MPhil Thesis Presentation - The Wind Through the Bamboo Curtain: Transborder Escapes and the Making of the Guangdong-Hong Kong Frontier, 1949–1980

Abstract

This historical study examines the phenomenon of unauthorized transborder mobility by Chinese residents through the Guangdong region to Hong Kong from 1949 to 1980. It explores how these unauthorized transborder movements intersected with socialist political campaigns and socioeconomic transformations, and how the administrative interactions between the Guangdong and Hong Kong authorities in response to the escapes reconstructed the Guangdong-Hong Kong border. Employing extensive archival research and oral history interviews, this paper reconstructs the historical trajectory of these border-crossings, analyzing and comparing the commonalities and distinct characteristics of successive escape waves to rethink the pre-reform relationship between Hong Kong and socialist Guangdong.

This study demonstrates that while the measures taken by both authorities to curb escapes and tighten controls amplified their ideological and political divisions, the unauthorized movement of residents remained a crucial dimension in sustaining grassroots, non-governmental ties between the two regions after 1949. Historically, residents of Hong Kong and Guangdong had traversed the border with relative freedom before 1949. However, following the Chinese Communist Party’s takeover of Guangdong, a rigid boundary quickly materialized, fundamentally altering traditional mobility patterns. Paradoxically, the establishment of this strict immigration regime gave rise to covert border-crossing, which frequently escalated into mass escapes under the influence of mainland political and economic crises. Meanwhile, entangled in regional Cold War confrontations, both authorities long eschewed institutional cooperation on this unauthorized population outflow.