During the years of the formal alliance between the United States and the Republic of China (ROC) from 1943 to 1972, both countries promoted their political goals through policies concerning migration to the United States that affected mainland and Taiwanese nationals. These policies remained a central topic of negotiation and served both as a barometer for the current state of Sino-American relations and as a low-risk avenue to improve relations.
The book is divided into three parts: migration during World War II and the Chinese Civil War (chapters 1–3), migrants as Cold Warriors (chapters 4–6), and migration as a means to defuse the Cold War (chapters 7–8). Each chapter focuses on a core migration topic: (1) repeal of the U.S. Chinese exclusion laws, (2) the use of the Chinese diaspora as a foreign policy instrument, (3) repatriation and migration during the Chinese Civil War, (4) the Cold War revisions to...