DOCSLIB.ORG

Asia First: China and the Making of Modern American Conservatism

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Asia First: China and the Making of Modern American Conservatism Book Reviews retaliation against their kin. The ROC then damaged its case for being the one China by refusing to accept most refugees from Hong Kong after 1950, despite United Na- tions recognition of the ROC as the government of China. When the Great Leap Forward sent refugees pouring into Hong Kong, the newly economically stable ROC belatedly seized the propaganda opportunity to welcome them. Part III: The Sino-U.S. ambassadorial talks in Geneva in 1955 eventually led to the return of long-unrepatriated Americans in the PRC and mainlanders in the United States. The 1965 Hart-Celler Act finally ended de facto Asian exclusion by eliminating national-origin quotas. This led to a significant ROC brain drain as the highly educated immigrated and transformed the United States into a center for the Taiwanese independence movement, increasing the proportion of Chinese-Americans with family roots in Taiwan rather than the mainland. By the 1960s, immigration became a source of U.S.-ROC friction with politically active ROC dissidents in the United States. The ROC responded by clamping down on exit visas for dissidents. The book is definitive on the topic of ROC-U.S. immigration policies in that it mines all the essential relevant archives of U.S. presidents from Franklin D. Roo- sevelt through Richard Nixon; Taiwan’s key archives at Academia Sinica, Academia Historica, the Kuomintang, and the Foreign Ministry; and China’s Ministry of For- eign Affairs, Number 2 Historical, and Guangdong provincial archives. The research is both original and thorough, covering academic exchanges, deportations, refugees, voluntary exiles, defectors, and dissidents. It examines patterns in migration policy as a foreign policy tool, a form of public diplomacy, and method to shape the Chinese- American community—but the chapters do not align with these important topics. This and a lack of overarching analytical introductory and concluding paragraphs for each chapter (not to mention paragraph topic sentences) make the book hard to read and therefore hard to remember. A thematically organized article summarizing the book’s findings would be assignable to students in a variety of disciplines. The book tells an important story about how a model minority became the model. ✣✣✣ Joyce Mao, Asia First: China and the Making of Modern American Conservatism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015. 226 pp. $40.00. Reviewed by Bryan R. Reckard, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Well-argued and thoroughly researched, Joyce Mao’s Asia First underscores the signif- icance of the Asia First movement in conservative circles throughout the Cold War. Mao explains how Asia Firsters, those who demanded that U.S. foreign policy empha- size the Pacific as much as (or more than) Europe and the Atlantic, were distinct from the broader China Lobby in seeing China as one possible avenue for pushing conser- vatism beyond isolationism and into internationalism. In the years following Chiang Kai-shek’s escape from mainland China to Formosa, the Republic of China (ROC) 245 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/jcws_r_00778 by guest on 29 September 2021 Book Reviews had proven itself friendly to both capitalism and Christianity. Additionally, the loss of the Chinese mainland to the Communist People’s Republic of China (PRC) proved to be an adequate motive to criticize the Truman administration on grounds that it had not done enough to save China from the Communists. Presenting the ROC as Free China would provide the catalyst needed to turn traditionally diplomatic isolationists into conservative internationalists focused on the defense of Free China. A perspective supported by staunch conservatives such as Senator William Knowland and Senator Robert Taft, the newly proposed breed of internationalism preyed on American fears of a free world quickly dissolving under the pressure of an expanding Communist men- ace. Only by protecting Free China, the primary obstruction deterring Red China’s advancement, could U.S. national security and democratic ideals be preserved. Sprinkled in between arguments about the defense of Free China and a turn to conservative internationalism in the Cold War, Mao carefully weaves in another un- derlying narrative: conservative criticisms of the United Nations (UN) and the loss of U.S. sovereignty. Over nearly two decades—from the First Taiwan Strait Crisis and the subsequent passing of the Formosa Resolution in 1955 to the induction of the PRC into the UN and the ousting of the ROC in 1971—Mao illustrates the UN’s influence as it applies to the work of Asia Firsters. For instance, Mao shows how fears that China would gain control over the islands of Matsu and Quemoy through the UN during the crisis in 1954–1955 and suspicions that the Communist PRC would be admitted to the UN alongside the ROC led conservatives to frame the exclusion of the PRC in the UN as a matter of national security (p. 96). Ranging from argu- ments that included UN bylaws hampering the unilateral and “streamlined action” (p. 97) of the United States against Communism, to complaints that seating a Commu- nist state in the organization would be detrimental to U.S sovereignty because of its compulsory compliance with UN measures, Mao shows how conservatives made their case opposing the UN. As she demonstrates, these claims were raised again after the ROC was removed from the UN, despite the urgings of President Richard Nixon and U.S. Ambassador to the UN George H. W. Bush that both of the Chinas should be represented. Mao pays particular attention to the relationships that prominent Asia Firsters enjoyed with the leader of the ROC, Chiang Kai-shek, and documents how Chiang and his wife, Soong Mei-ling, sought U.S. protection for the ROC. Indeed, Mao as- serts that a “hallmark of Asia First activism” (p. 54) included the general sentiment that Chiang should be allowed to continue leading not only the ROC but the whole of China, including the mainland, in spite of U.S. misgivings regarding Chiang’s effi- cacy as a commander and lingering questions concerning corruption among the ranks of Chiang’s Nationalist Kuomintang regime. Included among Chiang’s collection of politically minded U.S. friends is Alfred Kohlberg, a textile importer and the man be- hind the so-called China lobby; Robert Welch, an author and founder of the pro ROC activist group the John Birch Society; and Barry Goldwater, U.S. Senator and 1964 Republican Party presidential nominee. Despite ebbs and flows in Goldwater’s pub- lic support for Chiang and an independent Taiwan, including his choice to support 246 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/jcws_r_00778 by guest on 29 September 2021 Book Reviews Nixon instead of Chiang after the signing of the Shanghai Communiqué, Mao shows how Goldwater continued to support an independent Taiwan after Nixon’s presidency and into the 1990s. Mao supports her argument using government documents, archival materials, and a reasonable number of secondary texts. Her archival research in the papers of Knowland, Taft, Goldwater, and Kohlberg is prominently displayed throughout the book as she recounts the behind-the-scenes proceedings of the Asia First cohort. In the case of the John Birch Society, Mao artfully connects Welch’s writings, Kohlberg’s papers, and the society’s official documents and publicity materials into one coherent telling of the self-styled “foreign policy watchdog organization” (p. 133). In addition, although Mao’s narrative suggests that the John Birch Society did not represent the entire conservative Asia First movement, the organization did highlight and clarify the rationale behind Asia First logic and managed to integrate it into a conservative internationalist platform. In sum, Mao’s book offers a unique look at the perspectives and power of a con- servative faction of politicians and citizen activists determined to halt the wave of Communism that was certain to swell after the PRC victory in mainland China. Asia First concerned more than a swiveling of the U.S. Cold War spotlight from Europe to the Far East; it was a driving force behind the development of conservative foreign policy in the post-World War II era. Indeed, its influence on contemporary global politics can still be seen in myriad instances of Pacific-oriented U.S. diplomacy. More- over, Mao’s account of Asia First politics demonstrates how a traditionally isolationist faction of politicians came to view the order of the world and the U.S. position in that order. For the present-day reader trying to make sense of developments in the South China Sea, the relationship between the United States and Taiwan, and U.S. foreign policy in the Pacific generally, Mao’s Asia First is an informative primer. ✣✣✣ Dina Fainberg and Artemy M. Kalinovsky, eds., Reconsidering Stagnation in the Brezh- nev Era: Ideology and Exchange. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2016. xxii + 198 pp. $85.00. Reviewed by Stephen V. Bittner, Sonoma State University In recent scholarship, Soviet society during the long reign (1964–1982) of Leonid Brezhnev has been transformed into something that previous generations of Sovietol- ogists could scarcely have imagined—a happening place. Decidedly postrevolutionary in outlook, acquisitive at its core, riven with corruption and unofficial economies that provided everything from narcotics to rock-and-roll records, yet suffused with the familiar iconography, exhortations, and eschatology of Marxism-Leninism, Soviet society under Brezhnev defies easy categorization. That “stagnation” is a mostly in- adequate description of its complexity is the central premise that Dina Fainberg and 247 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/jcws_r_00778 by guest on 29 September 2021.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Patrick J. Hurley's Attempt to Unify China, 1944-1945
    This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 66-11 791 SMITH, Robert Thomas, 1938- ALONE IN CHINA; PATRICK J. HURLEY'S ATTEMPT TO UNIFY CHINA, 1944-1945. The University of Oklahoma, Ph.D., 1966 History, modern University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan C opyright by ROBERT THOMAS SMITH 1966 THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHCMA GRADUATE COLLEGE ALONE IN CHINA: PATRICK J . HURLEY'S ATTEMPT TO UNIFY CHINA, 1944-1945 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY ROBERT THCÎ-1AS SMITH Norman, Oklahoma 1966 ALŒE IN CHINA; PATRICK J . HURLEY'S ATTEMPT TO UNIFY CHINA, 1944-1945 APPP>Î BY 'c- l <• ,L? T\ . , A. c^-Ja ^v^ c c \ (LjJ LSSERTATION COMMITTEE ACKNOWLEDGMENT 1 wish to acknowledge the aid and assistance given by my major professor, Dr, Gilbert 0, Fite, Research Professor of History, I desire also to thank Professor Donald J, Berthrong who acted as co-director of my dissertation before circumstances made it impossible for him to continue in that capacity. To Professors Percy W, Buchanan, J, Carroll Moody, John W, Wood, and Russell D, Buhite, \^o read the manuscript and vdio each offered learned and constructive criticism , I shall always be grateful, 1 must also thank the staff of the Manuscripts Divi­ sion of the Bizzell Library \diose expert assistance greatly simplified the task of finding my way through the Patrick J, Hurley collection. Special thanks are due my wife vdio volun­ teered to type the manuscript and offered aid in all ways imaginable, and to my parents \dio must have wondered if I would ever find a job.
    [Show full text]
  • Meet Charles Koch's Brain.Pdf
    “ Was I, perhaps, hallucinating? Or was I, in reality, nothing more than a con man, taking advantage of others?” —Robert LeFevre BY MARK known as “Rampart College”), School] is where I was first exposed which his backers wanted to turn in-depth to such thinkers as Mises AMES into the nation’s premier libertarian and Hayek.” indoctrination camp. Awkwardly for Koch, Freedom What makes Charles Koch tick? There are plenty of secondary School didn’t just teach radical Despite decades of building the sources placing Koch at LeFevre’s pro-property libertarianism, it also nation’s most impressive ideological Freedom School. Libertarian court published a series of Holocaust- and influence-peddling network, historian Brian Doherty—who has denial articles through its house from ideas-mills to think-tanks to spent most of his adult life on the magazine, Ramparts Journal. The policy-lobbying machines, the Koch Koch brothers’ payroll—described first of those articles was published brothers only really came to public LeFevre as “an anarchist figure in 1966, two years after Charles prominence in the past couple of who stole Charles Koch’s heart;” Koch joined Freedom School as years. Since then we’ve learned a Murray Rothbard, who co-founded executive, trustee and funder. lot about the billionaire siblings’ the Cato Institute with Charles “Evenifoneweretoaccept vast web of influence and power in Koch in 1977, wrote that Charles themostextremeand American politics and ideas. “had been converted as a youth to exaggeratedindictment Yet, for all that attention, there libertarianism by LeFevre.” ofHitlerandthenational are still big holes in our knowledge But perhaps the most credible socialistsfortheiractivities of the Kochs.
    [Show full text]
  • The Failed Marshall Plan: Learning from US Foreign Policy Missteps
    Transcript The Failed Marshall Plan: Learning from US Foreign Policy Missteps Daniel Kurtz-Phelan Executive Editor, Foreign Affairs, Author, The China Mission: George Marshall’s Unfinished War, 1945- 47 Chair: Dr Leslie Vinjamuri Head, US and the Americas Programme and Dean of the Queen Elizabeth II Academy, Chatham House 10 September 2018 The views expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the speaker(s) and participants, and do not necessarily reflect the view of Chatham House, its staff, associates or Council. Chatham House is independent and owes no allegiance to any government or to any political body. It does not take institutional positions on policy issues. This document is issued on the understanding that if any extract is used, the author(s)/speaker(s) and Chatham House should be credited, preferably with the date of the publication or details of the event. Where this document refers to or reports statements made by speakers at an event, every effort has been made to provide a fair representation of their views and opinions. The published text of speeches and presentations may differ from delivery. © The Royal Institute of International Affairs, 2018. 10 St James’s Square, London SW1Y 4LE T +44 (0)20 7957 5700 F +44 (0)20 7957 5710 www.chathamhouse.org Patron: Her Majesty The Queen Chairman: Stuart Popham QC Director: Dr Robin Niblett Charity Registration Number: 208223 2 The Failed Marshall Plan: Learning from US Foreign Policy Missteps Dr Leslie Vinjamuri And it’s wonderful to see so many people here on a Monday afternoon after a lovely weekend.
    [Show full text]
  • The John Birch Society
    THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY April 22, 1961 Letter from America The John Birch Society "Our Government has been the greatest single force supporting the Communist advance u title pretend­ ing to oppose that advance." - Robert Welch A NEW and different political lice Department has disclosed that of the Arizona Supreme Court, a ideology and approach is be­ this ultra-conservative society "was personal aide of General Douglas ing offered to the American people a matter of concern" to Attorney MacArther, a medical director of by the John Birch Society which General Robert F Kennedy. News­ the New England Mutual Life Insur­ includes among its tenets thy ter­ paper editorials and columns have ance Company and other.-;. The mination of all foreign aid, cam­ suddenly been filled with various organization claims 100,000 Ameri­ paign against the United Nations opinions on what to do and what cans as its members organized into and NATO (!), war on Cuba, end not to do with the Society. 100 chapters- in at least 34 .states of * desegregation, abolition of pro­ Birth of Birchism and the District of Columbia. gressive income tax, opposition to A recent disclosure in the New the fluoridation of local water Like most great earth-shaking York Times revealed another source supply, the impeachment of Chief movements, Birchism was horn of strength for Birchist ideas. Major Justice Earl Warren, the denuncia­ under humble circumstances that General Edwin A. Walker of the- tion of Eisenhower and his brother have added to the mystery and folk­ Twenty-fourth Infantry Division for their "membership of the Com­ lore gathering around the organiza­ stationed in West Germany is re­ munist underground" and a repeal tion.
    [Show full text]
  • The Ideology of the John Birch Society
    Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 5-1966 The Ideology of the John Birch Society Max P. Peterson Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Peterson, Max P., "The Ideology of the John Birch Society" (1966). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 7982. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7982 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THEIDEOLOGY OFTHE JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY by Y1ax P. Peterson A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTEROF SCIENCE in Political Science Approved: Major Professor Head of Department Dean of Graduate Studies UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 1966 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my appreciation to Dr. Milton C. Abrams for the many hours of consultation and direction he provided throughout this study. To Dr. M. Judd Harmon, I express thanks, not only for his constructive criticism on this work, but for the constant challenge he offers as a teacher. A very special thanks is given my wife, Karen, for her countless hours of typing, but first and foremost for the encouragement, u nderstanding, and devotion that she has given me throu ghout my graduate studies. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Chapter I. The Background and Organization of the John Birch Society 4 The Beginning 4 The Symbol 7 The Founder 15 Plan of Action 21 Organizational Mechanics 27 Chapter II.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 24: Asia and the Pacific, 1945-Present
    Asia and the Pacific 1945–Present Key Events As you read, look for the key events in the history of postwar Asia. • Communists in China introduced socialist measures and drastic reforms under the leadership of Mao Zedong. • After World War II, India gained its independence from Britain and divided into two separate countries—India and Pakistan. • Japan modernized its economy and society after 1945 and became one of the world’s economic giants. The Impact Today The events that occurred during this time period still impact our lives today. • Today China and Japan play significant roles in world affairs: China for political and military reasons, Japan for economic reasons. • India and Pakistan remain rivals. In 1998, India carried out nuclear tests and Pakistan responded by testing its own nuclear weapons. • Although the people of Taiwan favor independence, China remains committed to eventual unification. World History—Modern Times Video The Chapter 24 video, “Vietnam,” chronicles the history and impact of the Vietnam War. Mao Zedong 1949 1953 1965 Communist Korean Lyndon Johnson Party takes War sends U.S. troops over China ends to South Vietnam 1935 1945 1955 1965 1947 1966 India and Indira Gandhi Pakistan become elected independent prime minister nations of India Indira Gandhi 720 0720-0729 C24SE-860705 11/25/03 7:21 PM Page 721 Singapore’s architecture is a mixture of modern and colonial buildings. Nixon in China 1972 HISTORY U.S. President 1989 2002 Richard Nixon Tiananmen Square China joins World Trade visits China massacre Organization Chapter Overview Visit the Glencoe World History—Modern 1975 1985 1995 2005 Times Web site at wh.mt.glencoe.com and click on Chapter 24– Chapter Overview to 1979 1997 preview chapter information.
    [Show full text]
  • January 2008 OIML Bulletin
    OIML BULLETIN VOLUME XLIX • NUMBER 1 JANUARY 2008 Quarterly Journal Organisation Internationale de Métrologie Légale ISSN 0473-2812 42nd CIML Meeting and Associated Events Shanghai BULLETIN O I M L M E M B E R S T A T E S V OLUME XLIX • N UMBER 1 J ANUARY 2008 A LBANIA K AZAKHSTAN A LGERIA K ENYA THE OIML BULLETIN IS THE A USTRALIA R EP. OF K OREA QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF THE A USTRIA M ACEDONIA, T HE F ORMER Y UGOSLAV R EPUBLIC OF O RGANISATION I NTERNATIONALE B ELARUS DE M ÉTROLOGIE L ÉGALE M ONACO B ELGIUM OROCCO The Organisation Internationale de Métrologie Légale M (OIML), established 12 October 1955, is an inter- B RAZIL N ETHERLANDS governmental organization whose principal aim is to B ULGARIA EW EALAND harmonize the regulations and metrological controls N Z applied by the national metrology services of its C AMEROON N ORWAY Members. ANADA C PAKISTAN P. R EP. OF C HINA P OLAND E DITOR- IN-CHIEF: Jean-François Magaña C ROATIA P ORTUGAL E DITOR: Chris Pulham C UBA R OMANIA C YPRUS 2008 SUBSCRIPTION R ATE R USSIAN F EDERATION C ZECH R EPUBLIC 60 € S AUDI A RABIA D ENMARK S ERBIA ISSN 0473-2812 E GYPT S LOVAKIA PRINTED IN FRANCE E THIOPIA S LOVENIA GRANDE IMPRIMERIE DE TROYES F INLAND S OUTH A FRICA 25, RUE LAMORICIÈRE F RANCE PAIN 10300 SAINTE SAVINE G ERMANY S G REECE S RI L ANKA H UNGARY S WEDEN OIML PRESIDIUM S WITZERLAND AND P RESIDENTIAL C OUNCIL I NDIA I NDONESIA TANZANIA P RESIDENT I SLAMIC R EPUBLIC OF I RAN T UNISIA Alan E.
    [Show full text]
  • George C. Marshall and the “Europe-First” Strategy, 1939–1951: a Study in Diplomatic As Well As Military History 
    The 2015 George C. Marshall Lecture in Military History George C. Marshall and the “Europe-First” Strategy, 1939–1951: A Study in Diplomatic as well as Military History Mark A. Stoler* Abstract As Army chief of staff, secretary of state, and secretary of defense, George C. Marshall played a major role in creating, implementing, and defending the multilateral “Europe-First” global strategy that guided U.S. foreign and military policies through World War II and the Cold War. This lecture explores how and why he did so, emphasizing the decision to defeat Germany before Japan, the postwar European Re- covery Program that bears Marshall’s name, and the relief of General Douglas MacArthur during the Korean War for his refusal to accept this grand strategy. In the process it analyzes the complex relationship that exists between diplomatic and military history. he completion this year of the seventh and final volume of The Papers of George Catlett Marshall makes this an appropriate time for a Marshall lecture that focusesT on Marshall himself, specifically on the diplomatic as well as the military components of one of his fundamental strategic concepts. As a diplomatic as well as * This is a revised and expanded version of the Marshall lecture I delivered on 4 January 2015 at the annual meeting of the American Historical Association in New York. I am deeply grateful to Professors Melvyn Leffler, Barry Machado, and Allan Millett both for reading an earlier draft of this paper and for their suggestions for improvement. Final responsibility for its contents, however, rests solely with the author.
    [Show full text]
  • The Wilsonian Open Door and Truman's China-Taiwan Policy
    Dean P. Chen American Association for Chinese Studies Annual Conference October 12-14, 2012 Origins of the Strategic Ambiguity Policy: The Wilsonian Open Door and Truman’s China-Taiwan Policy 1 The Problem of the Taiwan Strait Conflict The Taiwan Strait is probably one of the “most dangerous” flashpoints in world politics today because the Taiwan issue could realistically trigger an all-out war between two nuclear-armed great powers, the United States and People’s Republic of China (PRC). 2 Since 1949, cross-strait tensions, rooted in the Chinese civil war between Chiang Kai- shek’s Nationalist Party (KMT) and Mao Zedong’s Communist Party (CCP), have been contentious and, at times, highly militarized. As analyzed by many scholars, the Taiwan Strait crises in 1954, 1958, 1995-96, and 2003-06 brought the PRC, Taiwan, and the United States closely to the brink of war. 3 In each of these episodes, however, rational restraint prevailed due to America’s superior power influence to prevent both sides from upsetting the tenuous cross-strait status quo. Indeed, having an abiding interest in a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan Strait conflict, Washington has always assumed a pivotal role in deterring both Taipei and Beijing from aggressions and reckless behaviors. U.S. leaders seek to do this through the maintenance of a delicate balance: acknowledging the one-China principle, preserving the necessary ties to defend Taiwan’s freedom and security while insisting that all resolutions must be peaceful and consensual. 4 The Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan administrations formalized these commitments in the three U.S.-China 1 This paper is an abridged and modified version of the author’s recent book: Dean P.
    [Show full text]
  • Don't Make Us Choose: Southeast Asia in the Throes of US-China Rivalry
    THE NEW GEOPOLITICS OCTOBER 2019 ASIA DON’T MAKE US CHOOSE Southeast Asia in the throes of US-China rivalry JONATHAN STROMSETH DON’T MAKE US CHOOSE Southeast Asia in the throes of US-China rivalry JONATHAN STROMSETH EXECUTIVE SUMMARY U.S.-China rivalry has intensified significantly in Southeast Asia over the past year. This report chronicles the unfolding drama as it stretched across the major Asian summits in late 2018, the Second Belt and Road Forum in April 2019, the Shangri-La Dialogue in May-June, and the 34th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in August. Focusing especially on geoeconomic aspects of U.S.-China competition, the report investigates the contending strategic visions of Washington and Beijing and closely examines the region’s response. In particular, it examines regional reactions to the Trump administration’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) strategy. FOIP singles out China for pursuing regional hegemony, says Beijing is leveraging “predatory economics” to coerce other nations, and poses a clear choice between “free” and “repressive” visions of world order in the Indo-Pacific region. China also presents a binary choice to Southeast Asia and almost certainly aims to create a sphere of influence through economic statecraft and military modernization. Many Southeast Asians are deeply worried about this possibility. Yet, what they are currently talking about isn’t China’s rising influence in the region, which they see as an inexorable trend that needs to be managed carefully, but the hard-edged rhetoric of the Trump administration that is casting the perception of a choice, even if that may not be the intent.
    [Show full text]
  • Involuntary Migrants, Political Revolutionaries and Economic Energisers: a History of the Image of Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia GORDON C
    Journal of Contemporary China (2005), 14(42), February, 55–66 Involuntary Migrants, Political Revolutionaries and Economic Energisers: a history of the image of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia GORDON C. K. CHEUNG* Along the contemporary migration history of the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, three distinctive images have been constructed through the interaction between the overseas Chinese and Mainland China. First, the image of involuntary migrant, formulated by their migration activity and the continuous remittance they sent back to their hometowns, closely linked to the political and social-economic disturbances in the early years of the twentieth century. Second, the image of the overseas Chinese as political revolutionary was heavily politicised by the revolutionary policies of Mainland China in the 1950s and 1960s. Third, through the operational means of foreign direct investment, the overseas Chinese image of economic energiser was re-focused and mirror-imaged with the imperative of the economic reform of Mainland China in the 1970s and 1980s. On the one hand, the images of involuntary migrant, political revolutionary and economic energiser of the Southeast Asian overseas Chinese describe their situational status. On the other hand, these images also reflect the contemporary historical development of Mainland China. Whatever the reasons for studying the Overseas Chinese, there is no doubt that they are a bona fide object of research. The diversity of cultures represented by these people, the diversity of settings in which they have found themselves, the wide differences in the histories of specific Chinese ‘colonies’, all of these things make them a fascinating laboratory for social scientists of various disciplinary bents.1 In Southeast Asia the capitalists were the Chinese.
    [Show full text]
  • Papers of Clare Boothe Luce [Finding Aid]. Library of Congress. [PDF
    Clare Boothe Luce A Register of Her Papers in the Library of Congress Prepared by Nan Thompson Ernst with the assistance of Joseph K. Brooks, Paul Colton, Patricia Craig, Michael W. Giese, Patrick Holyfield, Lisa Madison, Margaret Martin, Brian McGuire, Scott McLemee, Susie H. Moody, John Monagle, Andrew M. Passett, Thelma Queen, Sara Schoo and Robert A. Vietrogoski Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 2003 Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division, 2003 Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms003044 Latest revision: 2008 July Collection Summary Title: Papers of Clare Boothe Luce Span Dates: 1862-1988 Bulk Dates: (bulk 1930-1987) ID No.: MSS30759 Creator: Luce, Clare Boothe, 1903-1987 Extent: 460,000 items; 796 containers plus 11 oversize, 1 classified, 1 top secret; 319 linear feet; 41 microfilm reels Language: Collection material in English Repository: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Abstract: Journalist, playwright, magazine editor, U.S. representative from Connecticut, and U.S. ambassador to Italy. Family papers, correspondence, literary files, congressional and ambassadorial files, speech files, scrapbooks, and other papers documenting Luce's personal and public life as a journalist, playwright, politician, member of Congress, ambassador, and government official. Selected Search Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein. Personal Names Barrie, Michael--Correspondence. Baruch, Bernard M.
    [Show full text]