New and Old China: Debating Chinese-Australian Nationalism, 1894 – 1938

<p dir="ltr">This thesis explores the ideological complexities of Chinese-Australian thought during the early 20th century, during which time the overseas Chinese experienced massive changes due to the impact of China’s politics. The transformations in overseas Chinese communities were both political and cultural, witnessing intellectual collisions between the radicals and conservatives. This thesis traces the debate on the leadership of the Qing Court, Yuan Shikai, Sun Yat-sen, and Chiang Kai-shek in the Chinese-Australian community from 1894 to 1938. It considers how Chinese-Australian political intellectuals and the Chinese community were influenced by China’s politics and ideological collisions. The main source materials for this study are drawn from Chinese-language newspapers published in Australia during this period. These newspapers and the Chinese merchants and political groups behind them constructed a discourse around the new-versus-old struggle. This discourse shows how the Australian Chinese-language press played a crucial role in helping its readers understand their relationship with China and the world, through a discussion of different ideologies from the late 19th century to the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War of 1937.</p>