Foreigners Under Mao: Western Lives in China, 1949-1976

305 Pages·2016·11.98 MB·English

by  Beverley Hooper

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FOREIGNERS UNDER MAO
Western Lives in China, 1949–1976
Foreigners under Mao: Western Lives in China, 1949–1976 is a pioneering study of the
Western community during the turbulent Mao era. Based largely on personal interviews,
memoirs, private letters, and archives, this book ‘gives a voice’ to the Westerners who
lived under Mao. It shows that China was not as closed to Western residents as has often
been portrayed.
The book examines the lives of six different groups of Westerners: ‘foreign comrades’
who made their home in Mao’s China, twenty-two former Korean War POWs who
controversially chose China ahead of repatriation, diplomats of Western countries that
recognized the People’s Republic, the few foreign correspondents permitted to work in
China, ‘foreign experts’, and language students. Each of these groups led distinct lives
under Mao, while sharing the experience of a highly politicized society and of official
measures to isolate them from everyday China.
‘This book is enjoyable and engaging. The author introduces a small but dynamic
collection of enthusiastic international participants in post-1949 China showing
unquestioned loyalty to Mao’s ideals. Equally intriguing are the alternate stories of
diplomats and reporters existing far outside the mainstream of Chinese life and trusted by
neither the Chinese nor the international supporters.’
—Edgar A. Porter, Professor Emeritus, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University; author
of The People’s Doctor: George Hatem and China’s Revolution
‘A well-written survey about the variety of Westerners who lived and worked in the
People’s Republic of China between 1949 and 1976. This is a welcome addition to the
“sojourner” literature about foreigners who lived in twentieth-century socialist countries.
The scholarship, which includes the review of memoirs, archival materials, and secondary FOREIGNERS
works, is impressive and comprehensive.’
—Stephen R. MacKinnon, Arizona State University; co-author of China Reporting:
An Oral History of American Journalism in the 1930s and 1940s
Beverley Hoper is emeritus profesor of Chinese studies at the UNDER
University of Sheffield in the UK. She is the author of Inside Peking,
Youth in China and China Stands Up: Ending the Western Presence
1948–1950.
China / History
MAO
Western Lives in China, 1949–1976
Printed and bound in Hong Kong, China
B E V E R L E Y H O O P E R
Hooper_hc.indd 1 23/05/2016 8:21 AM
15mm 5mm 235mm 5mm 15mm
Western Lives in China,
BEVERLEY HOOPER
FOREIGNERS UNDER MAO 1949–1976
Foreigners under Mao
Foreigners under Mao
Western Lives in China, 1949–1976
Beverley Hooper
Hong Kong University Press
T e University of Hong Kong
Pokfulam Road
Hong Kong
www.hkupress.org
© 2016 Hong Kong University Press
ISBN 978-988-8208-74-6 (Hardback)
All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any infor-
mation storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover images (clockwise from top lef ):
Reuters’ Adam Kellett-Long with translator ‘Mr Tsiang’. Courtesy of Adam Kellett-Long.
David and Isobel Crook at Nanhaishan. Courtesy of Crook family.
George H. W. and Barbara Bush on the streets of Peking. George Bush Presidential Library and
Museum.
T e author with her Peking University roommate, Wang Ping. In author’s collection.
Ev ery ef ort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the
use of copyright material. T e author apologizes for any errors or omissions and would be
grateful for notif cation of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or
editions of this book.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed and bound by Paramount Printing Co., Ltd. in Hong Kong, China
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Note on transliteration viii
List of abbreviations ix
Chronology of Mao’s China x
Introduction: Living under Mao 1
Part I ‘Foreign comrades’
1. Into Mao’s China 11
2. Identities and roles 22
3. Interactions 37
Part II POW ‘t urncoats’
4. Choosing China 51
5. Disenchantment 65
Part III Diplomats
6. ‘T e world within’ 79
7. Licensed contacts and beyond 94
8. Cold War diplomacy 105
Part IV Correspondents
9. ‘Our life and hard times’ 125
10. T e web of relationships 140
11. ‘Dateline—Peking’ 151
Part V ‘Foreign experts’
12. Helping China? 163
13. Personal and political dynamics 178
Part VI Students
14. Studying, Maoist style 195
15. Breaking down the barriers? 208
vi Contents
Part VII T e Western community(ies)
16. Across divides 225
17. Af er Mao 237
Notes 247
Bibliography 267
Index 277
Acknowledgements
While researching and writing this book, I have been indebted to a large number of
people and institutions. My interest in foreigners in Mao’s China was sparked by my
f rst two Chinese language teachers in Canberra, Pierre Ryckmans (aka Simon Leys
of Chinese Shadows fame) and Con Kirilof , who lived in China until the late 1950s,
and then by studying in the PRC in 1975–77. My roommates at the Peking Language
Institute and Peking University made me appreciate the constraints under which
people were living during those dif cult times as well as something of what lay behind
the of cial images.
I thank the British Academy and the Universities China Committee, London, for
grants which enabled me to do research in China and to develop relations with the
Modern History Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. I have also ben-
ef ted from access to a wide range of libraries and archives, including the National
Archives in London, the Archives of the French Foreign Ministry in Paris, and the
Foreign Ministry Archives in Beijing. I am especially grateful to the archivists who
located materials for me in Britain, the United States, Canada and Australia, and
to graduate researcher Bai Xiaoyu who did the same for me in China. I also thank
Sir John Weston for permission to reproduce part of the poem Peking Rap from
his collection Chasing the Hoopoe and John Butler at Photovalet for his restoration
work on several photos. At Hong Kong University Press, I am particular grateful to
Christopher Munn, Yuet Sang Leung, Sherlon Ip, Winnie Chau and Penny Yeung for
their enthusiasm, guidance and ef ciency.
My greatest debt is to the people (mostly Westerners but also some Chinese) who
shared their personal memories of the Mao years. Although I have been able to cite
only a fraction of their comments, their reminiscences informed the book as a whole,
as well as making the project a hugely enjoyable one.
I also thank the friends and former colleagues who have shown an interest in the
book and who kept urging me to f nish it. Several people have read one or more chap-
ters and I thank Judy Bonavia, Michael and Paul Crook, Miles Flint, Peter Grif ths,
Isabel Hilton, Bruce Jacobs, Adam Kellett-Long, Michael Rank, Sandra Schatsky, and
two anonymous reviewers for their incisive comments. Tim Wright read the whole
manuscript more than once and I owe him special thanks for his ongoing support.
Note on transliteration
T e pinyin system is used for Chinese words, place and people’s names, except when
the spelling is used within a quotation. T e major exception is Peking rather than
Beijing (apart from when I am writing about the post-Ma o years). As well as being
used in the English-language documents of the Mao era, ‘Peking’ continues to be
the preferred option for people talking about their experiences in China during that
period. T e familiar spellings of Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek are also retained.
T e following, listed in pinyin plus the spelling used at the time, appear regularly
in the book.
Beida Peita
Beidaihe Peitaiho
Chen Xiuxia Ch’en Hsiu-hsia
Chongqing Chungking
Deng Xiaoping Teng Hsiao-p’ing
Fudan Futan
Jiang Qing Chiang Ch’ing
Jinan Tsinan
Lin Biao Lin Piao
Mao Zedong Mao Tse-tung
Qi Mingcong Ch’i Ming-ts’ung
Qinghua Tsinghua
Song Qingling Soong Ch’ing-ling
Tiananmen T’ienanmen
Tianjin Tientsin
Xi’an Sian
Xinhua Hsinhua
Xinqiao Hsinchao
Yan’an Yenan
Yang Xianyi Yang Hsien-i
Yanjing Yenching
Zhou Enlai Chou En-lai
Abbreviations
ADM Admiralty
AFP Agence France-Presse
AO Asie Océanie
BDOHP British Diplomatic Oral History Programme
CCP Chinese Communist Party
CPGB Communist Party of Great Britain
FCO Foreign and Commonwealth Of ce
FLP Foreign Languages Press
FO Foreign Of ce
GYL Gladys Yang Letters
JAP John Addis Papers
MAE Ministère des Af aires Etrangères, Paris
MFA Ministry of Foreign Af airs, Peking
NAA National Archives of Australia
NCNA New China News Agency
PRC People’s Republic of China
SCMP Survey of China Mainland Press
SOAS School of Oriental and African Studies
TNA T e National Archives, London
UNRRA United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
WSP Winifred Stevenson Papers