dating the enemy movie review

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Dating the Enemy

A couple wake up one morning to find they have now switched bodies. A couple wake up one morning to find they have now switched bodies. A couple wake up one morning to find they have now switched bodies.

• Megan Simpson Huberman
• Claudia Karvan
• 20 User reviews
• 1 Critic review
• 1 nomination

• Helen McMahon
• Production Assistant

• Karen Zader
• Mark Hutchinson
• (as Robert O'Neill)
• (as Jan Oxenbould)
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• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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• Trivia The soundtrack includes the OMC song "Right On." The original video for "Right On" features clips from Dating the Enemy (1996) .
• Goofs During the party on the ferry, when Guy Pearce is busted by Claudia Karvan telling the model that he has had a job offer from New York, the boat is clearly not moving. However, in both the scenes before and after it was.

Brett : [talking to Rob about the complexity of dating] Getting into a relationship with a woman these days is like...

[gives him an example]

Brett : it's like getting into a cab with a driver that doesn't speak English. I mean you tell them where you wanna go when you start off, and they nod and smile and you think they've understood. And then all of a sudden you look up, and you're driving down 'moving in' street, or 'having a baby' street, and you say 'no I never wanted to go here' and then they start yelling at you in some language you don't even understand. Man I tell you something, from now on I'm walking.

• Connections Featured in OMC: Right On (1996)
• Soundtracks Fingers Written by Dave Dobbyn and Grant McLennan Performed by Grant McLennan

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• Runtime 1 hour 37 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Dating the Enemy Reviews

Truly trivial. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Nov 5, 2020

Dating the Enemy

Where to Watch

Claudia Karvan (Tash) Guy Pearce (Brett) Matt Day (Rob) Lisa Hensley (Laetitia) Pippa Grandison (Colette) John Howard (Davis) Scott Lowe (Harrison) Christopher Morsley (Paul) Heidi Lapaine (Christina) Christine Anu (The Singer)

Megan Simpson Huberman

A couple wake up one morning to find they have now switched bodies.

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Dating the Enemy (1996) Stream and Watch Online

Watch 'dating the enemy' online.

Looking to watch ' Dating the Enemy ' on your TV, phone, or tablet? Hunting down a streaming service to buy, rent, download, or view the Megan Simpson Huberman-directed movie via subscription can be a huge pain, so we here at Moviefone want to do the heavy lifting. Read on for a listing of streaming and cable services - including rental, purchase, and subscription options - along with the availability of 'Dating the Enemy' on each platform when they are available. Now, before we get into the fundamentals of how you can watch 'Dating the Enemy' right now, here are some finer points about the romance flick. Released September 19th, 1996, 'Dating the Enemy' stars Guy Pearce , Claudia Karvan , Matt Day , Lisa Hensley The PG-13 movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 37 min, and received a user score of 65 (out of 100) on TMDb, which collated reviews from 27 knowledgeable users. Curious to know what the movie's about? Here's the plot: "Television show host Brett and his laid-back science journalist girlfriend Tash despair that they will ever truly understand each other. On their first anniversary, under a full moon, a frustrated Tash declares her wish that they could swap lives. The next morning, Brett and Tash awaken to find Tash's wish has come true. Forced to confront the unfamiliar sensations of their "new" bodies, both must navigate strange new experiences with friends and co-workers." 'Dating the Enemy' is currently available to rent, purchase, or stream via subscription on IMDB TV Amazon Channel, Plex Channel, Plex, Tubi TV, and Shout! Factory TV .

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Film / Dating the Enemy

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Dating the Enemy is an Australian Romantic Comedy film from 1996, written and directed by Megan Simpson Huberman, and starring Claudia Karvan, Guy Pearce , with Lisa Hensley, Matt Day, Pippa Grandison and John Howard . This is based loosely on the 1931 novel Turnabout by Thorne Smith.

Meet Brett and Tash. Brett is good-looking, confident and perhaps a tad egotistical. Tash is intellectual, reserved and maybe a little too smart for her own good. When these two meet, it's Love at First Sight , but when a lack of compromise threatens to break up their relationship, the natural forces of the universe decide to intervene and Brett and Tash wake up - in each other's bodies!

Dating the Enemy provides examples of:

• Acquired Situational Narcissism : Brett's success as a TV presenter has gone to his head, contributing to the tension between him and Tash.
• Beta Couple : Paul and Christine, the couple who introduce Brett and Tash, who get married partway through the film.
• …But He Sounds Handsome : Brett and Tash both take opportunities to talk themselves up, as well as pinning the blame on the other for their relationship troubles.
• Double Standard: Rape, Sci-Fi : Tash ends up sleeping with Colette in Brett's body, while Brett does the same with Rob in Tash's body. Also has elements of Double Standard Rape: Female on Male , as Colette ignores Tash telling her to stop (though Rob wasn't much better in that regard), and “Not If They Enjoyed It” Rationalisation .
• For Science! : Brett talks Tash into trying to have sex while body-swapped, for this reason. They don't end up going through with it until toward the end of the movie when they genuinely reconcile, after which they swap back.
• "Freaky Friday" Flip : Combined with Gender Bender , Brett and Tash wake up in each other's bodies.
• In Another Man's Shoes : In an argument with Brett, Tash wishes aloud that he could be her and see what it's like for her, and that she could be him and show him what an idiot he's become. Two days later... Elsewhere, Letitia tells them both she wishes they could be her and see how nauseated they make her.
• Intrepid Reporter : Tash is a science journalist at The Australian , who has to fight with her editors just to keep her articles scientifically accurate.
• Mirror Reveal : Brett doesn't notice the body swap until he sees Tash's face in the mirror.
• Opposites Attract : Brett and Tash. The subject, along with Love at First Sight , is discussed by a scientist that Brett (as Tash) interviews.
• Raging Stiffie : Tash experiences this in Brett's body.
• Skewed Priorities : Brett insists that Tash not appear in his body in an unironed shirt, claiming that the tabloids would portray him as "tired and emotional." Tash can't believe he considers this a priority.
• Strip Poker : The first act has Brett, Tash and their mutual friends playing Strip Trivial Pursuit . The two quickly seem to start getting questions wrong on purpose, in particular when Tash fails to answer a question involving the title of a sci-fi show about a family Lost in Space .
• This Is Reality : When Tash first suggests that her wish was responsible for what happened to them, Brett tells her that this isn't an episode of I Dream of Jeannie . In turn, Tash rather reasonably points out that they can't explain this scientifically.
• Wimp Fight : Brett and Tash, when they're both accusing the other of causing the swap.
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Dating the Enemy (1996)

Genre: comedy / romance, duration: 97 minuten, country: australia, directed by: megan simpson huberman, stars: guy pearce , lisa hensley and claudia karvan, imdb score: 6,4  (1.976), releasedate: 19 september 1996.

This movie is not available on US streaming services.

This movie is not available on UK streaming services.

Dating the Enemy plot

A science journalist and a TV host swap bodies. They get the shock of their lives when they notice that they are literally and figuratively not themselves anymore.

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Dating the Enemy

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We checked for updates on 71 streaming services on 16 May 2024 at 3:01:22 am. Something wrong? Let us know!

Dating the Enemy - watch online: stream, buy or rent

Currently you are able to watch "Dating the Enemy" streaming on Amazon Prime Video or for free with ads on SBS On Demand. It is also possible to rent "Dating the Enemy" on Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fetch TV, Beamafilm, Apple TV, Amazon Video online and to download it on Google Play Movies, YouTube, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Fetch TV.

Where can I watch Dating the Enemy for free?

Dating the Enemy is available to watch for free today. If you are in Australia, you can:

• Stream it online on Beamafilm
• Stream it online with ads on SBS On Demand

If you’re interested in streaming other free movies and TV shows online today, you can:

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Where does Dating the Enemy rank today? The JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts are calculated by user activity within the last 24 hours. This includes clicking on a streaming offer, adding a title to a watchlist, and marking a title as 'seen'. This includes data from ~1.3 million movie & TV show fans per day.

Streaming charts last updated: 1:13:05 am, 16/05/2024

Dating the Enemy is 5434 on the JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts today. The movie has moved up the charts by 4653 places since yesterday. In Australia, it is currently more popular than Leo but less popular than Coming Through the Rye.

Television show host Brett and his laid-back science journalist girlfriend Tash despair that they will ever truly understand each other. On their first anniversary, under a full moon, a frustrated Tash declares her wish that they could swap lives. The next morning, Brett and Tash awaken to find Tash's wish has come true. Forced to confront the unfamiliar sensations of their "new" bodies, both must navigate strange new experiences with friends and co-workers.

Streaming Charts The JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts are calculated by user activity within the last 24 hours. This includes clicking on a streaming offer, adding a title to a watchlist, and marking a title as 'seen'. This includes data from ~1.3 million movie & TV show fans per day.

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Blu-Ray Releases Details

Dating the enemy.

Meet Brett and Tash. Brett (Guy Pearce – Memento, L.A Confidential) is good-looking, confident and perhaps a tad on the egotistical side. Tash (Claudia Karvan – Bump, Love My Way) is intellectual and reserved, but maybe a little too smart for her own good. When these two meet it's love at first sight, but when a lack of compromise threatens to break-up their relationship, the natural forces of the universe intervene. One fateful night, after a heated argument, they wake up to discover that they have magically swapped bodies! The stage is set for a hilarious Aussie romantic comedy that takes the battle of the sexes to a brand new frontline. DATING THE ENEMY is a funny, charming tale of self-discovery and second chances. Will Tash and Brett find a way to reverse the spell and restore their relationship, or will their newfound understanding lead them to a different path altogether?

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• What is the release date of 'Dating The Enemy'? Release date of Claudia Karvan and Guy Pearce starrer 'Dating The Enemy' is 1996-09-19.
• Who are the actors in 'Dating The Enemy'? 'Dating The Enemy' star cast includes Claudia Karvan and Guy Pearce.
• Who is the director of 'Dating The Enemy'? 'Dating The Enemy' is directed by Megan Simpson Huberman.
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Secret Hamas Files Show How It Spied on Everyday Palestinians

Hamas monitored political activity, online posts, and apparently even love lives. Palestinians were stuck between an Israeli blockade and a repressive security force.

• Share full article

By Adam Rasgon and Ronen Bergman

Adam Rasgon reported from Jerusalem, and Ronen Bergman from Tel Aviv.

The Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has for years overseen a secret police force in Gaza that conducted surveillance on everyday Palestinians and built files on young people, journalists and those who questioned the government, according to intelligence officials and a trove of internal documents reviewed by The New York Times.

The unit, known as the General Security Service, relied on a network of Gaza informants, some of whom reported their own neighbors to the police. People landed in security files for attending protests or publicly criticizing Hamas. In some cases, the records suggest that the authorities followed people to determine if they were carrying on romantic relationships outside marriage.

Hamas has long run an oppressive system of governance in Gaza, and many Palestinians there know that security officials watch them closely. But a 62-slide presentation on the activities of the General Security Service, delivered only weeks before the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, reveals the degree to which the largely unknown unit penetrated the lives of Palestinians.

The documents show that Hamas leaders, despite claiming to represent the people of Gaza, would not tolerate even a whiff of dissent. Security officials trailed journalists and people they suspected of immoral behavior. Agents got criticism removed from social media and discussed ways to defame political adversaries. Political protests were viewed as threats to be undermined.

Everyday Gazans were stuck — behind the wall of Israel’s crippling blockade and under the thumb and constant watch of a security force. That dilemma continues today, with the added threat of Israeli ground troops and airstrikes.

“We’re facing bombardment by the occupation and thuggery by the local authorities,” Ehab Fasfous, a journalist in the Gaza Strip who appeared in the files of the General Security Service, said in a phone interview from Gaza.

Mr. Fasfous, 51, is labeled in one report as among “the major haters of the Hamas movement.”

The documents were provided to The Times by officials in Israel’s military intelligence directorate, who said they had been seized in raids in Gaza.

Reporters then interviewed people who were named in the files. Those people recounted key events, confirmed biographical information and, in Mr. Fasfous’s case, described interactions with the authorities that aligned with the secret files. The documents reviewed by The Times include seven intelligence files ranging from October 2016 to August 2023. The military intelligence directorate said it was aware of files containing information on at least 10,000 Palestinians in Gaza.

The General Security Service is formally part of the Hamas political party but functions like part of the government. One Palestinian individual familiar with the inner workings of Hamas, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, confirmed that the service was one of three powerful internal security bodies in Gaza. The others were Military Intelligence, which typically focuses on Israel, and the Internal Security Service, an arm of the Interior Ministry.

Basem Naim, a spokesman for Hamas, said the people responsible for the General Security Service were unreachable during the war.

With monthly expenses of $120,000 before the war with Israel, the unit comprised 856 people, records show. Of those, more than 160 were paid to spread Hamas propaganda and launch online attacks against opponents at home and abroad. The status of the unit today is unknown because Israel has dealt a significant blow to Hamas’s military and governing abilities.

The Israeli intelligence authorities believe that Mr. Sinwar directly oversaw the General Security Service, according to three Israeli intelligence officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. They said the slide show was prepared for Mr. Sinwar personally, though they did not say how they knew that.

The presentation said that the General Security Service works to protect Hamas’s people, property and information, and to support its leadership’s decision-making.

Some slides focused on the personal security of Hamas leaders. Others discussed ways to stamp out protests, including the “We Want to Live” demonstrations last year that criticized power shortages and the cost of living. Security officials also tracked operatives from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an ideologically aligned militant group that often partners with Hamas.

Some tactics, like amplifying Hamas’s own message, appeared to be routine politicking. In other instances, officials suggested using intelligence to undermine opponents and distort their reputations, though the files were vague about how that was to be done.

“Undertaking a number of offensive and defensive media campaigns to confuse and influence adversaries by using private and exclusive information,” the document read.

Security officers stopped Mr. Fasfous on his way to a protest last August, seized his phone and ordered him to leave, a report says. Mr. Fasfous confirmed that two plainclothes officers had approached him. The authorities searched his recent calls, and wrote that he was communicating with “suspicious people” in Israel.

“We advise that closing in on him is necessary because he’s a negative person who is full of hatred, and only brings forth the Strip’s shortcomings,” the document said.

The most frustrating thing, Mr. Fasfous said, was that the officers used his phone to send flirtatious messages to a colleague. “They wanted to pin a moral violation on me,” he said.

The report does not include that detail but does describe ways to “deal with” Mr. Fasfous. “Defame him,” the report said.

“If you’re not with them, you become an atheist, an infidel and a sinner,” Mr. Fasfous said. He acknowledged supporting protests and criticizing Hamas online, but said the people he was in touch with in Israel were Palestinians who owned food and clothing companies. He said he helped run their social media accounts.

The General Security Service’s goals are similar to those of security services in countries like Syria that have used secret units to quell dissent. The files of the General Security Service, though, mention tactics like censorship, intimidation and surveillance rather than physical violence.

“This General Security Service is just like the Stasi of East Germany,” said Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer specializing in Palestinian affairs. “You always have an eye on the street.”

Palestinians in Gaza live in fear and hesitate to express dissent, analysts said.

“There are a lot of people practicing self-censorship,” said Mkhaimar Abusada, a professor of political science from Gaza City. “They just don’t want problems with the Hamas government.”

That view clashes with the most strident comments of Israel’s leaders, like President Isaac Herzog, who blamed Gazans for not toppling Hamas before the Oct. 7 attacks.

“There’s an entire nation that is responsible,” he said . “This rhetoric about civilians were not aware, not involved, it’s absolutely not true. They could have risen up.”

The General Security Service, the files show, also tried to enforce a conservative social order.

In December 2017, for example, the authorities investigated a tip that a woman was acting immorally with a man who owned a clothing shop. A security report noted that she visited the shop for an hour on one day, then more than two hours the next. The report presented no evidence of wrongdoing, but proposed that “relevant parties” address the matter.

An October 2016 report described young men and women performing unspecified “immoral acts” at a Palestine Liberation Organization office in Khan Younis at night. Hamas sees the Palestine Liberation Organization as a compromised entity, whose leader too often favors Israeli interests. The report offered no evidence of misdeeds but recommended summoning a man who claimed to be in possession of videos and pictures.

The files also show that Hamas was suspicious of foreign organizations and journalists.

When Monique van Hoogstraten, a Dutch reporter, visited a protest encampment along the border with Israel in April 2018, the authorities noted the most banal of details. They noted the make and model of her car and her license plate number. They said she took pictures of children and tried to interview an elderly woman. Ms. van Hoogstraten confirmed the reporting trip in an interview with The Times.

The file recommended further “reconnaissance” on journalists.

None of the files reviewed by The Times were dated after the start of the war. But Mr. Fasfous said the government remained interested in him.

Early in the war, he said he took images of security forces hitting people who fought over spots in line outside a bakery. The authorities confiscated his camera.

Mr. Fasfous complained to a government official in Khan Younis, who told him to stop reporting and “destabilizing the internal front,” Mr. Fasfous recalled.

“I told him I was reporting on the truth and that the truth won’t hurt him, but that fell on deaf ears,” he said. “We can’t have a life here as long as these criminals remain in control.”

Adam Rasgon reports from Israel for The Times's Jerusalem bureau. More about Adam Rasgon

Ronen Bergman is a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, based in Tel Aviv. His latest book is “Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations,” published by Random House. More about Ronen Bergman

Our Coverage of the Israel-Hamas War

News and Analysis

Israel said that it would send more troops to Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza and the current focal point in the war between Israel and Hamas. Fighting in the city has closed off a vital border crossing, forced hundreds of thousands to flee  and cut off humanitarian aid.

President Biden is pushing for a broad deal that would get Israel to approve a Palestinian nation  in return for Saudi recognition of Israel. But officials need to overcome Israeli opposition.

The Arab League called for a United Nations peacekeeping force to be deployed in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank until a two-state solution can be negotiated , in a statement that also called for the U.N. Security Council to set a time limit for that process.

FIFA Delays a Vote: Soccer’s global governing body postponed a decision to temporarily suspend Israel  over its actions in Gaza, saying it needed to solicit legal advice before taking up a motion submitted by the Palestinian Football Association.

PEN America’s Literary Gala: The free-expression group has been engulfed by debate  over its response to the Gaza war that forced the cancellation of its literary awards and annual festival. But its literary gala went on as planned .

Jerusalem Quartet Will Perform: The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, one of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, said that it would allow the Jerusalem Quartet to perform , two days after it had canceled the ensemble’s concerts amid security concerns.

A Key Weapon: When President Biden threatened to pause some weapons shipments to Israel if it invaded Rafah, the devastating effects of the 2,000-pound Mark 84 bomb  were of particular concern to him.

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Trump suggests Chinese migrants are in the US to build an ‘army.’ The migrants tell another story

The stories of Chinese asylum seekers trying to start new lives in New York cast doubt on Donald Trump’s claims about China building what he calls “a little army” of military-age male migrants in the United States. (AP video: Serkan Gurbuz, Didi Tang, Fu Ting)

Wang Gang, 36, front, a Chinese immigrant, talks with the driver of a car with others as they try to get a daily paid job working construction or in another trade in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York on May 3, 2024. The daily struggle to find work for Chinese immigrants living illegally in Flushing is a far cry from the picture Donald Trump and other Republicans have sought to paint about them. Asian advocacy organizations say they’re concerned the exaggerated rhetoric could fuel further harassment against Asians in the U.S. (AP Photo/Fu Ting)

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Chen Wang, a Chinese migrant currently homeless in New York, poses for a photo in front of his tent on Friday, May 3, 2024. Chen came to the U.S. after getting criminally admonished by Chinese police for anti-Chinese Communist Party posts on X, formerly known as Twitter. The daily struggle to find work for Chinese immigrants living illegally in New York is a far cry from the picture Donald Trump and other Republicans have sought to paint about them. Asian advocacy organizations say they’re concerned the exaggerated rhetoric could fuel further harassment against Asians in the U.S. (AP Photo/Serkan Gurbuz)

Chinese migrant Li Kai aka Khaled, an ethnic Hui Muslim, studies for a Commercial Driving License in his apartment in Flushing, New York, Friday, May 3, 2024. Li Kai came to the U.S. with his wife and two sons seeking religious freedom and a better life. The daily struggle to find work for Chinese immigrants living illegally in New York is a far cry from the picture Donald Trump and other Republicans have sought to paint about them. Asian advocacy organizations say they’re concerned the exaggerated rhetoric could fuel further harassment against Asians in the U.S. (AP Photo/Serkan Gurbuz)

Chen Wang, a Chinese migrant currently homeless in New York, poses for a photo near his tent on Friday, May 3, 2024. Chen came to the U.S. after getting criminally admonished by Chinese police for anti-Chinese Communist Party posts on X, formerly known as Twitter. The daily struggle to find work for Chinese immigrants living illegally in New York is a far cry from the picture Donald Trump and other Republicans have sought to paint about them. Asian advocacy organizations say they’re concerned the exaggerated rhetoric could fuel further harassment against Asians in the U.S. (AP Photo/Serkan Gurbuz)

A canal that Chen Wang, a Chinese migrant currently homeless in New York, built to redirect water on his camp site is seen on Friday, May 3, 2024. Chen came to the U.S. after getting criminally admonished by Chinese police for anti-Chinese Communist Party posts on X, formerly known as Twitter. The daily struggle to find work for Chinese immigrants living illegally in New York is a far cry from the picture Donald Trump and other Republicans have sought to paint about them. Asian advocacy organizations say they’re concerned the exaggerated rhetoric could fuel further harassment against Asians in the U.S. (AP Photo/Serkan Gurbuz)

Grass that Chen Wang, a Chinese migrant currently homeless in New York, planted around his tent is seen on Friday, May 3, 2024. Chen came to the U.S. after getting criminally admonished by Chinese police for anti-Chinese Communist Party posts on X, formerly known as Twitter. The daily struggle to find work for Chinese immigrants living illegally in New York is a far cry from the picture Donald Trump and other Republicans have sought to paint about them. Asian advocacy organizations say they’re concerned the exaggerated rhetoric could fuel further harassment against Asians in the U.S. (AP Photo/Serkan Gurbuz)

Chen Wang, a Chinese migrant currently homeless in New York, is reflected in a mirror at his camp site, Friday, May 3, 2024. Chen came to the U.S. after getting criminally admonished by Chinese police for anti-Chinese Communist Party posts on X, formerly known as Twitter. The daily struggle to find work for Chinese immigrants living illegally in New York is a far cry from the picture Donald Trump and other Republicans have sought to paint about them. Asian advocacy organizations say they’re concerned the exaggerated rhetoric could fuel further harassment against Asians in the U.S. (AP Photo/Serkan Gurbuz)

Chinese migrant Li Kai aka Khaled, an ethnic Hui Muslim, studies for a U.S. Commercial Driving License in his apartment in Flushing, New York, Friday, May 3, 2024. Li Kai came to the United States with his wife and two sons seeking religious freedom and a better life. The daily struggle to find work for Chinese immigrants living illegally in New York is a far cry from the picture Donald Trump and other Republicans have sought to paint about them. Asian advocacy organizations say they’re concerned the exaggerated rhetoric could fuel further harassment against Asians in the U.S. (AP Photo/Serkan Gurbuz)

A notebook and Commercial Driving License study notes belonging to Chinese migrant Li Kai, aka Khaled, an ethnic Hui Muslim, are seen in his apartment in Flushing, New York, Friday, May 3, 2024. Li Kai came to the U.S. with his wife and two sons seeking religious freedom and a better life. The daily struggle to find work for Chinese immigrants living illegally in New York is a far cry from the picture Donald Trump and other Republicans have sought to paint about them. Asian advocacy organizations say they’re concerned the exaggerated rhetoric could fuel further harassment against Asians in the U.S. (AP Photo/Serkan Gurbuz)

Wang Gang, 36, center left, a Chinese immigrant, talks with the driver of a car with others as they try to get a daily paid job working construction or in another trade in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York on May 3, 2024. The daily struggle to find work for Chinese immigrants living illegally in Flushing is a far cry from the picture Donald Trump and other Republicans have sought to paint about them. Asian advocacy organizations say they’re concerned the exaggerated rhetoric could fuel further harassment against Asians in the U.S. (AP Photo/Fu Ting)

NEW YORK (AP) — It was 7 a.m. on a recent Friday when Wang Gang, a 36-year-old Chinese immigrant, jostled for a day job in New York City’s Flushing neighborhood.

When a potential employer pulled up near the street corner, home to a Chinese bakery and pharmacy, Wang and dozens of other men swarmed around the car. They were hoping to be picked for work on a construction site, at a farm, as a mover — anything that would pay.

Wang had no luck, even as he waited for two more hours. It would be another day without a job since he crossed the southern U.S. border illegally in February, seeking better financial prospects than he had in his hometown of Wuhan, China.

Wang Gang, 36, center left, a Chinese immigrant, talks with the driver of a car with others as they try to get a daily paid job working construction or in another trade in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York on May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Fu Ting)

The daily struggle of Chinese immigrants in Flushing is a far cry from the picture former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have sought to paint of them as a coordinated group of “military-age” men who have come to the United States to build an “army” and attack America.

Since the start of the year, as the Chinese newcomers have been trying to find their footing in the U.S., Trump has alluded to “fighting-age” or “military-age” Chinese men at least six times and suggested at least twice that they were forming a migrant “army.” It’s a talking point that is being amplified in conservative media and on social platforms.

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“They’re coming in from China — 31, 32,000 over the last few months — and they’re all military age and they mostly are men,” Trump said during a campaign rally last month in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania. “And it sounds like to me, are they trying to build a little army in our country? Is that what they’re trying to do?”

As Trump and others exploit a surge in Chinese border crossings and real concerns about China’s geopolitical threat to further their political aims, Asian advocacy organizations worry the rhetoric could encourage further harassment and violence toward the Asian community. Asian people in the U.S. already experienced a spike in hate incidents fueled by xenophobic rhetoric during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Trump’s dehumanizing rhetoric and blatant attacks against immigrant communities will, without question, only fuel more hate against not only Chinese immigrants but all Asian Americans in the U.S.,” Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, said in a statement to The Associated Press. “In the midst of an already inflamed political climate and election year, we know all too well how harmful such rhetoric can be.”

Gregg Orton, national director of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, said many Asian American communities remain “gripped by fear” and that some Asians still feel uncomfortable about taking public transportation.

“To know that we might be staring down another round of that, it’s pretty sobering,” he said.

‘THIS TRIP IS DEADLY’

Wang, who traveled several weeks from Ecuador to the southern U.S. border, then spent 48 hours in an immigration detention facility before heading to Flushing, said the idea that Chinese migrants were building a military “does not exist” among the immigrants he has met.

“It is impossible that they would walk on foot for over one month” for that purpose, he said. “We came here to make money.”

Immigrants who spoke to the AP in Flushing, a densely populated Chinese cultural enclave in Queens, said they came to the U.S. to escape poverty and financial losses from China’s strict lockdown during the pandemic, or to escape the threat of imprisonment in a repressive society where they couldn’t speak or exercise their religion freely.

Many said they continue to struggle to get by. Life in the U.S. is not what they had imagined.

Since late 2022 — when China’s three-year COVID-19 lockdown began to lift — the U.S. has seen a sharp rise in the number of Chinese migrants. In 2023, U.S. authorities arrested more than 37,000 Chinese nationals at the U.S.-Mexico border, more than 10 times the previous year’s number. In December alone, border officials arrested 5,951 Chinese nationals on the southern border, a record monthly high, before the number trended down during the first three months of this year.

The U.S. and China just recently began cooperating again to deport Chinese immigrants who were in the country illegally.

Yet with tens of thousands of Chinese newcomers who have crossed into the U.S. illegally, there has been no evidence that they have tried to mount a military force or training network.

Chinese migrant Li Kai aka Khaled, an ethnic Hui Muslim, studies for a U.S. Commercial Driving License in his apartment in Flushing, New York, Friday, May 3, 2024. Li Kai came to the United States with his wife and two sons seeking religious freedom and a better life. (AP Photo/Serkan Gurbuz)

It’s true that the bulk of those who have come are single adults, according to federal data. While the data doesn’t include gender, there are more men than women on the perilous route, which typically involves catching a flight to South America and then making the long, arduous trek north to the U.S. border.

Chinese immigrants in Flushing said one reason men may be coming alone in higher numbers is the expense — often more than $10,000 per person to cover airfare, lodging, payments to local guides and bribes to police in countries along their journey. Another could be China’s longtime family planning policy that skewed the gender ratio toward males.

There’s also the danger, said a 35-year-old Chinese man who only gave his family name of Yin because he was concerned about the safety of his wife and children, who remain in China.

He had arrived in Flushing in late April, five weeks after he left the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. He had traveled through Panama’s dangerous Darien Gap jungle and across Mexico. Signs of the journey were still fresh: His hair was messy, skin tanned with fine wrinkles, and his cardigan, once white, had not been washed for weeks.

“This trip is deadly. People die. The trip isn’t suitable for women — it’s not suitable for anyone,” said Yin.

He said that as the breadwinner, he came alone, with the hope his family could join him later.

‘CHASING A BETTER LIFE’

While some in China have chosen to leave through investment schemes or talent programs in developed nations, those without resources set off for Latin America after learning from social media posts about the journey north.

Upon arriving, most of them fan out to large cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and New York with well-established Chinese communities, where they hope to get work and start a new life.

Immigrants who arrived in Flushing said they came to America to escape China, not to fight on its behalf.

Thirty-six-year-old Chen Wang, from the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian, said he decided to come to the U.S. in late 2021 after he posted comments critical of the ruling party on Twitter. He was admonished by local police.

“I feared that I could be locked up, so I came to America,” Chen said.

More than two years later, he is still unemployed and lives in a tent in the woods that he has made into a home. He built a fence from dead branches and dug a ditch so he could hand-wash his laundry and wash himself.

He said life in the U.S. has fallen short of his expectations, but he hopes someday to get legal status so he can travel freely around the world and live a simple life in a self-built cabin.

Chen, who served briefly in the Chinese military two decades ago, said he mostly encountered people from the bottom of Chinese society during his trek through Central America. He met no one else who had served in the Chinese military and described his fellow Chinese on the journey as simply people “chasing a better life.”

LONG HISTORY OF ASIAN STEREOTYPES

To be sure, U.S. intelligence leaders have grave concerns about the threat China’s authoritarian government poses to the country through its espionage , military capabilities and more. There also have been crimes committed by Chinese immigrants, including the arrest in March of a Chinese national breaching a military base in California, but there has been no evidence to support the assertion that migrants from China are coming to the U.S. to fight Americans.

Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell called the Chinese nationals “economic migrants” during an April town hall meeting hosted by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.

China has said it strongly opposes illegal immigration, and police there have arrested some who have tried to leave. Social media posts that offer advice and guides to come to the U.S. illegally have been censored in China. Instead, there are posts warning about dangers along the way and racial discrimination in the U.S.

China’s foreign ministry told the AP that Trump’s claims of a Chinese migrant army were “an egregious mismatch of the facts.” The Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump campaign, said in an emailed statement that every American should be concerned about military-age Chinese men crossing into the U.S.

“These individuals have not been vetted or screened, and we have no idea who they are affiliated with or what their intention is,” Cheung said. “This sets a dangerous precedent for bad actors and potentially nefarious individuals to exploit Joe Biden’s porous border to send countless military-aged men into the United States completely unfettered.”

The army-building narrative has been shared by many other conservatives.

“They are fighting-age males, primarily single, and you know, this isn’t a coincidence,” Republican Rep. Mike Garcia of California said during a Fox Business interview last month, nodding when host Maria Bartiromo suggested the immigrants could later be used as “saboteurs” if Chinese President Xi Jinping “directs that.”

Sapna Cheryan, a psychology professor at the University of Washington, said the claims about Chinese migrants — made without evidence — build on a long history of pervasive stereotypes that Asian people do not belong in the country, ideas that have fueled acts of violence against Asian Americans.

“If that rhetoric is happening again, one thing we might be able to predict is, well, people will probably take that and feel emboldened to engage in these heinous acts,” she said.

Li Kai, also known as Khaled, a 44-year-old Muslim from Tangshan in the northern Hebei province, a city close to Beijing, said he was worried about Trump’s statements regarding illegal immigration and Muslims, but said he has no choice other than to make his new life in the U.S. work.

He was one of the few who made the trip with his family. He shares a bunk bed and sofa with his wife and two sons in a temporary home in Flushing where he has placed an American flag on the wall.

Li said they fled China last year, after he participated in a gathering over the future of a local mosque that was broken up by riot police and he feared his own arrest. He chose the U.S. because it is a free society, where his children have learned to recite from the Quran.

He said the migrants he encountered on his journey all left China for the U.S. to try to improve their prospects in life, and he was grateful for that opportunity. When his sons are at school, he studies for a commercial driver’s license and then hopes to find a job and start paying taxes.

“Now that I have brought my family here, I want to have a stable life here,” he said. “I would like to pay back.”

Tang reported from Washington.

The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here . The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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• >> Opinion

RICH LOWRY: Biden has disastrously misplayed the politics of Gaza

Does the president know what he’s doing?

It’s bad enough that President Joe Biden is playing politics with the war in Gaza, but even worse — at least for his purposes — that he is doing it so poorly.

Biden may imagine that he is maneuvering with incredible skill — subtly balancing geopolitics, alliance management and domestic imperatives — when he is really upsetting all sides in the course of further undermining his already-rickety presidency. This is less Otto von Bismarck than Jimmy Carter minus the Camp David Accords.

A couple of centuries after Machiavelli warned against the allure of a fence-straddling neutrality and counseled instead being “either a true friend or downright enemy,” Biden is sort of, but not completely with Israel, and certainly not with Hamas, but not in favor of the terror group getting destroyed with all due dispatch, either. The way Bill Clinton once put it in the aftermath of Sept. 11 is that “when people are insecure, they’d rather have somebody who is strong and wrong than someone who’s weak and right.” Biden is both weak and wrong, and he’s not doing himself any favors.

First of all, he should want the war to end as quickly as possible. As long as it continues, he’ll be caught in a crossfire on his own side between the pro-Hamas left and pro-Israel moderates. The easiest way to reduce the intensity around the issue would be for the war to end, but the administration’s jawboning of Israel has stayed the hand of the Jewish state and prolonged this phase of the conflict. Also, when presented with a choice between placating a fraction of public sentiment or siding with the majority, it’s usually the smart play to go with the majority.

Yet, Biden — desperate to stop his bleeding among young voters who are more pro-Palestinian than the rest of the electorate — can’t resist the pull of the fraction.

It’s true that young people look at the conflict differently. According to a New York Times survey of the swing states, voters ages 18 to 29 sympathize with the Palestinians over the Israelis, 44 percent to 23 percent, while every other age group is with the Israelis, by increasingly lopsided numbers as they get older. There’s little doubt what the majority thinks, though. The latest Harvard/Harris poll found that people support Israel over Hamas 80/20, and believe that Israel is trying to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza, 67/33. Even voters ages 18 to 24 support Israel in this survey, 57/43, and believe Israel is trying to minimize casualties, 64/36.

For all the turmoil over Gaza, it’s not a top voting issue. Just 2 percent of voters say that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be the most important issue in deciding their vote in The New York Times poll, and 4 percent of voters ages 18 to 29.

What Biden most needs is for people to think that he’s a moderate and a steady hand. The White House may tell itself that it’s achieving this with a carefully managed, in-between position. But to nearly everyone else it looks as if the president has gotten pushed by the left into flirting from being stalwartly pro-Israel to impeding its war effort. In other words, in fishing for voters who are small in number and outside the mainstream, Biden has further discredited himself and his leadership with his equivocation.

Perhaps the most astonishing finding in the Times poll is that by 50/35, more voters trust Trump than Biden to handle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Trump leads on this question by a little bit more among voters ages 18 to 29, 52/28. Trump, who managed to frighten our enemies with his hit against Qasem Soleimani, while also forging a breakthrough peace deal with the Abraham Accords, does indeed look like a giant of statesmanship compared with a Joe Biden whose war policy has been written on water.

Biden has shown that it’s impossible to be all things to all people, but it is possible to convince most of them that you don’t know what you’re doing.

Rich Lowry is on X @RichLowry .

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Worst in show.

Wonder how Brightline officials arrived at such a lofty number? Or is it really just a matter of build now, backpedal later?