Administering the Colonizer
Manchuria’s Russians under Chinese Rule, 1918-29
A revisionist history of a unique administrative experiment – the
Chinese administration of Manchuria’s Russians in the 1920s
– that supports a more nuanced view of Chinese nationalism.
Description
Harbin of the 1920s was viewed by Westerners as a world turned upside
down. The Chinese government had taken over administration of the
Russian-founded Chinese Eastern Railway concession, and its large
Russian population. This account of the decade-long multi-ethnic and
multinational administrative experiment in North Manchuria reveals that
China not only created policies to promote Chinese sovereignty but also
instituted measures to protect the Russian minority. This multi-faceted
book is a historical examination of how an ethnic, cultural, and racial
majority coexisted with a minority of a different culture and race. It
restores to history the multiple national influences that have shaped
northern China and Chinese nationalism.