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CIRCUITS OF POWER: CHINA'S QUEST FOR CABLE TELEGRAPH RIGHTS 1912–1945

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2018

Shuge Wei
Shuge Wei*
Affiliation:
Australian National University, e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article examines China’s efforts to restore cable telegraph rights from the establishment of the Republic of China to the end of World War II. Challenging the conventional dichotomy of “Chinese” and “Western” actors in rights recovery issues, this article explores the intricate power relations between foreign cable companies, international interests groups and various political factions in China. It analyses China’s reclaim of cable sovereignty in three phases, each characterised by a particular controversy—the intra-clique struggle of the Communications Clique during the early Republic and the warlord era; the rivalry between the Nationalist Party, military and the state during the Nanjing decade; and the direct Sino-Japanese conflict during wartime. The article presents the argument that for the various interest groups, ideologies such as imperialism and nationalism served as rhetoric in their respective pursuits. It was the daily political tensions that played a crucial role in shaping how cable policies were devised.

Keywords

Telegraph sovereigntysubmarine cableRepublican Chinainfrastructurewireless telegraphSino-foreign relationsfactional politicsSino-Japanese WarGreat Northern Telegraph CompanyEast Extension Company
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Chinese History 中國歷史學刊 , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , January 2019 , pp. 113 - 135
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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Footnotes

I would like to thank Brian Martin and Tessa Morris-Suzuki for their valuable comments on this research. I am also grateful for Janet Y. Chen who kindly advised on the style and structure of this article.

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