Abstract
This chapter examines the British government’s official narrative on the early years of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1969). It explores with a theory-guided approach a thoughtfully composed ‘new’ dataset, based on a retrospective examination of event-related newspaper articles in The Times and The Guardian, complemented by newsreel coverage.
This chapter investigates the causal connection between the media coverage-induced public perception of the Cultural Revolution and the London’s government positioning vis-à-vis the mainland and the developments in the British Crown Colony Hong Kong. The first episode of the Cultural revolution discussed are Red Guards attacks on the British delegation in Beijing and British diplomats in Shanghai and Canton. These attacks were framed as justified symbolic revenge for the postulated suppression and maltreatment of Chinese people in Hong Kong. Anti-British protests and riots in Hong Kong continued and, ultimately, these anti-British moods also mobilized the Chinese community in London. Finally, the chapter excavates some rarely noted dimensions of Sino-British relations and sheds light on the synchronization of Chinese (Red Guard) activities in the mainland, Hong Kong, and Great Britain.
This chapter investigates the causal connection between the media coverage-induced public perception of the Cultural Revolution and the London’s government positioning vis-à-vis the mainland and the developments in the British Crown Colony Hong Kong. The first episode of the Cultural revolution discussed are Red Guards attacks on the British delegation in Beijing and British diplomats in Shanghai and Canton. These attacks were framed as justified symbolic revenge for the postulated suppression and maltreatment of Chinese people in Hong Kong. Anti-British protests and riots in Hong Kong continued and, ultimately, these anti-British moods also mobilized the Chinese community in London. Finally, the chapter excavates some rarely noted dimensions of Sino-British relations and sheds light on the synchronization of Chinese (Red Guard) activities in the mainland, Hong Kong, and Great Britain.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Micro intellectual history through de-central lenses |
Editors | Chih-yu Shih, Mariko Tanigaki, Tina S. Clemente |
Publisher | World Scientific Publishing |
Chapter | 6 |
Pages | 121-151 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9789811260919 |
ISBN (Print) | 9789811260896 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 01 Feb 2023 |
Event | China Studies Since the End of the Cultural Revolution: Subjects, Scholars, Sites and Themes - Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand Duration: 20 Nov 2020 → 21 Nov 2020 |
Publication series
Name | Studies of China and Chineseness Since the Cultural Revolution |
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Publisher | World Scientific Publishing Company |
Volume | 2 |
Conference
Conference | China Studies Since the End of the Cultural Revolution: Subjects, Scholars, Sites and Themes |
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Country/Territory | Thailand |
City | Bangkok |
Period | 20/11/2020 → 21/11/2020 |
Keywords
- China
- Cultural Revolution
- Hong Kong
- British media
- Sino-British relations
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- History