NewsunderFire:China’sPropagandaagainstJapanintheEnglish-LanguagePress,1928–1941isthefirstcomprehensivestudyofChina’seffortstoestablishaneffectiveinternationalpropagandasystemduringtheSino-Japanesecrisis.ItexploreshowtheweakNationalistgovernmentmanagedtouseitslimitedresourcestocompetewithJapanintheinternationalpress.ByretrievingthelongneglectedhistoryofEnglish-languagepaperspublishedinthetreatyports,ShugeWeirevealsamultilayeredandoftenchaoticEnglish-languagemediaenvironmentinChina,anddemonstratesitsvitalimportanceindefendingChina’ssovereignty.
Chinesebilingualelitesplayedanimportantroleinlinkingtheparty-ledpropagandasystemwiththetreaty-portpress.Yetthedevelopmentofpropagandainstitutiondidnotfostertherealizationofindividualideals.AstheSino-Japanesecrisisdeepened,thewarmachineabsorbedtreaty-portjournalistsintothemilitarizedpropagandasystemanddashedtheirhopesofmaintainingaliberalinformationorder.
