Dear Suseonline,

You have misunderstood what I have said. I have not said that I am against Baird turning Sydney into a gigantic holiday resort for millions of Chinese tourists. I haven't said it's right or wrong. I've just pointed out what Sydney will look like in the near future.

I have said elsewhere that Australia is heading towards being a Sino-Australian nation with a Chinese majority population. So my retort to you is: 'You get used to it'. It's your grandchildren and great-grandchildren who will be put to work as the waiters, taxi drivers, housemaids, nannies, etc., to serve their Chinese masters. That's the Australia you - and what the Chinese in Australia refer to as the dumb Aussies - are bequeathing to your descendants. And if they complain about it to you just tell them to 'Get used to it!'.

Mr Opinion,

If the Chinese ever come here in anything like the numbers you envisage, the grandchildren and greatgrandchildren of the people already here are more likely than not to have Chinese ethnicity themselves.

Meanwhile China is just one of many sources of immigrants for Australia. It's not even the biggest source: in terms of arrivals it's behind India, and in terms of the number of people here it's behind Britain.

Dear Aidan,

I gather from your comment that you are expecting that the Chinese plan to breed us out of existence. Well they do breed like rabbits so you might definitely have a good point there.

I see Zimbabwe has adopted the Chinese yuan as its currency. I think this is another indicator of how rapidly China is expanding its territories around the globe. Soon it will possess territories in every continent. The Chinese in Australia are probably saying to themselves 'Those dumb Aussies think we will give Port Darwin back to them in 99 years. Aren't they in for a surprise!'

Dear Mr Opinion,

"I gather from your comment that you are expecting that the Chinese plan to breed us out of existence"
No — firstly because there's no plan, and secondly because I don't share your sense of Us and Them. Chinese ancestry's increasingly like Irish ancestry: lots of people have it, but it's insignificant except for one day each year.

"I see Zimbabwe has adopted the Chinese yuan as its currency."
not quite — when Zimbabwe abandoned its own currency, any major currency became usable instead, including the yuan and the Aussie dollar.

" I think this is another indicator of how rapidly China is expanding its territories around the globe. Soon it will possess territories in every continent. The Chinese in Australia are probably saying to themselves 'Those dumb Aussies think we will give Port Darwin back to them in 99 years."
Australia retains its sovereignty over Port Darwin (it's not like Hong Kong despite the length of the lease). And the Chinese would lose much more than they could possibly gain if they tried to seize it at the end.

Dear Mr Opinion,

There's no denying the fact that the Chinese are becoming
a dominant element in our major cities. However how this
will affect our children or grandchildren is difficult to
predict. As history has shown, immigrants have contributed
much to the enrichment of this country. We can hope and trust
that this will continue into the future for our children
and grandchildren.

Welcome back Foxy, been off the forum for a couple of months, looking forward to your continuing excellent contributions, happy holidays to you and your family.