Although the first Chinese migrants had been invited by the Otago Provincial government they quickly became the target of hostility from white settlers and laws were enacted specifically to discourage them from coming to New Zealand.
Aínda que os primeiros inmigrantes chineses foran invitados polo goberno provincial de Otago rápidamente convertéronse en branco da hostilidade dos colonos brancos e promulgáronse leis especificamente para disuadirlos de vir a Nova Zelandia.