Professor Angela Chin (Pomona College)

The Third Force is a political movement based in Hong Kong during the Cold War era. Formed primarily by male intellectuals who escaped to Hong Kong in the late 1940s, the alliance relied on overseas connections, using limited funds to operate publications and arrange meetings. Members shared disillusionment with both the CCP and the GMD and perceived the colonized city of Hong Kong as a refuge in which they could organize dissident political activities and articulate their visions for a better China. These activists seldom referred to Hong Kong as their “home.” Examining the Third Force's publications, this presentation analyzes how Hong Kong functioned as an international production center for cultural and political critiques of China. Although the movement only had few tangible political accomplishments before its disappearance in the mid-1960s, its work in shaping the diasporic aspirations for democracy inspired the minds of future generations of activists in Hong Kong and abroad.