Grad student Zach Fredman shows us how friction over sexual relations between GIs and Chinese women poisoned ties between American servicemen and the Chinese they interacted with during the final year of the Pacific War. Panic over rape swept Chinese cities in the spring of 1945 as American abundance and Chinese want fueled a booming sex trade. Backlash against GIs and Jeep girls, the derisive nickname Chinese used to refer to women who fraternized with American servicemen, compelled Chiang Kai-shek and General Albert Wedemeyer, commander of US forces, to take action. But neither Chinese nor American authorities had much luck in resolving the crisis. Chinese and Americans had regarded one another warily since the Alliance’s early days, but with victory just over the horizon, many now saw one another as adversaries.

Please RSVP by Friday January 30 to Ellen Park (epark78@bu.edu) so we can get you lunch!

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