Home > News Archive > Anti-China graffiti pops up in Canadian city

Anti-China graffiti pops up in Canadian city

CBC News

This anti-China graffiti seen on the streets of Bangkok in 2008. “How long will they kill our prophets? While we stand aside and look.” Some bewildering graffiti decrying China’s presence in Tibet and Nova Scotia has turned up at one of the busiest intersections in the Halifax regional municipality in Canada.File photo/Photographer unknown

Some bewildering graffiti decrying China’s presence in Tibet and Nova Scotia has turned up at one of the busiest intersections in the Halifax regional municipality.

Several anti-China slogans have been spray-painted in black paint onto 15 city light posts at the corner of Wyse Road and Nantucket Avenue in Dartmouth, on the approach to the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge.

Most of them are political, such as “China out of Tibet.” But others seem more personal, including “China out of Nova Scotia” and “China out of Dartmouth.”

Up to 20,000 vehicles travel back and forth over the harbour bridge every day, along with countless pedestrians and cyclists.

Dongming Tang, a married father of one, and a research scientist who lives in Dartmouth, is originally from China.

“I feel angry as a Chinese; I feel sad as a Canadian,” he said as he walked by the graffiti on Monday.

“The worst one for me is ‘China out of Dartmouth,’ because I live in Dartmouth, and I work in Dartmouth. I love this city, and I love this province, and I love this country.”

Tang said he knows that some people feel that Tibet should be independent from China but making anti-Chinese statements about Dartmouth smears the whole community.

“It’s not an attack on Chinese people; it’s an attack on Canadian beliefs, Canadian culture,” Tang said.

Pedestrian Richard Bowser has watched the messages on the lampposts multiply over the last few weeks.

“It’s completely counterproductive and very offensive,” he said.

Another passerby, Jennifer Smith, didn’t know what to make of it.

“I was like, wow, do they want the Chinese people out of Nova Scotia or are they making a political statement out of that fact, or what? I don’t know,” she said.

Jim Smith, city councillor for the area, said there’s no place for those sorts of words.

“When you’re looking at comments of getting out of Dartmouth, it borders on hatefulness,” he said.

Halifax police are investigating but say the graffiti does not constitute a hate crime.

A public works crew tried to remove one of the messages Monday, but the words are still visible.

Copyright © 2010 CBC

Published in CBC News