Charlotte Brooks: Chinese American Citizens in China's Treaty Ports The Graduate Center 365 Fifth Avenue, Room 5318 February 18, 4:30 - 6:30 PM? Description The tension between formal citizenship status and actual "belonging" shaped the lives of Chinese American citizens in Republican China. In the most basic sense, legal complications abounded for people of Chinese ancestry who "returned" to China. US law recognized ethnic Chinese born on American soil as citizens, but the status of Chinese Americans who left the United States sparked intense debates within the US State Department about the degree of assistance and protection they, and all American citizens abroad, merited. Many US officials for racial reasons discounted Chinese American citizens' demands on the state, while Chinese governments after the turn of the 20th century contended that all children of Chinese fathers were themselves Chinese citizens. Until World War II, American citizens also enjoyed extraterritoriality in China, and Chinese Americans often sought refuge in their US citizenship at times of political and social upheaval. The legal status of Chinese Americans thus provoked constant disputes among American officials and between the US and China, reflecting not just different citizenship laws but also the growing anti-imperialist movement in Asia. Charlotte Brooks is Professor of History and Chair of the Program in Asian and Asian American Studies at Baruch College, CUNY. Her research interests include 20th century America, Republican China, Sino-American relations, transnationalism, urban history, immigration, race, and politics. She is the author of Alien Neighbors, Foreign Friends: Asian Americans, Housing, and the Transformation of Urban California and Between Mao and McCarthy: Chinese American Politics in the Cold War Years, as well as numerous articles. Currently, she is writing a book about the thousands of Chinese American citizens who left the United States to settle in China in the first of the 20th century. She received her Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 2002. Sponsor: Advanced Research Collaborative More info: http://www.gc.cuny.edu/Public-Programming/Calendar/Detail?id=34710