Mary Pan is a journalist and
works for television talk-show Ballarò; Daniele Zhang is an
engineer and works for automotive brake system manufacturer
Brembo; Sabrina Hu is a fashion designer; Wulian Weng works for
the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome;
and K-pop star Alex Chen is a familiar face on television.
Here are five young Italian-Chinese who represent tens of
thousands of others: second-generation immigrants born of
Chinese parents in Italy.
"Many things have changed with respect to a few years ago,"
Marco Wong, an electronic engineer born in Bologna in 1963, told
ANSA.
"However, much still needs to be done, in particular
concerning what Italians of Chinese origin feel to be a
deprecation and an injustice, namely citizenship reform
(granting citizenship rights to children born of foreign parents
on Italian soil)," he continued.
"It is much talked about, in the last parliament it looked
as if the reform might be tabled and then nothing happened: the
preventive fire from the opposition against a law that many
people want seems to have blocked it once again," Wong said.
Wong is honorary president of Associna, the largest web
community of second-generation Italian-Chinese.
On October 9, the association will send a delegation of
approximately 20 representatives aged between 18 and 30 from all
over Italy to parliament in line with its work to sensitise and
inform members concerning Italy's institutions.
The following day they will participate in the first
national convention on second-generation Italian-Chinese in
Rome.
Wong believes the time is ripe for greater understanding of
the issues involved.
"There is undoubtedly an awareness and an open attitude in
society, it is there for everyone to see every day, especially
in those environments like schools where the capacity to welcome
people is great," Wong said.
The dual identity characterizing second-generation
immigrant children can also be seen as a great opportunity, Wong
added.
"Many of these youngsters are exploiting their disadvantage
as an advantage," he said.
The majority live in Milan, the Tuscan city of Prato and
Rome and, needless to say, their numbers are on the rise.
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