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28 I Do Not Like Chinese Ways, Nor Chinamen Any More (1898) On June 20, 1898, after nearly three weeks at sea, Wong disembarked in Hong Kong. It had been 25 years since he had last set foot in Asia. He had several reasons for making the trip when he did. First, he believed he was owed money by his erstwhile business partners. He aimed to collect as much as he could from the Hong Kong branch of the syndicate, which had amassed a lot of cash from the laborers it had sent to the United States during the previous few months, and perhaps from China-based investors. Second, for fraudulently securing entry permits for Chinese workers he might have been in danger of prosecution for willful violation of the Geary Act (although it would have been unlike him to flee from a contentious court battle and the attendant made-to-order opportunity for grandstanding and publicity). Perhaps most importantly, however, he was eager to return to Shandong for a reunion with his wife, now ill, and his son, now a grown man. Wong was worried about his son. On April 18, well before his departure, he had written the United States consul in Zhifu expressing concern for Wong Foo Sheng’s safety. He feared that his son’s renewed contact with him might place the young man in jeopardy with Manchu authorities. His letter does not survive, but the response from John Fowler, the American consul, does. Fowler promised to do his best for the young man, and informed Wong that neither he nor Wong Foo Sheng believed the latter was in any danger.1 Wong may never have received Fowler’s response, however, since it was dated June 6 and sent to his Chicago address. Wong remained in Hong Kong just under a month. The British crown colony’s beastly summer weather did not agree with him; he maintained it was too hot for a northern Chinese to bear. He took ill and lost more than 20 pounds in just a few weeks. He must have made 284 The First Chinese American some discreet inquiries as to whether he would be placing himself or his family in danger by entering China proper, given the circumstances of his departure so many years before. But he ultimately concluded that the risk was acceptable. Before he went, however, he took the precautionary measure of applying to the United States consulate for an American passport. If he did get into any trouble in China, it would certainly come in handy, and an onus would be placed on American diplomats to come to his aid. At the consulate, Wong filled out the form reserved for naturalized Americans. He gave 1859 as his date of emigration to the United States—it was actually eight years later than that—and certified that he had lived in America continuously during that time, which was also not true. He provided the details of his naturalization in Grand Rapids and gave his permanent address in the United States as Chicago. He certified that he intended to return to the United States within a year. He gave his age as 49—it was actually probably 51—and his height as five feet four inches.2 He also presented a general letter of introduction from Secretary of the Treasury Lyman J. Gage and a copy of his commission as Chinese commissioner of the Omaha Fair. Seeing no obstacle to accepting the application, Consul General Rounsevelle Wildman issued the document.3 Wong wrote his son from Hong Kong on July 14 that he had secured his passport and all else necessary for his “safety in any part of China,” and that the young man need not trouble Consul Fowler any further. But he was not yet ready to depart, as all had not gone well in his collection efforts. “I am here fighting for my money,” he wrote. “All my Chinese partners have combined to beat me out of my share . . . they got away with $15,000 of my money and I can not get that back and got even by punishing Yee Ming, the leading rascal.”4 Apparently, Wong Kee had sent Yee to Shandong in connection with Omaha business, and the latter had met Wong Chin Foo’s son at that time. The two had traveled to Hong Kong, where Wong Foo Sheng remained for four days, during which Yee had had a photo taken with him. In retrospect...

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