非法移民與合法難民之間：華籍海員跳逃美國，1949-1965

Abstract

This paper investigated how the American immigration laws affected illegal aliens during the early Cold war period. The study focused on those Chinese seamen who jumped off ships and lived illegally in the US. Their stay triggered the struggle of national security, anti-communist alliance, and refugee humanities between America and China, which just retreated from the mainland to Taiwan after its defeat by the Communist China. In the framework of Cold War, American immigration laws searched for a balance between racial elegances in the society and international politics. While the Chinese government was forced to accept the excluded illegal aliens by the US, it tried to protect the interest of Chinese American communities which needed the workforce of these seamen.As the study showed, both the American and Chinese governments claimed its sovereignty by ways of excluding illegal aliens or protecting overseas populace. The actions, though ostensibly for the sake of national security, contained diplomatic implications. The framework of Cold War offered a good global perspective to understand the forces of migration, specifically the one from nation-state hegemony.Nevertheless, the Chinese government in Taiwan suffered a predicament while asserting its hegemony. On the one hand, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office suggested helping these seamen, as Cold War refugees, staying in the United States to pacify the Chinese American communities. On the other, the Ministry of Transportation insisted on extraditing these seamen back to Taiwan, in order to stop illegally jumping ships. Such predicament was attributed to the unique suffrage and protection conferring to overseas Chinese.