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Interview with Lien Ling-ling
At the Institute for European Global Studies Lien Ling-ling advances her research project “Enemy Subjects: Civilian Internment Camps in Occupied Shanghai during the Pacific War”. In this Interview the Visiting Fellow introduces her project.
Welcome to the Institute for European Global Studies, Lien Ling-ling! What kind of research project will you pursue during your stay in Basel?
The project I’m working on during my stay in Basel is “Enemy Subjects: Civilian Internment Camps in Occupied Shanghai during the Pacific War.” In December 1941, the Japanese troops attacked Pearl Harbor and soon conquered the former colonies and settlements of the Allied in East and Southeast Asia. For the purpose of supervision, Japan established internment camps to incarcerate citizens of the hostile nations. Most of the internees stayed in the camps for two to three years until the end of the war.
This project investigates the civilian internment camps in Shanghai under Japanese occupation, particularly focusing on the analysis of military and diplomatic policies of the involved countries. While detained to prevent any form of resistance or retaliation, the organization of the “enemy subjects” still imposed practical challenges upon Japan’s administrative capacity, including resource distribution and political negotiation. By examining the operation of the civilian internment system, this project hopes to explore how the Pacific War intruded into the civilian realm as well as international arbitration in the war.
Why did you choose this specific topic?
A couple of years ago I started a research project on women's work in wartime China. During the process of conducting the research, I noted a peculiar phenomenon that foreigners, particularly Western missionaries, seemed absent from the scenes. Where were they during the war? What did they do? After a brief research, I found that the Allied citizens were interned in the so-called "Civilian Assembly Centers," or more commonly known, concentration camps and then recalled the Hollywood film "Empire of the Sun" many years ago. I became curious about the civilian internment system during World War II, and the foreign community in wartime Shanghai more generally.
How does the topic relate to European Global Studies?
As mentioned above, my project is about European community in wartime China, which deals with European experiences of migration, diaspra and internment in the world far away from their home countries, which I believe fits in with the core mission of the Institute for European Global Studies.
What are you most excited about regarding your stay in Basel?
I have never been to Switzerland and therefore am very excited about the chance to visit this beautiful country. I also hope to have intellectual exchange with scholars at the European Global Center, particularly those who work on international laws and Swiss history since this project requires me to know about the role of International Commission of Red Cross and Swiss government on behalf of the Allies in the negotiation with Japan during WWII. Certainly I will take time during my stay in Basel to conduct archival research. I believe the trip to Basel this summer will broaden my horizons in academic research as well as in life experience.
Thank you for the interview, Lien Ling-ling.