Behind the Numbers: Talking Politics with Foreign-born Chinese Americans

This paper discusses results of in‐depth follow‐up interviews conducted with selected individuals of Chinese descent residing in Los Angeles and San Francisco who were previously chosen at random to participate in the 2000 and 2001 Pilot National Asian American Political Survey. A total of 15 male and female informants who had migrated from Taiwan, mainland China, and Hong Kong were interviewed in Mandarin Chinese. They were asked to compare the performance of the US Government with that of the government in their respective ethnic homeland. They were also asked to explain their reasons for supporting a certain US political party, ideology, and type of candidate. In addition, they commented on the state of political participation or the lack of it among Chinese Americans. Finally, they explained the complexity of their ethnic self‐identification and experiences of racial discrimination. Their responses were interpreted within the context of the historical formation of the Chinese American community as well as the summary results of the mass opinion survey. The results help dispel myths about Chinese Americans being politically indifferent and irrational. They help illuminate the possible relationships among ethnic identity, homeland politics, and political participation in the host land. They also provide exciting insights into improving the survey instrument for a majority immigrant and non‐Anglophone population.