Chinatowns across the U.S. and Canada are monuments to the culture, struggles, and successes of the AAPI community. Since the 1860s, Chinatowns have had to deal with several boom-and-bust cycles. The most recent one began just before the pandemic and continues today.
Often these hard times are driven not just by economic issues in their respective home cities or countries but by racism, classism, and gentrification.
Fifty representatives from 18 Chinatown communities across the U.S. and Canada met in Vancouver to share their collective experience and wisdom on dealing with these issues and discuss best practices for future partnerships between American and Canadian Chinatown Organizations.
“It’s not often that we get opportunities like this where we get to meet some of our peers from other Chinatowns, and also from a Canadian perspective,” said Angie Liou, executive director of the Asian Community Development Corp. in Boston. “Because of how these ethnic communities came to be, they were formed under similar socio-economic, and historical forces, so we all face similar challenges. It’s great to have this type of peer network to learn from one another.”
本报记者拍摄Photographed by Metro Chinese
除了来自美国和加拿大各大唐人街的代表外，加拿大和美国也有都有贵宾出席了会议，包括美国驻加拿大大使David L. Cohen，美国驻温哥华总领事D. Brent Hardt，加拿大小企业国际出口贸易和经济发展部长Mary Ng和温哥华市市长Ken Sim。
In addition to the representatives from the various Chinatowns across the U.S. and Canada, Canadian and U.S. dignitaries, including U.S. Ambassador to Canada David L. Cohen, U.S. Consul General in Vancouver D. Brent Hardt, Canada’s Minister for International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development Mary Ng and Mayor of Vancouver Ken Sim were in attendance.
“This is a critical moment for Chinatowns across North America, they are facing similar obstacles, and today, leaders and organizations supporting the preservation and revitalization efforts have not had an opportunity to connect, share knowledge, and support each other,” said Carol Lee, Chair of Vancouver Chinatown Foundation, which hosted the conference.
The conference provided a platform for U.S. and Canadian Chinatown communities, cultural and economic development leaders, and public safety experts to exchange ideas on best revitalizing Chinatowns and building financial and knowledge networks among U.S. and Canadian counterparts. It created toolkits to help guide efforts to defend and restore Chinatowns across the continent.
“The United States and Canada share much more than a border or a close trading relationship. We share stories—of resilience, hope, and strength. This is what defines our Asian and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities on both sides of our border,” said Katherine Tai, U.S. Trade Representative.
We saw some of these tools in Philadelphia just last weekend when more than 3000 protesters united in solidarity with and in defense of Chinatown in the community’s effort to fend off the proposed 76ers arena.
“会议的交流和学习将直接影响到这些重要历史社区未来的福祉，”Lee说道。
“The conversations and learnings from the conference will directly impact the future well-being of these important historic neighborhoods,” said Lee.
“From generation to generation, Chinatowns have long been pillars of our communities, embodying the spirit, resilience, and contributions of Chinese immigrants; they have been the center of Chinese commerce, society, and culture in North America,” said Mary Ng. “The revitalization of Chinatowns is close to my heart. It is not only about preserving physical spaces; it is about honoring our shared heritage, promoting inclusivity, and creating opportunities for economic growth.”
The Streets Department will make every effort to minimize disruption to traffic, but we urge residents to plan ahead and use alternative routes when traveling and allow extra time when traveling around the work areas, said Carlton Williams, Streets Commissioner.
Chinese people helped each other find jobs or set up businesses; eventually, these Chinatowns flourished and became vibrant economic and cultural communities in Canada and the United States.
However, in the last 20 to 30 years, these Chinatowns have declined due to various issues, including gentrification, public safety, fewer young people living in them, and, more recently, anti-Asian hate crimes during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Advocates called on Chinatowns to build networks of solidarity and cooperation in rebuilding efforts during economic uncertainty, not just within the AAPI community but with other marginalized groups across the continent. Participants spoke about the solidarity necessary to build Chinatowns in the mid-19th century and how that can be expanded to create a more extensive support base in building economic opportunities and resisting gentrification.
Many businesses have been forced to close, while more unhoused, and people with addiction issues can be seen in these areas.
会议上，与会者们还谈论了他们在公共安全方面的经验，以及如何应对犯罪和反亚裔种族主义的上升。
The conference allowed participants to talk about their experiences with public safety and how to deal with the rise in crime and anti-Asian racism.
“San Francisco has more recently been bringing in retired cops who walk Chinatown seven days a week,” said Garret Tom, a former deputy police chief with the San Francisco Police Department. “We started with just a few, and we hired another 75 more. They are retired cops from the area and know everyone. They know every merchant, the layout of each store, and who is on probation. They are bilingual. Most grew up in the area; there’s a connection.”
“I left Chinatown Solidarity Conference with a renewed hope and great optimism for what can be achieved when we share our best practices and dream big for our beloved Chinatowns,” said David Cohen, U.S. Ambassador to Canada.
The lack of consideration for the wants and needs of Chinatown residents has New York’s Chinatown community squaring off against the city, which wants to build a Mega Jail in its backyard, like the Arena in Philadelphia, and plans for a condo building in Vancouver’s Chinatown. None of these projects are wanted, yet New York City and Billionaire developers are leading the charge to shove these projects down Chinatowns throats and continue to cheat, lie and steal their way into these communities that have already told them no.
“Asian Americans are united and determined in our opposition to this arena and know it will destroy Chinatown,” said Debbie Wei, who attended the event representing Philadelphia’s Chinatown.
本报记者拍摄Photographed by Metro Chinese
“不只是费城唐人街反对这个项目。其他组织也有公开反对，包括Save the U.C. Townhomes, Power Interfaith, Philadelphia Thrive, Juntos, The Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia, Vietlead, and The Camden Working Families Party，甚至有来自洛杉矶的乐队Las Cafeteras，他们提前驱车到费城加入我们的示威活动。在温哥华召开的会议上，我们还得到了来自美国和加拿大其他17个唐人街的支持，其中许多人在他们的社交媒体上为我们的游行示威进行了宣传。”
Chinatown is not alone in our opposition to this boondoggle. Organizations across the city and beyond spoke out against the arena and supported Chinatown. Including Save the U.C. Townhomes, Power Interfaith, Philadelphia Thrive, Juntos, The Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia, Vietlead, and The Camden Working Families Party (which is also fighting the Sixers over their practice facility in Camden). We even had a band from L.A., Las Cafeteras, on a U.S. tour drive early to Philadelphia to sing for us and join our demonstration. With the conference in Vancouver, we have the support of 17 other Chinatowns from across the U.S. and Canada, many of whom featured our march on their social media.”
“我们推进战略的关键是团结，”参加会议的Jenny Zhang说道。“无论是在美国、加拿大的唐人街，还是在费城西北或西南部的黑人和棕色人种社区，种族主义、阶级主义、仇外和过度商业化无处不在，我们都将站起来反对它。”
“The Key to our strategy, as we advance, is solidarity,” said Jenny Zhang, who also attended the conference. “We know that our fight touches on those fought in other communities, and these fights get at the underlying systemic issues that every community is struggling with, whether it’s in a Chinatown in America, Canada, or black and Brown communities N.W. or S.W. Philly, racism, classism, xenophobia, and gentrification are everywhere, and we’re going to stand against it.”76人新篮球场的开发者已经在游说方面花费了约200万美元。他们被伦理委员会发现有两次违规行为，并被抓到试图在一个无关的法案中悄悄推动支持他们的竞技场的立法。
The arena’s developers have spent about 2 million dollars on lobbying efforts. They have been caught in two ethics violations by the Ethics Board and were caught trying to sneak legislation to support their arena in an unrelated bill.
本报记者拍摄Photographed by Metro Chinese
不过目前该提案没有进展，甚至可能比近一年前他们宣布该项目时还要落后。开发商没有赢得社区的信任，反而一直被证明是不值得信任的，继续在社区中进行欺骗。
The Proposal is no further along and may be further behind than it was nearly a year ago when they first announced the project. Instead of winning the community’s trust, the developers have consistently proven untrustworthy and continue to gaslight the community.
June 10th’s march showed the developers and City leaders that other communities see their unethical behavior and won’t let it stand. “The opposition is growing, with many spin-off affinity groups forming to fight the arena,” said Wei. “We have two broad coalitions in this fight: The Save Chinatown Coalition and the Chinatown Coalition to Oppose the Arena encompassing more than seventy organizations citywide. We don’t know what else the Mayor and Councilmember Squilla need to see, but we’ll stay in the streets if we have to.”市长、Cherelle Parker, David Oh和议员Squilla表示：“如果社区不想要，那就不会建。”
The Mayor, Cherelle Parker, David Oh, and Councilmember Squilla said, “If the community doesn’t want it, it won’t happen.”
“The vast majority of the city supports us on this. And we will pursue all means of recourse because three billionaires don’t know that while they can buy many things, including political support, they can’t buy our community, its history, and its dedication to protecting it from predatory development,” said Zhang.
