Imperium in Imperio: G.I. Joe’s Jurisdiction in Early Cold War Taiwan

Date(s)： 2025/01/09

Time： 10:00~12:00

Venue： Archives 2nd Conference Hall

Host： 喬舒亞‧弗里曼教授（中研院近史所助研究員）

Speaker：Prof. KJ Chen (Assistant research fellow, IMH, AS)

Disscussant： Prof. 蕭道中（輔仁大學歷史學系副教授兼系主任）

Organizer： IMH

Abstract：
The presence of American GIs in Cold War Taiwan acted as a double-edged sword for Chiang Kai-shek’s Chinese Nationalist (Kuomintang [KMT]) government in terms of its relationship with the US and its governance over Taiwan. Chiang needed American military aid to sustain his faltering regime, so he granted all American GIs diplomatic immunity in return. However, the diplomatic immunity of the American GIs posed a challenge for the KMT, as it could evoke memories of extraterritoriality, which contradicted the KMT’s official historical narrative that the abolition of the unequal treaty system was an achievement of the Nationalist government. After 1945, the KMT was trying to transform Taiwan’s population from subjects of Imperial Japan into Chinese citizens by instilling its official historical discourse. Yet, the embarrassing situation resulting from American GIs’ jurisdiction drove Chiang to initiate negotiations with the US in an effort to consolidate his governance over the Taiwanese people. My research reveals that the negotiations resulted in a win–win outcome. The US maintained partial jurisdiction while the KMT struck a balance between its relationship with the US and its governance over Taiwan.