by Yixiang Zeng
A leading UK Chinese community activist claims London's Chinatown would collapse if the new immigration rules are not amended.
Already British Chinese candidates standing in the forthcoming General Election have discussed the rules with members of the Chinese community in London, who are hoping to have their own ethnic MP elected to help address their issues.
Christine Lee, a solicitor specialising in immigration law, said: “As a result of the new immigration rules, many of the Chinese restaurants are being forced to close down due to a shortage of staff. If this continues, London's Chinatown will collapse."
According to Ms Lee, the points-based system implemented a high standard of the English language requirement, "Most Chinese chefs do not have a high standard of written Chinese and to impose a fairly high standard of spoken and written English on them, the consensus is virtually no one will be qualified."
George Lee, a Hong Kong-born Conservative parliamentary candidate for Holborn and St Pancras, said: "One of the ways to address the issue is to ask the Chinese chefs to set up training schemes and train local people how to cook Chinese food.”
According to a 2005 Electoral Commission report, 30% of Chinese residents in the UK are not registered to vote, compared to a UK average of 8% to 9% of unregistered voters.
Joseph Wu, of The British Chinese Project, which aims to raise democratic awareness, said: "We have been collaborating with the Electoral Commission, which provides us with lots of English-Chinese leaflets, Chinese edition of registration forms. We then help our members fill in the forms.”
Residents like Xie De, of the Crispy Duck restaurant in Chinatown, said: "It would be nice to have a Chinese MP, he will understand our community better. I will go and vote."
(300 words)
A short version with a slightly different angle of one of my copies: Chinese Londoners ready to be counted
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