The Untold British Chinese History: Agency, Grassroots Activism, and State Intervention in the 20th Century

The event is free to attend and open to all. A Zoom link will be provided to all those who register before 5 March 2025.

Speakers: Dr Willem Pauw, Dr Dalton Rawcliffe, Dr Sha Zhou

Discussant: Dr Anne Witchard

Chair: Dr Xiao Ma

Event Description:

The Chinese diaspora in Britain is one of the longest-standing and fastest-growing racially minoritised groups. Over the past few decades, there has been a growing body of literature on these diverse individuals and communities, challenging essentialised and homogenised portrayals of them. This panel continues the "Contemporary China Centre Conference Deconstructed" format, bringing together three early career researchers to share their latest work exploring underrepresented aspects of 20th-century British Chinese history. The three papers will examine this multifaceted history, focusing on agency, grassroots activism, and state intervention.

Chinese Student Responses to Yellow Peril Fears and Sinophobia in Early Twentieth-Century Britain

Dr Willem Pauw

The Chinese in early twentieth century Britain, particularly those living in the East End of London, became the scapegoat of many moral panics and Yellow Peril discourses during the First World War, and were subsequently demonised in British media and popular culture. As much of this topic has been examined through British perspectives and sources, leading to an underrepresentation of Chinese voices, Chinese immigrants appear to be passive victims powerless to resist broader social and political forces. However, using the writings and publications of Chinese students, I argue that these students made a concerted effort to critique harmful misconceptions and subvert racial stereotypes, thereby defying this passive victim narrative.

Unrest and Unity: The 1967 Leftist Riots, Cultural Revolution, and the Rise of Agency in Britain’s Ethnic Chinese Community

Dr Dalton Rawcliffe

The 1967 Leftist Riots and the Cultural Revolution were watershed moments that reshaped the socio-political dynamics of Britain’s ethnic Chinese community, exposing long-standing neglect by both the British and Hong Kong governments. These events, coupled with mounting unrest in Britain’s Chinatowns, spurred the Hong Kong Government Office (HKGO) in London to expand welfare services and strengthen engagement with the diaspora to counter the influence of the PRC’s Chinese Mission. However, this renewed commitment also laid the foundation for grassroots activism, as ethnic Chinese communities began to organize, advocate, and take on the responsibility of cultural preservation and integration. Over time, these efforts cultivated a sense of agency and belonging within British society while maintaining strong transnational ties to Hong Kong. This talk explores the interplay of grassroots activism, trans-imperial networks, and state intervention in reshaping the identity and legacy of Britain’s ethnic Chinese community during the 20th century.

The Chinese Community in Britain (1985) report and subsequent British Chinese community responses

Dr Sha Zhou

The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee published a three-volume report on the UK Chinese population in 1985. Widely cited by later generations of social scientists, it has largely escaped the attention of historians. This paper suggests the mid-1980s state investigation of its domestic Chinese population differed from its 1960s predecessor. Its resulting report advocated for enhanced institutional support for the Chinese and received mixed community responses. This paper illuminates broader patterns of state engagement with ethnic minority communities and may suggest a reactive character of Chinese grassroots activism.

Speakers’ biographies:

Dr Willem Pauw has recently completed his History PhD at the University of Edinburgh. His research explores the experiences and activities of Chinese students and their associations in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century. He is particularly interested in how these students in navigated the foreign experience of studying in Britain, facing challenges such as racial prejudice, Chinese government oversight and internal ideological differences. In 2024, he was one of the joint-winners of the Jeremiah Dalziel Prize in British History.

Dr Dalton Rawcliffe is a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Nottingham’s Department of History. He earned his doctoral in History from York University, Canada, specialising in the British Empire, Modern China, and the Cold War. His dissertation, currently under contract for publication as a monograph, examines the impact of the 1967 Hong Kong Leftist Riots on Britain’s ethnic Chinese population and the responses by the British and Hong Kong governments to improve their welfare. Dalton has published on topics such as the Heung Yee Kuk’s 1968 tour of Britain and the partnership between the Information Research Department (IRD) and the United States Information Agency (USIA) in analysing the Cultural Revolution’s influence on Overseas Chinese. He has collaborated with non-academic organisations to promote the history of Hong Kong in public discourse and has taught history courses at universities in both Britain and Canada.

Dr Sha Zhou is a research associate at the Manchester China Institute, University of Manchester working on Chinese political activism in twentieth century urban Britain. Prior to this, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Academy of Overseas Chinese Studies/School of International Studies, Jinan University (2022-2024). She holds a PhD in Contemporary British History with a thesis on the migration of Chinese women to post-war Britain and has published book reviews and journal articles on Cultural and Social History, Women’s History Review, Global China Review [Haiwai Huaren Yanjiu] and Modern British History.

Image: Activities organised by the Chinese Information and Advice Centre (CIAC) in the 1980s, London. Courtesy of CIAC.