Australian Journalist-Advisers in Republican China, 1897-1942: the Careers of George Morrison and William Donald
Creators: name: Gardner, Tess
Publisher: name: The Australian National University
Year: 2023

description: In this thesis I explore the lives of two prominent Australian journalists, George Ernest Morrison (1862-1920) and William Henry Donald (1875-1946), both of whom had successful careers as China correspondents before taking up positions as advisers to Chinese politicians. Morrison served as Peking correspondent (1897-1912) for the Times then as an adviser to successive Chinese presidents until his death. Donald was editor of the China Mail in Hong Kong and a correspondent for the New York Herald before becoming associated with the Kuomintang (Nationalist) party, advising many of its important members. Together, they represent an Australian engagement with China that is often misrepresented in the existing scholarship. An analysis of their careers also serves as a way to investigate the broader question of how journalists become involved in politics. Previous biographies of Morrison and Donald have cast them as unique individuals. Using a comparative approach, I argue that they were both successful examples of what I call a 'journalist-adviser': they utilised a similar set of skills and were employed primarily to shape western perceptions of China. Biographers have characterised their shift from journalist to adviser as a sudden change. The scholarship on journalism, however, demonstrates the connections formed between individual journalists and politicians. A detailed study of Morrison and Donald's diaries and correspondence, as well as the commentary on their actions by foreign diplomats, reveals that they frequently intervened in East Asian politics while working as journalists on the basis of these connections. They transitioned gradually from journalist to adviser, usually playing informal roles before they took on official positions. Journalist-advisers are not unique to early twentieth century China, but this thesis shows that careers such as Morrison and Donald's careers were shaped by the power dynamics around them. They worked during a time when the interests of different foreign empires intersected with those of multiple political factions within China. These factions frequently sought foreign support and journalist-advisers were one way of securing this. Significantly, Morrison and Donald believed that in advising Chinese politicians they served Britain: they worked predominantly where British and Chinese interests intersected. Like all foreign advisers in China, they approached their work from a position of imagined superiority, but Chinese politicians engaged with advisers on their own terms. Morrison and Donald's positions as journalist-advisers were also shaped by political and diplomatic crises within China. The Hsinhai revolution of 1911 was a key turning point that created new opportunities for both men, while the entry of the United States into the Pacific War largely negated the need for journalist-advisers to solicit foreign aid for China's war against Japan. The failed attempt of a third Australian journalist, Harold Timperley, to replace Donald as a key adviser, is indicative of this shift. While political involvement remains an implicit part of political journalism, the role for western journalist-advisers in China was far less prominent after 1941. This thesis demonstrates the informal and relational methods by which journalists become involved in politics, and the ways in which their role is dependent upon the political situation. For Morrison and Donald, this was an Australian engagement with China mediated through the British Empire and made possible by China's international position and fractured politics.