"Resist America, Aid Korea" Campaign and the Incorporation of Ethnic Koreans in China into National Citizenship
About the seminar
This seminar examines the historical and political significance of the “Resist America, Aid Korea” campaign and its role in shaping the incorporation of ethnic Koreans in China into the framework of national citizenship in the early years of the People’s Republic of China. Situating the campaign within the broader context of the Korean War and socialist state formation, the seminar explores how wartime mobilization, ethnic policy, and international ideology intersected to redefine the political status and social identity of Korean communities in China.
Through a close analysis of state discourse, cultural production, and institutional practices, the seminar highlights how ethnic Koreans were simultaneously framed as transnational actors and loyal national subjects. It considers how political campaigns functioned not only as instruments of foreign policy and mass mobilization but also as mechanisms for negotiating belonging, citizenship, and ethnic difference within a multiethnic socialist state.
Drawing on extensive archival research and long-term scholarship in Korean and Overseas Korean studies, Professor Haiying Li offers fresh insights into the lived experiences of ethnic Koreans in China and the evolving relationship between ethnicity, nationalism, and socialism. The seminar will be of interest to scholars and students of modern Chinese history, Korean studies, ethnic minorities, citizenship studies, and Cold War-era East Asian political culture.
About the speaker
Professor Haiying Li is a professor and doctoral supervisor of the Korean Department of the School of Foreign Languages, Ocean University of China, national first-class major leader, director of the Korean Studies Center of Ocean University of China, director of Qingdao 1st King Sejong Institute, secretary-general of the Shandong Provincial Undergraduate Education and Teaching Steering Committee for Non-General Foreign Language Major Teaching Steering Committee, vice president and editorial member of the Society of Korean & Chinese Humanities (Korea), editorial member of the Society of Korean Fiction and the International Association for Literature of Korean Residents Abroad, and advisory committee on Overseas Korean Studies of the Ministry of Education of Korea. Hosted one National Social Science Fund project and three phases of the “Core Research Base for Overseas Korean Studies” project (15 years, total funding of approximately RMB 10.44 million) which is a major project of the Ministry of Education of South Korea. Published more than 50 papers in Chinese, Korean, and English in A&HCI, CSSCI, and KCI journals, published 2 monographs, and edited a total of 21 bilingual(Korean and Chinese) books in the “Korean Studies at Ocean University of China” series.