‘Very touching’: Chinese-Canadian veterans honored ahead of Remembrance Day

They risked their lives for our country at a time when they were treated as second-class citizens.

Ahead of the anniversary, a group of Chinese-Canadian youths paid tribute to Canadian veterans at the Chinese-Canadian Military Museum in Vancouver’s Chinatown on Sunday.

“I think it’s really important for us, especially the Chinese, to learn about their history and the struggles they’ve overcome,” said a student named Anita.

Although Canada has long faced racism, about 200 Chinese Canadians enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces during World War I.

More than 600 Chinese Canadians served in World War II.

Canadian Army veteran Paul Lee finds it difficult to explain what some of his fellow Canadians who were taken prisoner endured in Japanese war camps.

“Many Canadian POWs are malnourished.

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The walls of the Chinese Canadian Military Museum tell stories of courage in the face of discrimination.

As curator and vice-president of the Museum Association, Li shares a painful past with young Chinese Canadians.

“It’s very emotional because of the treatment we received before,” Lee told Global News in an interview on Sunday.

Canada’s first Chinese immigrants were subject to a poll tax for decades, and in 1923 the federal government passed the Chinese Immigration Act. Commonly known as the Chinese Exclusion Act, this law barred most Chinese immigrants from entering Canada until the government repealed her in 1947.

Chinese Canadians were also given the right to vote for the first time after fighting in World War II.

By 1949, all eligible Chinese Canadians were finally granted federal and state voting rights.

According to the Chinese-Canadian Military Museum Association, these privileges have led to membership in professional bodies such as law, engineering, and medicine.

Wendy Yuan of the Vancouver Sunshine Lions Club, who hosted Sunday’s tour and tribute, said:

The hope is that the young people who owe some of their freedom and democratic rights to Chinese-Canadian veterans now put the torch forward.

“You can’t forget what happened in the past. That’s how you learn history so you don’t make the same mistakes in the future,” Lee said.

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