Final answer:
Eithne Luibheid's 'A Blueprint for Exclusion' suggests that Chinese prostitutes were targeted due to perceptions of them as a threat to public health and morality in a climate of broader anti-Chinese sentiment.
Step-by-step explanation:
Eithne Luibheid, in "A Blueprint for Exclusion," addresses the question, "Why target Chinese prostitution, in particular?" by indicating that Chinese prostitutes were perceived as a threat to public health and morality. This view was compounded by the broader anti-Chinese sentiment and the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which was fuelled by fears of job competition and cultural differences. The act was the first in US history to bar a group of immigrants explicitly based on race or ethnicity, a manifestation of the nativist anxieties and economic protectionism of the era. Moreover, brothels in urban settings often existed with police collusion, showing how vice enforcement was occasionally shaped by racial and ethnic biases.