ABSTRACT
The events of May 4, 1919, are widely understood as foundational for modern China. As news from the Paris Peace Conference reached Peking, student protests broke out that ultimately prevented the Chinese delegation from signing the Versailles Treaty. By retracing the details of how news of the negotiations reached China, this essay attempts to highlight the role of the modern press and telecommunications as well as traditional hometown networks in shaping a nation-wide public opinion. A key role was played by the Paris News Service, a makeshift operation run by a network of Sichuanese student-journalists connected to the Young China Association, which was skeptical of both Wilsonian democracy and Bolshevism. More generally, the essay tries to reassess the role of the global events of World War I and its aftermath in provoking a turn within China toward nationalism and the formation of a nation-wide public opinion.
