i spoke at a hearing for this same inquiry two weeks ago with @MYANAustralia to raise my concerns about racism and its impacts on young people, particularly from my perspective as a young chinese-australian. i called for a new, coordinated anti-racism strategy https://twitter.com/redrabbleroz/status/1316204299895021568">https://twitter.com/redrabble...

senator abetz responded to this by, in essence, asking me what to do about & #39;problematic& #39; chinese people. he pushed me for a response to various issues he framed as caused by the CCP / people acting under CCP influence. i was uncomfortable, but i had expected these questions

looking through the hansard transcript for today& #39;s hearing - @ayrestim, you noted "why young people from the chinese community would be reluctant to stick their heads up". so i just want you to know that i& #39;m a young person who nearly didn& #39;t appear at the hearing i was invited to

after finding out who was on the committee. i was scared i might be pushed to make comments about china that could be misconstrued and backfire. i was scared i& #39;d have to (and fail to) prove myself to be & #39;loyal australian& #39; enough for my concerns about racism to be taken seriously

after what i experienced, and esp given what i& #39;m reading in hansard now ... my fears were pretty well-founded. what happened in today& #39;s hearing perfectly demonstrates an issue i was trying to raise - that chinese people in australia are unfairly being forced to bear suspicion

this is the paradigm i& #39;ve grown up in, and it& #39;s affected my sense of belonging, identity and mental health as a young person. as i said in my hearing ... people have a right to live free from racism, and that should not depend on their political views. anti-racism strategy, now