Antibiotic Cold War and Ernst Chain’s Visit to China in 1961

Summary The Cold War severely hindered the flow of antibiotic knowledge and medicines between different factions. With the continuous blockade by the USA and the deterioration of the Sino–Soviet relationship, China made some geopolitical efforts in its science diplomacy. British Nobel Laureate Ernst Chain’s month-long visit to China in 1961 was one such effort. During and after the visit to China, Chain gave the Chinese some sound advice and helped establish academic connections. Through reconstructing the wary contacts between the two sides—before, during and after the visit—this article illustrates the PRC’s predicament on antibiotics and its efforts to escape from it, elaborates Chain’s visit and the British response in the context of the antibiotic Cold War, analyses the reasons why Chain was invited and demonstrates the cooperation and confrontation between and within the factions over antibiotics during Cold War, as well as the porousness of the Iron Curtain.