Hong Kong has been a society of immigrants since its founding, once serving as an important “haven” during the Chinese Civil War, prompting a surge in population from 800,000 to 2 million after World War II. During that time, there was a cultural renaissance with a plethora of publications spreading ideas that couldn’t be discussed on either side of the Taiwan Strait, tied to a “third force” closely associated with the United States. The renowned Professor Yu Ying-shih is a witness to this historic era.
At a lecture during the February Taipei International Book Exhibition, Hong Kong scholar Dr. Chai Yuharn presented his new book “The Great Game of Left and Right: The Exile Chronicles of Hong Kong’s Third Force,” delving into a lesser-known history of “Hong Kong’s ‘Third Force’ and the Immigration Wave.” Dr. Chai, a director of the Hong Kong Historical Society and the chief of the Republic of China Historical Society’s research committee, has been active in academia for over a decade. He conducted research at Taiwan’s National Palace Museum, the Kuomintang’s Party History Institute, the Academia Sinica, and the Hong Kong Public Records Office, diving into recently declassified documents to unearth a forgotten history. Looking back at the Chinese community exiled to Hong Kong during the late stages of the Chinese Civil War, they set up the “Third Force” outside the Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Party in the 1950s, receiving economic support from the United States to influence the dynamics between the two sides.
As the Chinese Civil War entered its later stages, a large number of Kuomintang officials, military personnel, intellectuals, and ordinary citizens fled to Hong Kong. Among them, some settled in Hong Kong to seek livelihoods, while others, including military and political figures, sought to organize for a counterattack to regain control of mainland China. In the context of the Cold War, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) instigated some exiles to form political and military organizations, aiming to use Hong Kong as a base to counter both the Communist Party of China and the Kuomintang regime. With American backing, these anti-Communist, anti-Chiang, anti-dictatorship forces gradually emerged as the “Third Force,” not only planning militarily but also engaging in political organizing and cultural movements, attempting to carve out an alternative path separate from the Communist Party and the Kuomintang for influencing future developments in China.
The attraction of Dr. Chai Yuharn’s historical work is not just the political and military feats of the “Third Force,” but also a vibrant period in the publishing industry. Between 1949 and 1994, many intellectuals’ contributions to cultural endeavors led Hong Kong into a golden age. They established publishing houses, released periodicals, and published various books on politics, culture, philosophy, and more, covering topics that were taboo on both sides of the strait. Hong Kong during this period became one of the freest places for expression in the Chinese-speaking world, propelling its cultural industry to its zenith.
Behind familiar publishing houses like Liberty Publishing, United Publishing, Everyone Publishing, Highland Publishing, Self-United Publishing, Asia Publishing, Today’s World Publishing, and Regeneration Publishing lay economic support from the United States, with their books, magazines, and newspapers exerting a profound influence on Hong Kong’s cultural landscape. For instance, publications like “Chinese Students Weekly,” “Children’s Paradise,” and “University Life,” which deeply impacted Hong Kong’s youth, were under the umbrella of United Publishing. The intellectuals involved in these projects, their words and spirits, still resonate with people today. In an interview with “Hong Kong Cultural Voices,” the former managing director of United Publishing, Ho Chun-nga, mentioned the guiding principle of the publishing house – “political democracy, economic fairness, social freedom,” with anti-Communism being a major aspect of their publications.
The success of the “Third Force” in Hong Kong was intimately linked with the academic support from New Asia College. The college had close relationships between professors and students, with many professors like Chien Mu and Tang Chun-yi actively recommending outstanding students to enter the publishing industry. This recommendation system led to a multitude of New Asia College graduates taking up positions in the publishing institutions of the “Third Force,” making these publishing houses fertile ground for free thinking and attracting numerous young people committed to promoting freedom and democracy.
Names like Zuo Shunsheng, Yi Junzuo, Yu Ying-shih, Xu Guansan, and Hu Yue (Sima Changfeng), prominent figures in the literary world, all once resided in a large dismantled tenement area, Dakan Village, located in the region of Diamond Hill.
Dakan Village, a historically significant Hakka village, was initially settled by Zhu Renfeng, a descendant of the Ming imperial family who moved to Hong Kong in 1715. The Zhu family congregated in the village, primarily engaged in agriculture. When the nearby Diamond Hill mine began operations, the villagers shifted to quarrying for livelihood, collectively managing over 100,000 square feet of land and vegetable fields in the village. In the 1930s, the Royal Air Force built an airplane hangar in Dakan Village and erected a semi-circular machine gun fort to guard the flight path to Kai Tak Airport. During the Japanese occupation, all the villages near Kai Tak Airport were demolished, including the ancestral temple of the Zhu family, forcing the villagers to relocate. After World War II, a large influx of refugees from mainland China sought asylum in Hong Kong, transforming Dakan Village into a resettlement point for new immigrants who built wooden houses on-site, forming a large tenement area.
Dr. Chai Yuharn recounts, “When people arrive at a new place, they tend to gather together for mutual support. Interestingly, in Dakan Village, it was a group of intellectuals who settled there. For example, after Zuo Shunsheng came to Hong Kong, his fellow townsman from Hunan, Yi Junzuo, also sought refuge in Hong Kong in 1949. They helped each other out; Zuo Shunsheng provided a room for Yi Junzuo and his wife to live in, and they even opened a grocery store together called ‘Rongkang Store,’ which became a gathering place for intellectuals.”
Looking up the addresses of the publishing houses founded by literati of that era, they were concentrated in the vicinity of Diamond Hill. For instance, Liberty Publishing was at 152 Un Leung, under Diamond Hill, United Publishing, Everyone Publishing, Plain Publishing were all based at 16 Tai Kwo Market Road, Diamond Hill, and Highland Publishing was below Diamond Hill… The founders and active participants of these publishing houses also resided in the nearby Dakan Village, which became a breeding ground for free-thinking.
Professor Yu Ying-shih, dubbed the “Nobel Prize of Humanities,” has received the “Hilding Eek Nordic Achievement Award in the Humanities and Social Sciences,” and is one of the most influential intellectuals in the Chinese world. His “Memoirs of Yu Ying-shih” captures his memories of Hong Kong: “During my five years in Hong Kong (1950-1955), I lived in a small world of exiled intellectuals, with no contact with Hong Kong as a British colony’s commercial society. But in retrospect, the unique nature of this small world is worth revealing. In fact, this was a community formed by Chinese liberal intellectuals, living and active in the freest society. The British applied quite thorough rule of law in colonial Hong Kong, where, as long as one did not break the law, everyone enjoyed the freedom of speech, association, and publication. So, exiled intellectuals unanimously said, ‘Hong Kong lacks democracy, but offers freedom.’ Indeed, that was the truth.” This memoir vividly reflects the social landscape of Hong Kong during that era.
Dr. Chai Yuharn’s research on the “Third Force” was largely inspired by the historic accounts of Hong Kong’s “Third Force” detailed in the “Memoirs of Yu Ying-shih.” He explained that Yu Ying-shih initially came into contact with the “Third Force” through Liberty Publishing’s “Liberty Front.” In his early twenties, the talented Yu Ying-shih impressed the editor of the publication, Ting Ting-biao, with his skills. After sending in his submissions, Ting invited him to become the editor of “Liberty Front” and oversee a column for young people, providing him with the opportunity to find excellent articles for publication. This experience allowed Yu Ying-shih to deeply engage with the intellectual community of the “Third Force.”
Following his graduation from New Asia College’s Department of Culture and History, Yu Ying-shih, recommended by Professor Chien Mu and invited by United Publishing, briefly served as the chief editor of “Chinese Students Weekly.” However, after three months, he left the position due to ideological differences with the founding members, as he prepared to apply for New Asia Institute. He decided to return to “Liberty Front” to continue his work of editing and writing.
After graduating from New Asia, Yu Ying-shih pursued further studies at Harvard University in the United States, obtaining a doctoral degree. He was subsequently appointed as a professor of Chinese history at Harvard. In 1973, Professor Yu returned to Chinese University of Hong Kong to serve as the Dean of New Asia College and the Vice President of the university, only to return to teaching at Harvard two years later. While most of his life was spent in the United States, Hong Kong remained a crucial turning point for him, and the intellectual circle of the “Third Force” profoundly influenced his later thoughts.
According to the introduction in the 56th issue of the “Hong Kong Literature Newsletter,” Liberty Publishing was established in early 1950 in Hong Kong and was one of the cultural publishing organizations sponsored by the US Information Service in Hong Kong, with Shieh Cheng-ping as the main figure. Several renowned writers like Sima Changfeng, Xu Su, and Wong Sicheng served as editors or designers at Liberty Publishing. The company mainly published works on anti-Communism, nostalgic sentiments, and exile, while also releasing numerous academic publications. The “Liberty Front Weekly,” published by Liberty Publishing, featured many articles discussing the “Third Force,” promoting its political ideologies. In literary circles, during the tense period of Sino-Soviet international relations in the 1950s, Liberty Publishing released the translation of Soviet writer Boris Pasternak’s Nobel Prize-winning novel “Doctor Zhivago” translated by Cyril Birch and Xu Guansan in 1958, making a significant contribution. Apart from their publishing work, Liberty Publishing also operated the “Ping On Bookstore” on Nathan Road in Kowloon, handling publishing, distribution, printing, and retail operations until the 1970s when the economic support from the US began to dwindle.
Reflecting on the history of the “Third Force,” it becomes apparent that Hong Kong has always played an intermediary role, serving as a sanctuary for political refugees and a nexus for intellectual and cultural exchanges. Yet, the “Third Force” failed to become a power capable of affecting Chinese politics directly; its influence was primarily felt in the cultural and intellectual realms. With the changing political landscape in Hong Kong, today’s “Third Force” may no longer resemble its past self. However, its spirit remains a valuable reference for future generations.
From a historical perspective, Hong Kong has witnessed several waves of large-scale immigration, often driven by political factors. The immigration wave of the 1950s was mainly due to the massive influx of mainland refugees fleeing the Chinese Civil War, seeking refuge in Hong Kong, which set the backdrop for the rise of the “Third Force.” The arrival of these immigrants led to a rapid increase in Hong Kong’s population from around 800,000 in the early post-war period to a million, bringing new cultural and economic vibrancy.
Conversely, in recent years, there has been an exodus of Hong Kong residents, leading to another wave of immigration. According to government statistics, Hong Kong’s population stood at 7.52 million in 2019, but by the end of 2023, it decreased to 7.5 million, with only 20,000 fewer individuals at face value. However, when looking at the figures for permanent residents, the number decreased from 7.365 million to 7.229 million, indicating a drop of 136,000, with the additional populace being transitory, rising from 155,000 to over 270,000, an increase of 119,000. This wave of immigration differs from the southbound exodus in the 1950s, with recent emigration mainly in response to the changing political environment in Hong Kong post-2019. Some residents chose to leave Hong Kong, seeking new lifestyles in the UK, Canada, Australia, and other nations. The era of Hong Kong’s “political haven” and “bibliophile’s paradise” has ceased to exist, with freedoms of speech and publication progressively diminishing under the National Security Law, and books and publications related to dissenting political and social discourses have disappeared.
In recent years, many Hongkongers steadfast in their democratic beliefs have fled abroad. Though dispersed, there’s an ever-burning flame in the hearts of exiled Hong Kongers. Dr. Chai Yuharn believes that studying history can provide valuable lessons for today, analyzing the development trajectory of the “Third Force” is also a way of drawing lessons from history. The aspirations of relevant individuals, which remain unfulfilled, may sow seeds overseas again, and the future remains uncertain and full of possibilities. #