The good, the bad and the revolutionary: China’s leadership of the non-aligned states through anti-imperialist political cartoons

The 1960s and 1970s opened up new avenues of leadership for China that had previously been beyond its reach. Promoting itself as the leader of the non-aligned states, the so-called Third World, China set forth to lead by example. This article looks at the Chinese interaction, guidance and gathering of anti-imperialist political cartoons through the case study of the exhibition of Afro-Asian People’s Anti-Imperialist Caricatures of 1967. By taking a closer look at the political cartoons collected and curated by the AAJA in China, the in-depth analysis of the visual grammar of the cartoons and the extrapolated political connotations, therein opens up new avenues for understanding an important element of material and visual culture during the Cold War and China’s attempt to plot a visual course for themselves and their compatriots.