Chinese Australians and the Politics of Loyalty, 1930s-1940s

This seminar explores the complex dynamics between China, Australia, and the Chinese diaspora in the 1930s and 1940s.

Talks in Chinese Humanities

Patriots and Propaganda: Chinese Australians and the Politics of Loyalty, 1930s-1940s

This book explores the complex dynamics between China, Australia, and the Chinese diaspora in the 1930s and 1940s, focusing on Chinese propaganda in Australia, which was significantly shaped by Chinese Australians and their diasporic experiences and identities. It is a study of Chinese efforts to make their voices heard in Australia during China’s War of Resistance and to forge a close China–Australia relationship, effectively challenging the conventional view of China and Australia as allies in name only. It argues that the relationship was not just shaped by war exigency and racial solidarity against a common enemy – Japan – but by the nuanced and evolving landscape of Chinese propaganda efforts in Australia. These endeavours were deeply intertwined with the Chinese Australian diaspora, drawing on their complex experiences and identities. The resulting tripartite relationship between China, Australia and diasporic Chinese was far more intricate than the simplistic solidarity portrayed in the 1945 publication. It was one of contested narratives, competing agendas and constant collaboration. Patriots and Propaganda thus expands the

long-term focus on the great powers and their connections with less prominent nations, and delves into the often-overlooked dimension of how these two geographically distant, relatively weak nations forged a much closer, but also nuanced and tangled, bond than is typically acknowledged.

Click here for more information about the publication.

About the speaker

Bolin Hu is a lecturer at Huaqiao University, China. His research interests include the histories of Chinese in Australasia and China-Australasia.

"Talks in Chinese Humanities" is co-presented by the China Studies Centre, the Discipline of Chinese Studies, the Australian Society for Asian Humanities at the University of Sydney.