The Image Concept And The Chinese Exclusion Act Repealed

The Congress of the United States repealed the Chinese Exclusion Acts that lasted 61 years in 1943. The repeal of Chinese Exclusion Acts rectified American immigration policies in the new historical period. The reasons for the repeal were very complex. Among these, there was a changeable factor that was usually not regarded with grave concern. This factor was the American image of China.This thesis has made an investigation on how the American image of China influenced the repeal of Chinese Exclusion Acts. It consists of four parts as follows:The first part analyzes the public image of China. The public image of China was varied. However, we can find the patterns of the development of the public image. This part details the changes in the public image of China from contempt in the later 19th century to regarding the development of China under American protection, and then to admiration and coexistence during the World War II.The second part analyzes American policymaker's image of China. Policymakers always consider strategic profit when they make policy. So their image of China was controlled by American foreign policy. What's more, they will portray image of China according to their strategic needs. Considering for the wartime and postwar interests, they regarded China as an important ally and "Great Power".The third part concretely discusses the function that American policymaker and public image of China played in the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Acts. Once the public image was shaped, it would influence the American government's decision-making. The American policymaker's image of China also appealed to abandon the Chinese Exclusion Acts. Though racialism took root deeply in American history and culture, and the stubborn racialists held back the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Acts out of various considerations. At last, the Chinese Exclusion Acts was repealed in the contending and compromising with the stubborn racialists.The forth part analyzes the important factors to restrict the change of the image of China in America. From these we can see that, the gradual conversion of the image of China influenced potentially the Chinese Exclusion Acts at all times. The world war II made this latent force that cumulated for a long time transform to a strong drive to repeal the Chinese Exclusion Acts, and ensured the conditions of the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Acts to make mature, and even pushed the American immigration policies to make a key progress ahead.