The Return of Chen Ching Lin: A Chinese Deserter in the British Raj, 1943-46

Speaker: Cao Yin, Associate Professor, Tsinghua University

Abstract: During World War II, more than fifty thousand Chinese soldiers were sent to India for training. Many of them, however, deserted from the army and made their livings across India. Chen Ching Lin was one of these deserters. Focusing on the trajectory of Chen Ching Lin’s trip in India from 1943 to 1946, this presentation not only unearths the little-known experience of the Chinese deserters in India, but also explores how Chinese nationalist government’s aim to discipline the overseas Chinese communities conflicted with the agenda of the British geopolitics. It further contends that modern Chinese and Indian history could be integrated into a single narrative framework from subaltern perspectives.

Short Bio: Cao Yin is associate professor in the Department of History, Tsinghua University. He works on modern Indian history, global history, and India-China connections in the twentieth century. His first book, From Policemen to Revolutionaries: A Sikh Diaspora in Global Shanghai, 1885-1945, was published by Brill in 2018. He also published research articles in Journal of World History, Indian Historical Review, Britain and the World, and Frontiers of History in China. He is now working on a project that explores how India was turned into China’s home front during World War II.

The event is open to the public but requires registration.