Joseph Tse-Hei Lee

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• BA (Hons), MA, PhD
• Professor of History at Pace University

This article investigates the resilience of Christian faith-based activism in Hong Kong from the Umbrella Movement (2014) to the protests against the China extradition bill (April–September 2019). The anti-extradition struggle became part of an intense moment of local upheavals against the Chinese Communist state. This study defines “Christian fait...

The demise of Confucius Institutes (CI) in the United States was sudden and decisive, as they declined from over 100 to about five in the span of five years. Although much has been written about the CIs in the press, there has been comparably limited academic evaluation of their activities. This article, focusing on reflections on running CIs by tw...

Visions and inputs are roadmaps for church growth. This is particularly true for the Hong Kong Christian and Missionary Alliance, one of the most dynamic denominations in the territory. Even though Christianity (i.e., Catholicism and Protestantism) remains a minority in Hong Kong, making up approximately 16 percent (1.2 million) of the population,...

Throughout history, moments of crisis have challenged Christian communities to reflect on their faith for protection and as a catalyst for change. The Christians of the Sinophone world are no exception. Our special issue brings together five articles on Christians in specific regions (China, Taiwan, Hong Kong), with the aim of examining the efforts...

This concluding chapter reviews the resilience of youth dissent and rebellion against autocratic states, the emerging trends of transnational solidarity and global lobbying, and the problem of illegitimacy of repressive regimes in Hong Kong, Myanmar, and Singapore. The more an authoritarian state feels a need to repress citizens, the more it signal...

How are youth-led protests changing the political landscape in East and Southeast Asia? How can we make sense of the diversity of actors, groups, and voices within the larger realm of political contestation? How are activists resisting draconian oppression, and how are they carving out space for advocacy? RESIST! brings together scholars and practi...

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Communist state drew on Marxist ideology to remake the Church-state relationship. Co-opting all the Protestant denominations and assimilating the churches into the socialist order was part of a wider strategy of coercive control. The objective was not just to restrict churches from carrying...

The recent interest in the social history of the Cold War has given rise to many narratives of expulsions and migrations in world Christianity. This article focuses on the transformation of several Lutheran missions from sojourning in the wilderness of China’s maritime frontiers into becoming vital pastoral and welfare service providers in British...

Este artículo provee una perspectiva histórica general de las relaciones entre protestantismo y Estado-religión en China desde finales del siglo XIX hasta el presente, enfocándose principalmente en dos fenómenos paralelos. El primero trata sobre la transformación del cristianismo desde un sistema de creencias marginalizado a un profundo movimiento...

This chapter provides a historical assessment of the Church-state relations in the People’s Republic of China (1949–Present), concentrating on two parallel phenomena. The first concerns the transformation of Christianity from a heavily persecuted and marginalized belief system in the Maoist era (1949–1976) into a deeply indigenized religious moveme...

This chapter negotiates the art of representing crisis and the crisis of representation as shown in the visual and discursive modes of cinematic portrayals of Hong Kong’s political change in the post-1997 era. Through a closer look at Ten Years ( Shi nian , dir. Kwok Zune, Fei-Pang Wong, Jevons Au, Kwun-Wai Chow, Ka-Leung Ng, 2015) and independent...

Once a world-class financial hub for entrepreneurs and investors, Hong Kong's "one country, two systems" framework came to an end when China imposed strict national security legislation on June 30, 2020 in response to the unprecedented scale of mass mobilization in the 2019 anti-extradition protests. While the anti-extradition campaign represented...

History informs public debates. This is particularly true for the literature on Xinjiang. In this new edition of EURASIAN CROSSROADS, James A. Millward presents a comprehensive coverage of Xinjiang’s continuity and change since antiquity and links that history to the controversy over the Uyghur ethnocide. By organizing the eight chapters chronologi...

This collection brings together a variety of scholars exploring the history, aesthetics, and politics of Chinese cinema as the Chinese film industry grapples with its place as the second largest film industry on the planet. Exploring how Chinese cinema engages with global politics, global market forces, and global film cultures, this book places Ch...

"Pious Peripheries: Runaway Women in Post-Taliban Afghanistan" examines the dialectic of construction, resistance, and lived experience among marginalized Afghan women. Sonia Ahsan-Tirmizi draws on rich ethnographic research to study the marginalization of women and the evolvement of gender politics since the last Taliban regime (1996–2001). Her in...

As primary drivers of global growth, China and India as Asian giants are on the path to reforming their higher education systems to drive innovation. This paper based on both primary and secondary data sources investigates how India’s democratic political leadership has facilitated higher education reform for fostering innovation while underlining...

This article explores the influential role that international Christian broadcasting enterprises played in the conversion of the Chinese during the transition from the Maoist to the Reform era. Despite being an official tool of propaganda and information dissemination, the popularization of radio offered an opening for the Far East Broadcasting Com...

Our contributors show that distinct historical and contemporary circumstances offer valuable insights into similarities and differences between colonial empires and local states in resource competition. It seems useful to reflect on parallel forces at certain historical junctures and at various layers of the political system, as well as inside and...

In April 2021 Pace University and the New York Southeast Asia Network hosted a conference entitled “Empire Competition: Southeast Asia as a Site of Imperial Contestation,” to examine Southeast Asia’s position in the shadow of China and in the sights of European imperial powers. Papers at the conference offer a rich, detailed look at the overarching...

Macau has a rich historical heritage, and its tasty cuisine plays a major role in this global cultural encounter, blending Portuguese with Cantonese, Malay, and Indian flavors. In THE MAKING OF MACAU'S FUSION CUISINE, Asian food expert Annabel Jackson gives a masterful account of the city's food culture.

At a time when nation-states dispute over trade imbalance, COVID-19 pandemic, territorial sovereignty and terrorism have become more intensified, this special issue delves deeply into the varieties of non-state actors in an inter-Asian context, especially the ways in which they interact with core elites in the centers and have an impact on policy i...

Much has been written about the early Jesuits who made Macao a base for spreading Catholicism in China and beyond, but little attention is given to the trajectories of Protestant Christianity in the colony. This article evaluates the empirical findings and analytical insights of R. Lawrence Ballew’s latest book, entitled "LIKE A TREE PLANTED BY STR...

At a time when sovereignty disputes over territories and waters have become intensified in global diplomacy, THESE ISLANDS ARE OURS (Stanford Univ. Press, 2020) is a welcome addition to the debate about territorial identity and belonging in diverse Asian contexts. Alexander Bukh delves deeply into the history of three campaigns over disputed territ...

This essay historicizes the evolution of China’s geopolitical strategy from the Maoist era (1949–1976) to the present. It examines the Chinese strategic thinking in four spatial settings: Eurasia, maritime Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent and the wider Indo-Pacific region. The Chinese strategic concerns are comparable across these regions, b...

Once a world-class territory for entrepreneurs and investors, Hong Kong is now in trouble. Its full integration into the Chinese autocratic system began with the implementation of the National Security Law last year. Much attention has focused lately on the prosecution of veteran democracy advocates and conscientious journalists, the purge of popul...

Taking an inter-Asian perspective on the perception of China’s rise and power shifts in Asia, this reflection draws on the examples of Hong Kong’s years-long pro-democracy movement, Taiwan’s democratization and India’s anti-China sentiments to discuss the growth of domestic and international discontents against China’s projection of sharp power, ev...

This essay investigates the influential role that the Bible played in the sphere of Chinese popular Christianity. It explores the widespread use of the Bible among the lay populace who were traditionally excluded from the concerns and pursuits of Chinese Christian elites in cosmopolitan cities. Beginning with an overview of the cultural influence o...

This special issue brings together a team of researchers to investigate China’s rise to geopolitical dominance, as well as its diplomatic entanglements with the USA, India, Japan, North and South Koreas. In particular, it investigates China’s projection of its newfound power – soft, sharp, and smart – along its peripheries, and the strategic challe...

To stage a meaningful dialogue between China area studies and Christianity worldwide, this chapter draws on the changing landscape of Chinese Christianities to reframe certain parameters and norms in the study of global Christian movements. By focusing on the interplay between global religious forces and local conditions, this study argues that the...

This essay reviews Alan Richard Sweeten's latest book, entitled CHINA'S OLD CHURCHES: The History, Architecture, and Legacy of Catholic Sacred Structures in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei Province, which explains in colorful detail how urban and rural Catholics across northern China manifested their ecclesial identity through architecture and iconogra...

It has been over half a year since China imposed the Hong Kong National Security Law on June 30, 2020. Deeply shocked by the scenes of police violence against peaceful demonstrators, Hong Kongers and their overseas supporters strive to do something to ameliorate the governance crisis. Inspired by Taiwan’s lobbying success, dozens of conscientious i...

Christmas is an unrivalled annual celebration. This volume traces its history from the early Church’s decision to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on 25 December through the medieval period and all the way into the twenty-first century. It explores Christmas around the world, including in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, as well as Europe and No...

Thy kingdom come. A photographic history of Anglicanism in Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland China. By Philip L. Wickeri and Ruiwen Chen. Pp. xx + 203 incl. 177 colour and black-and-white ills. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2019. HK$ 520. 978 988 8528 02 8 - Volume 71 Issue 3 - Joseph Tse-Hei Lee

Looking at the origin, curriculum objectives and study outcomes of a team-taught class on the past and present of Hong Kong and Bollywood cinemas, this chapter argues that interdisciplinary teaching fosters a sense of cultural sensitivity and global interdependence, and facilitates a participatory intellectual environment between teachers and stude...

Missionary Primitivism and Chinese Modernity: The Brethren in Twentieth-Century China. By David Woodbridge. Leiden: Brill, 2019. xi + 173 pp. $119.00 hardback. - Volume 88 Issue 3 - Joseph Tse-Hei Lee

A Study of the Emergence and Early Development of Selected Protestant Chinese Churches in the Philippines. By Jean Uy Uayan. Carlisle, UK: Langham, 2017. xxx + 556 pp. $39.99 paper. - Volume 88 Issue 2 - Joseph Tse-Hei Lee

Shaping Christianity in greater China. Indigenous Christians in focus. Edited by Paul Woods. (Regnum Studies in Mission.) Pp. vi + 283 incl. 6 tables. Oxford: Regnum Books International, 2017. £15 (paper). 978 1 911372 41 7 - Volume 70 Issue 2 - Joseph Tse-Hei Lee

The Catholic Church in Taiwan. Birth, growth and development. Edited by Francis K. H. So, Beatrice K. F. Leung and Ellen Mary Mylod. (Christianity in Modern China.) Pp. xxiv + 265 incl. 10 figs and 8 tables. London–New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018. £72. 978 981 10 6664 1 - Volume 70 Issue 2 - Joseph Tse-Hei Lee

Creative work is best understood as a process of getting lost. Scholarly work is a creative endeavour. And an endeavour requires total attention. On a superficial level, total attention is a demonstration of scholarly seriousness and discipline. On a deeper level, total attention is a necessary effort for successful scholarship. Yet, do we as schol...

This article negotiates the art of representing crisis and the crisis of representation as evinced in the critical and over-determined relationship between the visual and discursive regimes of representation in particular political contexts.

The Chinese Christology of T.C. Chao. By Yongtao Chen. (Theology and Mission in World Christianity, 3.) Pp. xv + 393. Leiden–Boston: Brill, 2017. €68 (paper). 978 90 04 322239 4 - Volume 69 Issue 2 - Joseph Tse-Hei Lee

Christianity flourishes in areas suffering profound dislocations amid regime change and warfare. This introductory chapter explains the appeal of Christianity in the Chaozhou-Shantou (Chaoshan) region as it transitioned from a stage of disintegration in the late imperial era into the cosmopolitan and entrepreneurial area it is today. By historicizi...

Chow and Lee draw on archival materials and ethnographic findings to evaluate interactions between the officials and Christians in the coastal regions of Chaoshan (Guangdong Province) and Wenzhou (Zhejiang Province) throughout the Maoist era (1949–76). The Chaozhou-speaking Catholics, Baptists, and Presbyterians succeeded in transcending sectarian...

Christianity flourishes in areas facing profound dislocations amidst regime change and warfare. This book explains the appeal of Christianity in the Chaozhou-Shantou (Chaoshan) region during a time of transition, from a stage of disintegration in the late imperial era into the cosmopolitan and entrepreneurial area it is today. The authors argue tha...

The persecution of Chinese Christians after the outbreak of the Korean War raised important questions about faith and politics in a state-centric society. This article examines the experience and memory of three Protestant religious prisoners in the Maoist era: Watchman Nee (Ni Tuosheng 倪柝声), who founded the Christian Assembly ( jidutu juhuichu 基督徒...

Purpose The goal of this article is to examine the current trends of political cinema in postcolonial Hong Kong. Many leaders of the Hong Kong mainstream cinema have accepted the Chinese authoritarian rule as a precondition for expanding into the ever-expanding Mainland film market, but a handful of conscientious filmmakers choose to make politica...

Purpose The five-decade long Chinese colonialization of Tibet has led to a refugee flow. No longer confined to the Tibetan Plateau, Tibetans are scattered over the world, placing deep roots in host nations in cities stretching from Oslo to New York City. Faced with new ideas, cultures and ways of life, diasporic Tibetans confront the same challeng...

How Christianity Came to China: A Brief History. By Kathleen L. Lodwick . Understanding World Christianity Series. Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress, 2016. xxii + 259 pp. $29.00 paper. - Volume 86 Issue 3 - Joseph Tse-Hei Lee

Much has been written about the desire of China and India to see their cinemas, television programs, and cultural products become competitive in the global media market. What is missing is a comparative analysis that brings together Hong Kong and Bombay, two Asian cities with their successful film industries that transcend the conventional categori...

The phenomenal growth of Catholic and Protestant churches—both officially-registered Three-Self patriotic churches and unofficial house churches—in China has drawn attention to the underlying dynamics of Chinese Christianity. This article draws on archival research and ethnographic findings to investigate the interactions between the officials and...

This chapter draws on the works of Herman Yau and Vincent Chui to discuss the different cinematic modes of moral politics in today?s Hong Kong. In Chaos, Herman Yau singles out fear, terror, violence, and the threat of violence as ingredients of Hong Kong?s ?one country, two systems? model and reveals the sense of human powerlessness under such a v...

The Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong (2014) read like a living tale of David and Goliath. Peaceful demonstrators held flimsy umbrellas to defend themselves against tear gas, pepper spray, and police batons. While many observers applauded the spontaneity of the citywide protests, little attention has been paid to the involvement of the Christian churc...

This introductory chapter explains how Hong Kong and Bollywood film industries have repositioned themselves as new players in the pantheon of global cinema. It focuses on the force of globalization that has driven local filmmakers to make films for nontraditional audiences; to engage moral, political, and socioeconomic controversies in their works;...

These essays throw light on the political and socioeconomic trajectories of China and India. Since both countries have significantly liberalized their economies in recent decades, the unprecedented expansion of their capabilities and influences is a complex phenomenon, rooted in the context of particular temporal and spatial settings, and the need...

Beginning with a historical account of the Seventh-day Adventist missionary expansion into China, this chapter highlights the importance of literature evangelization and church growth that set the Adventists apart from other Chinese denominations. It then focuses on the publication of the Gospel Herald (福音宣報) and Signs of the Times (時兆月報), two wide...

"Globalization and the Making of Religious Modernity in China" investigates the transformation of China’s religious landscape under the impact of global influences through case studies covering the period from 1800 to the present.

This chapter examines the integration of Christianity into rural China during the latter half of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century in Guangdong Province in southern China. Drawing on Western archival materials, local congregational histories, and fieldwork data, it considers how Christianity spread through social networks and re...

The story of Catholicism and Protestantism in China, Japan, and Korea has been told in great detail. Less evident, however, are studies that contextualize Christianity within the larger economic, political, social, and cultural developments in each of the three countries and its diasporas. This book provides insights into Christianity’s role in the...

This article draws on the Wikileaks' American diplomatic cables from Beijing and Taipei to examine the joint efforts by China and the United States to prevent Taiwan, particularly under Chen Shui-bian, from drifting into independence. Many observers have long suspected that there has been some informal cooperation on this as neither wants an indepe...

This article examines the role of Western missionaries and Chinese Christians as new powerbrokers in the competitive arena of rural politics in South China during the post-Boxer decade (1900–10). Focusing on four well-documented lawsuits involving Christians in the Chaozhou-speaking region of Guangdong province, this study shows that the power rela...

China’s Saints is an original and insightful study that examines the transmission and appropriation of martyrologies within the Catholic Church. These martyrologies are very moving from the start, and they are as much concerned about what happened to the martyrs as about the violent world in which they lived. The martyrs came from diverse backgroun...