Political Participation as a Pathway to Integration: Chinese International Students in Australia Party Politics and Election Campaigns

This article examines Chinese international students’ (CISs’) participation in Australian party politics and election campaigns under the prevailing “China panic” climate that problematises Chinese presence in public life. As one of the first empirical studies to explore CISs’ participation in party politics and elections in a host society, it advances a novel understanding of migrant integration by analysing how temporary migrants without voting rights relate to democratic institutions. Grounded in integration theory and drawing on thirty semi-structured interviews, the study demonstrates how Chinese co-ethnic enclaves, coupled with Australian political parties’ pragmatic efforts to expand their support base, have jointly removed social boundaries and barriers to CISs’ structural entry into electoral politics. Through their engagement, CISs have developed new social networks and learned to navigate the cultural practices and values underpinning democratic elections. Yet, their attitudes towards these practices remain diverse, reflecting a heterogeneity of CISs whose political behaviour embodies both adaptation and critical distance. The findings offer new insights into temporary migrants’ political integration within liberal democracies.