Made for Hong Kong: Transborder Staffing, Flexible Strategizing, and the Making of Communist Propaganda Outlets in Hong Kong (1945–1956)

Abstract: This article examines the processes through which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) developed its propaganda outlets in Hong Kong during the mid-twentieth century. I argue that the CCP’s operations in 1940s Hong Kong laid the foundation for its propaganda machinery in the 1950s through transborder staffing and a repertoire of flexible strategies. During the 1940s, the party trained a group of propagandists who were well acquainted with Hong Kong and frequently crossed the Hong Kong–Guangdong border to preserve the party’s power base. These propagandists developed a series of strategies, including infiltration, camouflage, and diversification. In the 1950s, the party employed these seasoned operatives in Hong Kong and Guangdong to coordinate propaganda campaigns and utilized the preestablished strategies to navigate the new Cold War geopolitics. This study also highlights the Guangdong–Hong Kong nexus, the CCP’s flexibility, and the continuities surrounding the foundation of the People’s Republic of China.