A new poll has found that the number of Chinese Australians facing racist abuse or physical violence has decreased over the past three years, although more than one in three continue to say they face discrimination.
The Lowy Institute's third Being Chinese in Australia survey has found 21 per cent of Chinese-Australians said they were called offensive names because of their heritage in 2022 – down four points from 2021, and 10 points from 2020.
The number of Chinese Australians reporting being physically threatened and attacked has also dropped slightly – from 18 per cent in both 2020 and 2021, to 14 per cent in 2022.
It is not clear exactly what is driving the decrease, but the bilateral relationship between Australia and China has gradually improved since Labor won power in last year's federal election.
Many Chinese Australians also blamed the outbreak of racism and violence towards the community in 2020 on the distrust generated by the outbreak of COVID-19 in China.
Those tensions may have eased as the pandemic enters its fourth year and memories of lockdowns and other emergency health measures fade.
Chinese Australian Melburnian Wu Minwen told the ABC he thought these were the key factors influencing the reduction of racial discrimination against Chinese Australians.
"As we are entering the fourth year of the pandemic and with the stabilising of Australia-China relations, Chinese Australians feel safer," Mr Wu said.
However, Mr Wu was concerned about the "huge gap" in trust between Chinese Australians and the broader community in relation to Russia, AUKUS and China.
"The personal bond between Chinese Australians and China is real, which we can't ignore," said Mr Wu, who lives in Box Hill.
"Chinese Australians are in a different information silo, where a large portion of the community is still relying on WeChat for information.
"WeChat is known for being subject to China's censorship. That's a problem."
He said he believed Chinese people were "still isolated" from the broader Australian communities, and there was "an urgency to connect with the broader Australian communities".
"Penny Wong and Anthony Albanese's diplomatic wisdom is well welcomed by the community," he said.
Albanese popular among Chinese Australians
The Lowy Institute survey also maps Chinese Australian attitudes to political leaders in Australia and across the globe, as well as community attitudes to media, disinformation and major geopolitical events.
The poll finds that Anthony Albanese enjoys strong support in the Chinese Australian community, with six in 10 of those surveyed having either "a lot" or "some" confidence in the prime minister.
That puts him ahead of all the other leaders the Lowy Institute asked about, including former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern at 49 per cent and Chinese President Xi Jinping at 42 per cent.
But Chinese Australians remain far more trusting of Xi Jinping than most other Australians: only 11 per cent of the broader Australian community expressed any faith in the Chinese president in the most recent survey.
Similarly, more than six in 10 Chinese Australians expressed a level of trust in China in this poll, compared to just 12 per cent of the Australian population.
Most Chinese Australians see Beijing as an economic partner rather than threat
More than 60 per cent of Chinese Australians also thought it was unlikely that China would pose a military threat to Australia over the next two decades, and more than 70 per cent saw Beijing as more of an economic partner than security threat.
In contrast, in 2022 only one-third of Australians saw China as more of an economic partner than a security threat, and only 23 per cent of the broader population thought it was unlikely Beijing would pose a military threat.
There's also a striking disparity in attitudes towards Russia; 37 per cent of Chinese Australians expressed some trust towards Russia in this poll, compared to just 5 per cent of the broader Australian population.
And there has been a noticeable surge in suspicion towards the United States.
Almost two-thirds of those surveyed by Lowy said they were concerned about foreign influence on Australia's political processes from the US, a substantial jump from the 33 per cent who expressed suspicion in 2020.
But the survey also notes that Chinese Australians are becoming increasingly warm towards democracy.
Almost half of those surveyed said that democracy is preferable to any other kind of government, an increase of 14 points since 2021.
The community is also slightly less hostile towards media reporting on China in Australia; the number of Chinese Australians who told Lowy that the press is too negative about Beijing has declined from 57 per cent to 42 per cent.
The use of WeChat has also declined, although it continues to play a crucial role as a news source for Chinese Australians; three-quarters of those surveyed said they "often" or "sometimes" got news from the app down 11 points from 2021.
'I have heard of less racist stories'
Charlene Thomas, a Chinese Australian marketing specialist in the northern Perth suburb of Butler, said she had never been subject to racial discrimination in WA and believed any instances in the state were one-offs.
"I personally don't think there has been that many racist cases since the beginning of the pandemic in Perth, but I have heard of less racist stories now for sure," Ms Thomas told the ABC.
She said Chinese Australians enjoying a comfortable life in Australia were more proactively connecting themselves with other communities, but more work needed to be done.
"In Western Australia, people have the tendency to integrate to the wider community, but it takes time," she said.
"It should be a joint effort from two sides."
However, Ms Thomas said even though Chinese Australians have access to a diverse range of platforms for their media consumption, she shared Mr Wu's concerns about new migrants only relying on WeChat as their sole source of information.
"And most importantly, we shouldn't rely on a single social media platform to learn about everything."
Additional reporting Bang Xiao
