The Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver () is a

Chinese Canadian , native_name = , native_name_lang = , image = Chinese Canadian population by province.svg , image_caption = Chinese Canadians as percent of population by province / territory , pop = 1,715,7704.63% of the ...

organization headquartered in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. As of 2006 it has 2,000 members and serves as a federation of various Vancouver-based Chinese organizations.The Government of Chinatown

. ''

The Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published si ...

'' at Canada.com. November 4, 2006. Retrieved on February 23, 2015. Douglas Aitken of ''

The Georgia Straight ''The Georgia Straight'' is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Overstory Media Group. Often known simply as ''The Straight'', it is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools, ...

'' stated that the CBA was the most important organization operating in the

Vancouver Chinatown Chinatown is a neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is Canada's largest Chinatown. Centered around Pender Street, it is surrounded by Gastown to the north, the Downtown financial and central business districts to the west, the Geor ...

in the first half of the 20th century.Aitken, Douglas.
Faces of Vancouver: Chinese Benevolent Association and Chinese Freemasons buildings

Archive
. ''

''. January 18, 2010. Retrieved on December 26, 2014. The ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'' wrote "They were, for all intents and purposes, the government of Chinatown."

History

Wong Soon King, Lee Kee, Shum Moon, Yip Sang, Leong Suey, and Chow Tong founded the CBA in 1896.1886 - 1920

. ''Vancouver Chinatown 1886-2011''.

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

. Retrieved on December 27, 2014. Ten years later the CBA received a designation as a nonprofit organization. Willmott wrote that the CBA's role as a federation of multiple locality associations in Vancouver did not correspond "to the reality of power groupings within the Chinese community in Vancouver" and that it was unlike other Canadian benevolent associations; Willmott concluded that the Vancouver CBA structure "probably" originated from the San Francisco CBA's structure.Willmott, W.E. "Chinese Clan Associations in Vancouver." ''

Man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromos ...

'', vol. lxiv no. 49 (1964), p. 33-37. -- Cited: p. 34. The Vancouver CBA operated the Chinese Benevolent Association Building in Chinatown; it was built in 1907. Additional association buildings opened in the 1910s and 1920s. As the British Columbia Chinese population shifted to Vancouver, the

Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) ( in the Western United States, Midwest, and Western Canada; 中華公所 (中华公所) ''zhōnghuá gōngsuǒ'' (Jyutping: zung1wa4 gung1so2) in the East) is a historical Chinese association ...

in Victoria moved to Vancouver in the 1930s.Tan, Hugh, p. 11. In 1962 the association gave places in its ruling committee to representatives of every other Chinese association in the Vancouver Chinatown. This was done due to changing sociopolitical conditions;Willmott, W. E.
Approaches to the Study of the Chinese in British Columbia
" (). '' BC Studies''. No. 4. Spring 1970. p. 38-52. CITED: 51
See profile page
. Chinese in that period were finding a greater acceptance in mainstream society and new immigrants were not oriented to the older Chinatown organizations.Willmott, W. E.
Approaches to the Study of the Chinese in British Columbia
" (). '' BC Studies''. No. 4. Spring 1970. p. 38-52. CITED: 50
See profile page
. In 1964 Willmott wrote that "many Chinese", especially more assimilated Chinese, "do not recognize its right to speak for them". According to Aitken, the organization "lost most of its influence" in the 1970s, and the Chinese Benevolent Association of Canada split from it in 1979. Aitken stated that the CBA regained influence by 2014. In 1991 the president of the CBA estimated that the organization had 10,000 members; the per person membership fee was $1 and there were multiple paths to membership, so Hugh Xiaobin Tan, author of "Chinese-Canadian Associations in Vancouver," concluded that the exact membership was "difficult to determine".

Activities

As of 1964 it operated a Cantonese language school, provided legal counseling services, facilitated Chinese involvement in events for the public, established welfare programs, and issued public statements intended to represent the views of the Chinese community as a whole. By 1964 Chinese Canadians were receiving proper services in the Canadian court system; in previous eras when Chinese were not well-served by the Canadian courts, the CBA served as a court of appeal for the Chinese. In response to the

2014 Hong Kong protests A series of sit-in street protests, often called the Umbrella Revolution and sometimes used interchangeably with Umbrella Movement, or Occupy Movement, occurred in Hong Kong from 26 September to 15 December 2014. The protests began after ...

and the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, the CBA took out local newspaper ads that were sympathetic to the stance of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

and critical of the protesters. The nature and verbiage of the ads raised questions of involvement by the Chinese Communist Party's

United Front Work Department The United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (UFWD; ) is a department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which is officially tasked with "united front work". For this endeavo ...

and its affiliated groups. In September 2019, the CBA held a gala in celebration of the founding of the People's Republic of China. In July 2020, the CBA issued a statement in support of the widely criticized

Hong Kong national security law The Hong Kong national security law, officially the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a piece of national security legislation concerning Hong Kong. It ...

. During the

2021 Canadian federal election The 2021 Canadian federal election was held on September 20, 2021, to elect members of the House of Commons to the 44th Canadian Parliament. The writs of election were issued by Governor General Mary Simon on August 15, 2021, when Prime Minist ...

, the CBA hosted an event in support of

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

candidate

Josh Vander Vies Josh Vander Vies (born December 28, 1984) is a Canadian lawyer and former Paralympic athlete. He won a bronze medal for doubles boccia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London before retiring. Early life Vander Vies was born on December 28, 1984, ...

. In response to the

2022 visit by Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan United States politician Nancy Pelosi, while serving as the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, visited Taiwan ( officially the Republic of China) on August 2, 2022. A delegation of five Democratic Party members of the House accompanied ...

, the group signed a letter, published in ''Ming Pao Daily News'', denouncing the visit and expressing support for

Chinese unification Chinese unification, also known as the Cross-Strait unification or Chinese reunification, is the potential unification of territories currently controlled, or claimed, by the People's Republic of China ("China" or "Mainland China") and the ...

Representation

The organizations represented by the CBA include the Chinese Cultural Centre (CCC), the Chinese Freemasons, the Chinatown Merchants Association, and

S.U.C.C.E.S.S. The United Chinese Community Enrichment Services Society ( or 中僑/中侨 ''Zhōng Qiáo''Guo,SUCCESS: A Chinese Voluntary Association in Vancouver," p. 104.) or S.U.C.C.E.S.S., is a Canadian social services organization headquartered in Vancouv ...

As of 1991 it represented 48 other groups.

References

* Tan, Hugh Xiaobing. "Chinese-Canadian Associations in Vancouver." ''

Canada and Hong Kong Update Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by total ...

'' (加港研究通訊 P: ''Jiā Gǎng Yánjiū Tōngxùn''
4 (Spring 1991)
p. 11-12 (PDF document: p. 61-62/224)
PDF versionArchive

txt fileArchive
.

Reference notes

Notes

* Some content originates from

Chinese Canadians in British Columbia The history of Chinese Canadians in British Columbia began with the first recorded visit by Chinese people to North America in 1788. Some 30–40 men were employed as shipwrights at Nootka Sound in what is now British Columbia, to build the fi ...

External links

* {{Official website
Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver
- "Origins of Historical Building in Vancouver" website, publ.

Chinese-Canadian culture in Vancouver History of Chinese Canadians History of Vancouver Organizations based in Vancouver Chinese Canadian organizations Chinese propaganda organisations