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Abstract
This paper examines the Chinese Nationalists’ overseas Chinese policies during the early War of Resistance and the early Cold War. The strategies, organizations and problems of huaqiao mobilization during the Anti-Japanese War set patterns for Cold War anti-Communist efforts. In both struggles, the Nationalists emphasized that they represented China's legitimate government and that support from overseas Chinese was part of a crusade dating back to Sun Yat-sen, the father of the nation. As mothers of the revolution, huaqiao were to remain loyal to Sun's legacy by backing Chiang. Southeast Asia, home to the majority of overseas Chinese, became the focus of Nationalist attention and is the most appropriate arena to examine the vicissitudes of huaqiao policies. Obstacles to huaqiao mobilization did not simply result from Japanese, then Communist, machinations. The Nationalists encountered difficulties due to overseas Chinese apathy and disunity. Further, the complex political environment of Southeast Asia, before and after decolonization, stymied mobilization. Nevertheless, after each military defeat, whether at the hands of the Japanese or the Communists, huaqiao support became more important, not for the material benefits they offered, but for the legitimacy they conferred.
Notes
1 In his overview of legitimacy, Jean-Marc Coicard notes a great diversity of views on legitimacy across many disciplines, but suggests a “common ground for understanding.” He states that “Legitimacy is the recognition of the right to govern.” He notes that this requires “justifying simultaneously political power and obedience.” Jean-Marc Coicard, Legitimacy and Politics: A Contribution to the Study of Political Right and Political Responsibility, trans. David Ames Curtis (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 10.
2 English-language scholarship on united front work focuses on the accomplishments of the Chinese Communists. For example, see Lyman van Slyke, Enemies and Friends: The United Front in Chinese Communist History (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1967) and Tetsuya Kataoka, Resistance and Revolution in China: The Communists and the Second United Front (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974). The Nationalists’ united front efforts have received little attention from scholars in the West.
3 John Dahlberg-Acton, Essays in the Liberal Interpretation of History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967), 146.
4 Ronald Skeldon, “The Chinese Diaspora or the Migration of Chinese Peoples?,” in The Chinese Diaspora: Space, Place, Mobility, and Identity, ed. Laurence J.C. Ma and Carolyn Cartier (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003), 52.
5 Wang Gungwu, The Chinese Overseas: From Earthbound China to the Quest for Autonomy (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000), 70.
6 Chen Shuren “Chen weiyuanzhang shuren zai Manila huaqiao gejie huanying dahui yanshuoci” [Chairman Chen Shuren's Speech at Manila's Overseas Chinese Welcoming Meeting], Huaqiao dongyuan [Overseas Chinese Mobilization], March 15, 1938, 19–21.
7 Chen Shuren, “Zhanshi haiwai dangwu yu qiaowu de gaijin” [The Advance of the Party's Overseas Work and Overseas Chinese Work], in Xie Zuomin, et. al., Kangzhan yu huaqiao [The War of Resistance and Overseas Chinese] (Chongqing: Duli chubanshe, 1939), 31–32.
8 Chen Shuren, et. al., “Gao haiwai gedi tongzhi qiaobaoshu” [Statement for Overseas Compatriots Everywhere], Huaqiao dongyuan, May 31, 1938, 14.
9 Chen Shuren, “Zhanshi haiwai dangwu yu qiaowu de gaijin,” 31–32.
10 “Xie zai bianqian [Written before Editing] in Xie Zuomin, et. al.,” Kangzhan yu huaqiao, 3.
11 Liu Jicou, “Kangzhan jianguo yu huaqiao” [The War of Resistance, National Reconstruction and Overseas Chinese], Huaqiao dongyuan, May 15, 1938, 9–10.
12 For the Nationalists’ vision of a united polity that would override class, local, or provincial interests, see John Fitzgerald, Awakening China: Politics, Culture, and Class in the Nationalist Revolution (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996).
13 Li Pusheng, “Zhanshi de haiwai gongzuo” [Wartime Overseas Chinese Work], Huaqiao dongyuan, May 15, 1938, 1–3.
14 Chen Chunpu, “Ruhe kuoda huaqiao de jiuguo yundong” [How to Expand the Overseas Chinese National Salvation Movement], in Kangzhan yu huaqiao, 24–26.
15 Chen Bisheng, Nanyang huaqiao shi [A History of Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia] (Nanchang: Jiangxi renmin chubanshe, 1989), 478–79.
16 “Chen Jiageng wei lishu nanyang huaqiao chou zhen zonghui gongzuo chengji ji hanjian jianshang pohuai gouxian deng qing shefa zhishi zhi zhongyang guangbo shiye guanlichu chuzhang han” [Chen Jiageng Letter to the Central Broadcast Management Office Director Regarding the Results of the Nanyang Overseas Chinese Preparatory Relief Committee Work and Seeking Guidance on Traitorous Merchants’ Destruction and False Accusations], January 28, 1940, in Zhonghua minguoshi dang'an ziliao huibian [A Collection of Archival Materials on the History of Republican China], ed. Zhongguo di'er lishi dang'anguan [The Second Historical Archives of China], vol. 5, no. 4, Politics (IV) (Nanjing: Jiangsu guji chubanshe, 1998), 663–65.
17 Xie Zuomin, “Zonglun: Huaqiao dui kangzhan de zeren” [Overview: The Responsibility of Overseas Chinese in the War of Resistance], in Kangzhan yu huaqiao, 1–5.
18 Chen Yimei, “Huaqiao jiuguo yundong de yiban” [The Overseas Chinese National Salvation Movement], in Kangzhan yu huaqiao, 10–11.
19 “Xie zai bianqian [Written before Editing] in Xie Zuomin, et. al.,” Kangzhan yu huaqiao, 2.
20 “Qiaowu weiyuanhui guanyu yin song qiaowuhui gongzuo baogao zhi xingzhengyuan mishuchu han” [Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission Report to the Executive Yuan on the Dutch East Indies], February 9, 1939, in Zhonghua minguoshi dang'an ziliao huibian, 594–99.
21 “Guomindang zhongchanghui guanyu guonei qiaowu tuanti zuzhi banfa” [The Nationalist Party Standing Committee on Methods to Organize Overseas Chinese within China], November 17, 1938, in Zhonghua minguoshi dang'an ziliao huibian, 570–72.
22 “Bianhou” [Afterword], Huaqiao 1 (1940), 30.
23 “Di san ci quan riben huaqiao dahui shengkuang” [The Situation of the Third All-Japan Overseas Chinese Congress], Huaqiao 22 (1943), 12–16.
24 “Guomin zhengfu junshi weiyuanhui guanyu riben pai jiandie toupian nanyang huaqiao zhi qiaowu weiyuanhui daidian” [Nationalist Military Affairs Committee Telegram to the Commission on Japanese Spies Sent to Entice Nanyang Overseas Chinese], December 3, 1938, in Zhonghua minguoshi dang'an ziliao huibian, 680.
25 “Yuenan jianjing laojie huaqiao gongsuo wei zuzhi huaqiao yinhang zhi qiaowu weiyuanhui cheng” [Letter to the Commission on Vietnam's Lao Cai Overseas Chinese Organizing an Overseas Chinese Bank], April 25, 1940, in Zhonghua minguoshi dang'an ziliao huibian, 668.
26 “Waijiaobu guanyu diwei ni zai haiwai sheli qiaowu jigou zhi weiyuanhui gonghan” [Letter from the Foreign Ministry to the Commission on Enemies’ Plans to Create Overseas Chinese Organizations], August 16, 1939, in Zhonghua minguoshi dang'an ziliao huibian, 685–86.
27 “Guomindang zhongyang zhixing weiyuanhui haiwaibu guanyu wei Xiamenshi qiaowuju sheli huaqiao zhaodaisuo laba huaqiao” [The Nationalist Party Central Executive Committee Haiwaibu on the Overseas Chinese Reception Center Established by the Collaborationist Xiamen City Overseas Chinese Office in Order to Entice Overseas Chinese], January 17, 1940, in Zhonghua minguoshi dang'an ziliao huibian, 690.
28 A longtime rival of Chiang Kai-shek, Wang Jingwei fled the Nationalist wartime capital of Chongqing in 1938 to Hanoi, then moved to Shanghai in order to engage in negotiations with the Japanese. On 30 March 1940, he was given the position of president of the Executive Yuan and chairman of the Japanese puppet regime established in Nanjing.
29 For a detailed comparison of the Chongqing and Nanjing programs, see Li Yinghui, Kangri yu furi: huaqiao, guominzhengfu, Wangzhengquan [Opposing the Japanese and Serving the Japanese: Overseas Chinese, the Nationalist Government and the Wang Regime] (Taipei: The Water Buffalo Book Co., 2003).
30 “Waijiaobu guanyu diwei ni zai haiwai sheli qiaowu jigou zhi weiyuanhui gonghan,” in Zhonghua minguoshi dang'an ziliao huibian, 685–86.
31 The 54-page report on Japanese propaganda in Southeast Asia includes a cover letter from the British consulate in Jakarta dated 15 November 1941, in the Australian National Archives, series accession number A981, control symbol JAP 25 part 1, Japan: Japanese Propaganda in British Territory and the Far East, 1939–1941.
32 “Guomindang zhongyang haiwaibu zhi qiaowu weiyuanhui de meizhou gongzuo baogao” [Weekly Work Report from the Nationalist Party Overseas Affairs Office to the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission], January 15–28, 1940, in Zhonghua minguoshi dang'an ziliao huibian, 610–15.
33 “Lunxianqu huowu chuguo bianbie banfa” [Methods to Distinguish Goods from Occupied Areas], Huaqiao dongyuan, November 30, 1938, 18.
34 “Chen Jiageng wei lishu Nanyang huaqiao chou zhen zonghui gongzuo chengji ji hanjian jianshang pohuai gouxian deng qing shefa zhishi zhi zhongyang guangbo shiye guanlichu chuzhang han”, January 28, 1940, in Zhonghua minguoshi dang'an ziliao huibian, 663–65.
35 Wang Zhiyi, “Zhanzai guomin waijiao zui qianxian de qiaobao” [Overseas Compatriots on the Leading Edge of Nationalist Diplomacy], Huaqiao dongyuan, February 1, 1939, 10–11.
36 “Jiang weiyuanzhang gao shijie de youbang” [Chairman Chiang's Message to the World's Friendly Nations], Huaqiao dongyuan, July 15, 1938, 1–2.
37 Qi Zhao, “Guolian yuanhua jueyi yu huaqiao juliudi zhengfu” [The League of Nations Resolution to Help China and Government in Overseas Chinese Countries of Residence], Huaqiao dongyuan June 15, 1938, 5. The League resolution, dated 14 May 1938, pointed out the suffering of the Chinese people and emphasized that Japan's invasion violated international law. See United States Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1938, The Far East, Volume III (Washington: US Government Printing Office, 1954), 505.
38 Patricia G. Barnett, “The Chinese in Southeastern Asia and the Philippines,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 226 (March 1943), 32–49.
39 “Guomindang zhongyang haiwaibu zhi qiaowu weiyuanhui de meizhou gongzuo baogao,” in Zhonghua minguoshi dang'an ziliao huibian, 610–15.
40 Translation of “A Survey of Sino–Siamese Relations,” New South Pacific 1, no. 1 (1 January 1943), in the Australian National Archives, series accession number A989/1, control symbol 1944/554/7/1, Migration, Chinese Migration, and Overseas Chinese, 1943–1944.
41 “Qiaowu weiyuanhui guanyu chaosong diyiqi banli kangzhan dongyuan qingxing zhi guojian zongdongyuan sheji weiyuanhui han” [Copy of a Letter to the National General Mobilization Establishment Committee from the Commission on the Situation of Managing Anti-Japanese Mobilization during the First Stage], July 13, 1939, in Zhonghua minguoshi dang'an ziliao huibian, 600–603.
42 Translation of “A Survey of Sino–Siamese Relations.”
43 Chiang Kai-shek, “A Call to Overseas Chinese,” in The Collected Wartime Messages of Chiang Kai-shek (New York: John Day Company, 1946), 238–46.
44 “Xingzhengyuan guanyu jinji shiqi hu qiao zhidao gangyao” [Executive Yuan Directive on Protection of Overseas Chinese during the Emergency Period], January 3, 1942, in Zhonghua minguoshi dang'an ziliao huibian, 578–79.
45 United States Government, Central Intelligence Group, “Chinese Minorities in Southeast Asia,” ORE 7, December 2, 1946. Accessed through the online Declassified Documents Reference System (document number CK3100529405).
46 “Zhang Qiyun dangwu baogao” [Zhang Qiyun's Report on Party Affairs], Lianhebao [United Daily News], November 13, 1953, 3.
47 Hang Liwu, “Ziyou yazhou de zhongyaoxing” [The Importance of Free Asia], Ziyou zhongguo [Free China] 12, no. 10 (May 16, 1955), 9–10.
48 For an overview of this effort, see Bruce J. Dickson, “The Lessons of Defeat: The Reorganization of the Kuomintang on Taiwan, 1950–1952,” China Quarterly 133 (March 1993), 56–84.
49 Huaqiao ershiwunian bianji weiyuanhui [25 Years of Overseas Chinese Editorial Committee], ed., Qiaowu ershiwunian [Twenty-five Years of Overseas Chinese Affairs] (Taipei: Haiwai chubanshe, 1957), 58–59.
50 Zhongguo guomindang diqici quanguo daibiao dahui xuanyan ji zhenggang [The Seventh National Congress of the Nationalist Party Manifesto and Platform] (Taipei: Zhongyang wenwu gongyingshe, 1954), 34–35.
51 Foreign Minister Ye Gongzhao became chair of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission in May 1950, a post he held until April 1952. He focused on his duties as foreign minister, however, and could devote little time to his concurrent post at the Commission.
52 Yue Sai, “Qiaowu zhengce de guoqu yu xianzai” [Overseas Chinese Affairs Policies Past and Present], Ziyou zhenxian [Free Front], February 12, 1954, 8–9.
53 Zheng Yanfen, “Jiantao guoqu celi jianglai” [Examine the Past and Encourage the Future], in Qiaowu ershiwunian, 2–4.
54 “Lun huaqiao de tuanjie wenti” [On the Problems of Uniting Overseas Chinese], Zhongyang ribao, December 23, 1953, Hong Kong Baptist University Library Overseas Chinese Clippings Database (OCCD), http://www.hkbu.edu.hk/lib/electronic/libdbs/overseas.html (accessed May 1, 2007).
55 Li Pusheng, Qiaobao ying ruhe fangong [How Overseas Compatriots Should Oppose Communism] (Taipei: Haiwai chubanshe, 1952).
56 “Zheng Yanfen fabiao yanhua” [Zheng Yanfen Gives Speech], Lianhebao, August 16, 1952, 1.
57 The best account of the reform process is found in Li Yunhan, “Zhongguo guomindang qian Tai qianhou de gaizao yu zhuangxin (1949–1952)” [The Reform and Renewal of the Nationalist Party before and after the Move to Taiwan (1949–1952)], in Zhongguo guomindang jiandang yibainian congshu [One Hundred Years of Building the Chinese Nationalist Party Series], ed. Li Yunhan (Xindian: Jindai zhongguo chubanshe, 1994), 595–637.
58 “‘Huaqiao wei geming zhi mu’ Zheng Yanfen zuo zai Jilong yanjiang” [“Overseas Chinese Are the Mothers of the Revolution”: Zheng Yanfen Gives Speech in Keelung Yesterday], Lianhebao, October 2, 1950, 2.
59 “Zheng Yanfen xiang qiaobao huyu” [Zheng Yanfen Appeals to Overseas Compatriots], Lianhebao, January 25, 1952, 2.
60 Zhonggaihui diliushisanci huiyi jilu [The Record of the 63rd Meeting of the Central Reform Committee], December 18, 1950, Zhongguo guomindang zhongyang weiyuanhui dangshi weiyuanhui [Chinese Nationalist Party Central Committee, Party History Committee, Taipei], file number 6.42/115.
61 “Huaqiao fangong jiuguo gongyue quanwen” [The Complete Text of the Overseas Chinese Anti-Communist National Salvation Pledge] is found in Zhongyang ribao, October 27, 1952 and other newspapers.
62 Dong Shifang, “Yonghu fangong kang'e guo'ce” [Always Support the Policy of Opposing Communism and Resisting Russia], in Qiaobao aiguo de rechao [The Patriotic Upsurge of Overseas Compatriots], ed. Huaqiao jiuguo lianhe zonghui (Taipei: Haiwai chubanshe, 1953), 33–35.
63 “Qiaowu huiyi xuanyan” [Statement from the Overseas Affairs Conference], Lianhebao, October 31, 1952, 2.
64 “Qianyan” [Introduction], in Qiaobao aiguo de rechao, 1–2.
65 Ciyin, “Zengjin huaqiao yu dangdi guanmin de hezuo guanxi” [Increasing the Cooperation between Overseas Chinese and Local Officials and People], in Qiaobao aiguo de rechao, 58–62.
66 “Message from the British Embassy, Bangkok, to Office of the Commissioner General for the U.K. in S.E. Asia, Singapore,” January 7, 1953, Public Record Office (PRO), Foreign Office (FO), FO: Political Departments: General Correspondence from 1906–1966, Deportations of Overseas Chinese from South East Asian Countries, 371, 105340.
67 “Message from Rangoon to the Office of the Commissioner General for the U.K. in S.E. Asia, Singapore,” February 4, 1953, ibid.
68 Chiang's speech is printed in Huaqiao jiuguo lianhe zonghui, ed., Diyi huaqiaojie [First Overseas Chinese Day] (Taipei: Haiwai chubanshe, 1953), 1–3.
69 “Taiyang yong zhao zhongguo qiaomin” [The Sun Always Shines on China's Overseas Citizens], in Diyi huaqiaojie, 9.
70 Liu Woying, “San ba funujie yu qianding fangong jiuguo gongyue yundong” [March 8 Women's Day and the Movement for the Anti-Communist National Salvation Pact], in Qiaobao aiguo de rechao, 22.
71 Huaqiao ershiwunian bianji weiyuanhui, ed., Qiaowu ershiwunian, 60–61.
72 Paul A. Cohen, “Reflections on a Watershed Date: The 1949 Divide in Chinese History,” in Twentieth-Century China: New Approaches, ed. Jeffrey A. Wasserstrom (New York: Routledge, 2003), 31.
73 Wang, The Chinese Overseas, Xiao 84.
74 Stephen Fitzgerald, China and the Overseas Chinese: A Study of Peking's Changing Policy, 1949–1970 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972), 77.
75 Ibid., 16.
76 Ibid.
77 Ibid., 99.
78 “The Overseas Chinese in South East Asia (Revised June 1953),” PRO, Colonial Office (CO) Papers, Colonial Office: South East Asia Department: Original Correspondence, Proposal to Elect Delegates from Territories Having a Community of Overseas Chinese, 1022/404.
79 “J.F. Brewis, Office of the Commissioner-General for the U.K. in S.E. Asia, to J.M. Addis, China and Korea Department, Foreign Office,” June 22, 1953, PRO, CO, South East Asia Department: Original Correspondence, Estimates of Kuomintang Supporters among the Overseas Chinese in South-East Asian Territories, 1022/199.
80 Zuijin dongnanya huaqiao baogao [Report on Recent Southeast Asian Overseas Chinese], in the files of the Zhongguo guomindang diqici zhongchanghui yibaisishierci huiyi jilu, September 15, 1954, Zhongguo guomindang zhongyang weiyuanhui dangshi weiyuanhui, file number 7.3.1/168.
81 Zheng Yanfen, “Dangqian qiaowu de jige zhongyao wenti” [Some Current Important Problems in Overseas Chinese Work], duiwai mimi [secret to outsiders], May 1955, Zhongguo Guomindang zhongyang weiyuanhui dangshi weiyuanhui, file number 002/88.
82 By 1956, Burma, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), India, Indonesia, Nepal, and Mongolia recognized the Beijing government. South Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, Japan, and the Philippines recognized the ROC on Taiwan.
83 A useful overview of overseas Chinese in 1955 is offered in a report prepared by Nationalist supporter P.M.A. Linebarger, “Overseas Chinese and Kuomintang Vitality, 1956–58,” P.M.A. Linebarger Papers, Box 16, Hoover Institution, Stanford, CA. This file contains a statistical breakdown of overseas Chinese populations and laws concerning their political activity in dozens of countries.
84 “Office of the Commissioner-General for the U.K. in S.E. Asia to Tamsui, Taiwan,” September 9, 1952, PRO, FO, Refusal of Entry to Malaya for Formosa Director of Commission for Overseas Chinese Affairs Cheng Yen Fen, 371, 101234.
85 J.M. Addis, “Refusal of Malayan Visa to Nationalist Commissioner for Overseas Chinese Affairs,” November 22, 1952, PRO, FO, Problems of Overseas Chinese in South East Asia, 371/99376.
86 “Qieshi baohu huaqiao” [Conscientiously Protect Overseas Chinese], Zhongyang ribao, January 24, 1953. Accessed at OCCD.
87 “Qiaobao renqingle gongfei de zhenmianmu” [Overseas Compatriots Clearly See the True Face of the Communist Bandits], Zhongyang ribao, October 19, 1953. Accessed at OCCD.
88 “Wei huaqiao wenti jinggao dongnanya geguo” [Alerting Southeast Asian Nations to the Overseas Chinese Issue], Xianggang shibao [Hong Kong Daily], June 28, 1954. Accessed at OCCD.
89 “Zheng Yanfen baogao huaqiao de liliang yu gongxian” [Zheng Yanfen Reports on Overseas Chinese Strength and Contributions], Zhongyang ribao, July 7, 1953. Accessed at OCCD.
90 In the White Paper, the Truman administration placed the blame for Nationalist Chinese defeat squarely on Chiang's misgovernment and corruption. This document justified Washington's refusal to provide significant aid to the Nationalists and left the door open slightly for a new relationship with the Chinese Communists. United States Department of State, United States Relations with China: With Special Reference to the Period 1944–1949 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1949).