No Migrants from Shanghai Except for British and Australian Nationals: Australia’s Early Foreign Policy and European Jewish Refugees in China

• In Event: Between Prejudice and Humanitarianism in the Post-Nazi Racial State World

Abstract

Studies concerning post-Second World War Australia and its Jews have engaged with entangled issues of anti-Semitism and immigration policies in response to Jewish flight from Africa, Asia, and Europe. By augmenting Australia’s foreign policy, this paper introduces nuances to these arguments that the Australian government and public maintained to limit Jewish immigration. Using Shanghai as a case study, the paper traces the first years of Australian-Chinese diplomacy to posit that the Australian government drew on diplomatic reports to affirm its prejudices against the sending country and its cultural, political, and social influences. As a result, Shanghai’s Jewish refugees inadvertently encountered another barrier: Australia’s anti-Chinese attitudes.

After Britain ended its handling of diplomacy on Australia’s behalf, Australia proceeded to form diplomatic relations with the U.S., Japan, and China, viewing them as potential Pacific security and economic partners. Unlike the U.S., which repealed its anti-Chinese immigration act in 1943 in exchange for friendship and military alliance with Chiang Kai-Shek’s Nationalist Party, Australia never bowed to any pressure to do the same. Against this backdrop, the paper reveals how confidential consular reports depicting Shanghai as a despicable place with colorful residents added another layer of obstacles for Shanghai Jewish refugees’ entry to Australia without family sponsorship. As Australian officials paid close attention to street scenes and witnessed corruption in relief programs, their disapproval of the Chinese grew. Their reaction soon translated into insistence that no one but Australian and British nationals be permitted to immigrate to Australia from China, particularly Shanghai. By September 1948, Australia shut its gates to all migrants from China, except for Australian and British nationals and a few exceptional cases. This closure occurred right before the general panic in Shanghai as a result of the Chinese Communists’ advance. This case study encourages us to consider other elements, namely foreign policy and racism, at play when assessing the evolution of Jewish immigration policy during refugee crises.

Author

• Sara Halpern, Ohio State University