“International Friend”: Ernest Hemingway in the Classified Documents of China’s Kuomintang

The Reference Library of the Kuomintang of China in Taipei has recently released a classified document titled “The Summary Reports of the Propaganda Operations Conducted by the International Department of the Ministry of Information from the beginning of 1938 to April of 1941.” This document lists foreign visitors to China—including Ernest Hemingway—referred to as “international friends” and expected to cooperate in spreading propaganda for the Kuomintang. This essay will examine the document’s contents and value as historical material, and then outline what the Kuomintang of China expected of “international friends.” In this Chinese context, we will reread Hemingway’s references to China and reconsider his political attitude, especially compared with those of other American journalists who, at the time, were also referred to as “international friends” of the Kuomintang.