Next Inclusion, participation and the emergence of british chinese websites david parker and miri song the marginalization of the british chinese in previous work we have drawn attention to the relative absence of british chinese voices in public culture (parker 1995; song 1999). no one is more aware of this invisibility than british-born chinese people themselves. since 2000 the emergence of internet discussion sites produced by british chinese young people has provided an important forum for many british-born chinese to grapple with questions concerning their identities, experiences, and status in britain. in this paper we explore the ways in which internet usage by british-born chinese people has facilitated a) forms of self-expression and forms of collective identity production; and b) forms of social and political action. this examination of british chinese websites raises important questions about inclusion and exclusion, citizenship, participation and the development of a sense of belonging in britain. these issues are usually overlooked in relation to a group which appears to be well integrated and successful in higher education. unlike the south asian and african caribbean populations in britain, whose cultural and political presence is undeniably felt in britain, there are hardly any references to british chinese people in mainstream cultural and political life. one reason for this is that the british chinese are a numerically smaller group. estimates of the chinese population in britain vary. according to the office of national statistics, the chinese comprise 0.4% of the total population – about 247,000 (ons 2005), of whom 38% are aged 16-34 (ons 2002). the true figure is likely to be considerably higher, because many recent migrants from mainland china are undocumented and work in the chinese informal economy. one chinese organization, min quan, suggests that the total population is more likely to be around 400,000. the dominant image of chinese people in britain stems from their long-standing presence in most cities and neighbourhoods running restaurants and take-away businesses. new chinese migrants have also recently received attention as vulnerable and exploited undocumented workers, in the aftermath of the 58 chinese people suffocated in a truck in dover in 2000 and the death of 23 chinese cockle pickers at morecambe bay in 2004. while many chinese people still run such ethnic catering businesses (especially new chinese migrants to the uk), this image of the chinese is increasingly dated, given the increasing diversification of the british chinese population as a whole. research suggests that many second generation british chinese are now young adults, are highly regarded by their teachers (francis and archer 2005), and have entered into higher education and mainstream professional jobs (modood et al. 1997). more than twice the proportion of 18-24 year old britons of african, chinese, and indian heritage attend university than do
