadian
Immigration Hotline, P.O. Box 332, Rexzdale, ON., M9W 5L3, Canada.]

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