COTCA Seminar series - Dr Casper Wits

Engaging the Mainstream: Journalism in China's Japan Policy, 1949 - 1964 

Dr Casper Wits, University of Cambridge

During the 1950s and 1960s, when the PRC and Japan did not have official relations, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai developed his so-called ‘People’s Diplomacy;’ a strategy of creating informal channels between China and Japan that could serve to build a network of personal ties outside the immediate government sphere, ties that would ideally become so strong they could bring about official relations. An often overlooked aspect of this network is the role of journalists therein.

This seminar will focus on the role of both Chinese and Japanese journalists within the broader context of Sino-Japanese relations during the Cold War, and their role in the longer rapprochement process that would come to fruition in 1972 with the establishment of diplomatic relations. Looking at the Chinese government’s utilisation of journalists, it becomes clear how they were used to provide Beijing with sources of information from a wide variety of Japanese sources, especially from the mainstream and centre-right. 

All welcome

Click here to view the seminar poster.