Chinese Trinidadians and Tobagonians

The Chinese Trinidadian and Tobagonian community is a diverse mixture that includes first-generation immigrants from China, Trinidadians whose ancestors have lived in Trinidad for many generations and diasporan Trinidadians and Tobagonians. Most Trinidadian Chinese originate from Guangdong Province, especially among the Hakka Han people and Cantonese Han people. == History ==

The Chinese community in Trinidad and Tobago traces its origin to the 12 October 1806 arrival of the ship carrying a group of Chinese men recruited in Macau, Penang and Calcutta. This was the first organised settlement of Chinese people in the Caribbean, preceding the importation of Chinese indentured labour by over 40 years. It was intended to be the first step in a plan to establish a settlement of free labourers and peasant farmers in what was then a newly acquired British colony. Royal Navy Captain William Layman suggested that it would be cheaper to establish new sugar plantations using free Chinese labour than it would with African slaves. At the same time, British officials concerned in the aftermath of the Haitian Revolution suggested that the settlement of Chinese immigrants in Trinidad would provide a buffer between the enslaved Africans and the whites. Additional immigrants settled in Trinidad after initially migrating to other parts of the Caribbean, especially British Guiana which received 13,593 indentured immigrants from China between 1853 and 1884. == Prominent Chinese Trinidadians and Tobagonians ==

Politics and government • Eugene Chen (born Eugene Acham), former foreign minister of China in the 1920s. • Dr. Joseph Lennox Pawan, discoverer of the transmission of rabies by vampire bats. Sports • Ellis Achong, first Test cricketer of Chinese descent • Rupert Tang Choon, Trinidad cricketer, 1940s to 1950s • Matthew Woo Ling, soccer player of Chinese descent Other • Percy Chen, lawyer == See also ==