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Chinese Migration Reconsidered: The Case of Nicaragua, 1880-1980
After the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) in the United States, a wave of anti-Chinese sentiment swept across the Americas. The Chinese diaspora coped with this challenging phenomenon in different ways. Some communities suffered a substantial loss of material wealth and legal rights. Extreme cases in the United States, Peru, and Mexico involved massacres of the Chinese, which made international headlines. However, some navigated the difficult times with much more success. One was the Chinese in Nicaragua, who took advantage of domestic and foreign assistance and successfully pushed the Nationalist Government in Nanjing to fight for their well-being on the other side of the world. Based on archival documents found in Managua and Taipei, this presentation will trace the origins, negotiations, and final agreements between China and Nicaragua that provided protection for the Chinese in Nicaragua in 1931, at a time when their compatriots elsewhere in Latin America experienced much more restrictive policies. The remarkable economic prosperity and political influence that the Chinese Nicaraguans enjoyed until 1979 suggest an alternative narrative to the story of global Chinese migration. The Nicaraguan case might also give us insights into how a combination of Chinese initiatives and international forces could challenge a pervasively hostile environment. READ MORE...
蔣介石、宋子文與戰時中美關係：顛覆我們熟知的史實與史觀
抗戰時期，中美關係最突出的幾件事當屬同盟作戰、開羅會議、以及史迪威事件；其中的關鍵人物都是蔣介石、宋子文。長期以來，普遍的認知是：中美攜手對日，起初合作無間，後來卻轉為嫌隙不斷；開羅會議是國民政府外交的重大成就；宋子文飛揚跋扈、以權謀私；史迪威與蔣介石鬧翻，鎩羽而歸等等。然而，近幾年開放的新檔案提供了新線索，當我們跳出民族與意識形態的框框，重新審視這段歷史，若干新發現竟顛覆了我們熟知的史實與史觀。 蔣介石、宋子文既是長官部屬，又是姻親郎舅；蔣威權自持，謹慎保守，宋則敏銳機變，不拘一格。1940年6月，蔣介石指派宋子文為其駐華府「特別代表」，宋子文很快在華府做得風生水起，但1943年10月返國述職時，卻和蔣介石大吵一架，並被蔣禁止參與任何中美事務。郎舅間的爭執成了公務上的決裂，對中美關係影響不小。我們嘗試揭開一些不為人知的史實，發現蔣宋間的互動複雜微妙，而環繞他們的戰時中美關係瞬息萬變，更讓人跌破眼鏡，嘆為觀止。 READ MORE...