- Language: English
- Via Zoom
- October 11, 2024 (Fri) 09:00-10:00 HKT (Oct 10, 2024 | 21:00-22:00 EDT)
- ihss@hku.hk
ABSTRACT
From 1940 to 1945, the United States relied heavily on a steady stream of Chinese tungsten ore, hog bristles, and tung oil in order to power American wartime industry. The flow of Chinese products to the United States was only possible with the efforts of a small handful of Chinese businessmen who served as the linchpins in a vast wartime production network that channeled raw materials from China’s rural hinterland to American factories. The wartime efforts of these businessmen helped lay the foundation for a postwar, Cold War order that was shored up through the exchange of resources for dollars with allied countries throughout Latin America and the Pacific. In this talk, I will focus on one of these businessmen, a man named Li Guoqin or K.C. Li, who was later known as China’s “Tungsten King,” to reveal the powerful role that these businessmen played in shaping the dimensions of American power in East Asia, Latin America, and the wider Cold War world.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Judd C. Kinzley is a professor of modern Chinese history at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is currently completing a book on wartime material exchanges between the United States and China during World War II, that is currently titled China and the ‘War of Things’: World War II and the Three Objects that Shaped the Modern World. Judd has published widely on natural resources, borderlands, and Chinese state power in the 20th century.
ABOUT THE SERIES
This monthly webinar series features the newest research on the history of Chinese business and entrepreneurship. If you have any questions about this webinar series or would be interested in giving a talk, please contact Professor John D. Wong (jdwong@hku.hk) or Professor Ghassan Moazzin (gmoazzin@hku.hk).
