In 1960, as part of the early People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) cultural diplomacy, a troupe of almost one hundred Chinese performers and officials visited Canada, where they were widely identified as the “Peking Opera.” This was the high Cold War, ten years before Canada would recognize the PRC. Internal government documents show that granting permission for the opera visit constituted a considerable shift in Canadian policy, allowing a large-scale exchange with Communist China at a time when it was not possible for such a tour to visit the United States. For China, visits of performing arts groups were a major part of international diplomacy. For Canadian impresarios, hosting the Peking Opera was a way of legitimizing their festivals and theatres internationally. Among Chinese Canadian communities, reactions to the visit showed that the pendulum had begun to swing away from Taipei and toward Beijing, and for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police the tour members were suspicious figures to be put under close surveillance as they interacted with Canadians. Glimpsed from these varying perspectives, the tour shows how the cultural isolation of the PRC was coming to an end as early as 1960, even in North America, and prefigures China’s present soft power push.
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Summer 2022
Research Article|
August 01 2022
Opera Diplomacy: Performers from the People’s Republic of China on a 1960 Canada Tour
Josh Stenberg
Josh Stenberg
Josh Stenberg is a senior lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Sydney.
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Pacific Historical Review (2022) 91 (3): 361–388.
Citation
Josh Stenberg; Opera Diplomacy: Performers from the People’s Republic of China on a 1960 Canada Tour. Pacific Historical Review 1 August 2022; 91 (3): 361–388. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/phr.2022.91.3.361
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