{"id":7631,"date":"2026-01-27T15:30:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T07:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/2026\/01\/27\/article-the-archive-as-infrastructure-vietnamese-refugee-nonarrival-visual-capture-and-erasure-in-hong-kong-colonial-police-photography-and-dinh-q-les-erasure-2011\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T15:41:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T07:41:23","slug":"article-the-archive-as-infrastructure-vietnamese-refugee-nonarrival-visual-capture-and-erasure-in-hong-kong-colonial-police-photography-and-dinh-q-les-erasure-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/2026\/01\/27\/article-the-archive-as-infrastructure-vietnamese-refugee-nonarrival-visual-capture-and-erasure-in-hong-kong-colonial-police-photography-and-dinh-q-les-erasure-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"[Article] The Archive as Infrastructure: Vietnamese Refugee Nonarrival, Visual Capture, and Erasure in Hong Kong Colonial Police Photography and Dinh Q. L\u00ea\u2019s Erasure (2011)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Author: <a href=\"javascript:;\">Christopher Chien<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Source: positions<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Link: <a href=\"https:\/\/read.dukeupress.edu\/positions\/article-abstract\/33\/4\/783\/403399\/The-Archive-as-Infrastructure-Vietnamese-Refugee\">https:\/\/read.dukeupress.edu\/positions\/article-abstract\/33\/4\/783\/403399\/The-Archive-as-Infrastructure-Vietnamese-Refugee<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Abstract<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This article examines colonial Hong Kong as a US border outpost during the Vietnamese refugee crisis, during which the city processed 195,833 Vietnamese asylum seekers between 1975 and 1997. After 1982, Hong Kong implemented a \u201cclosed camp\u201d policy, which led to colonial police carrying out daily oceanic interceptions that became de facto remote immigration control for the United States. This policy change made nonarrival the experience for many oceanic refugees in Hong Kong and was central to the US pivot to humanitarianism as a practice of liberal empire in the Pacific.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The article traces this shift through an archive of nonarrival: interception photographs of empty oceanic refugee vessels, which underscore colonial photography as a visual technology of dehumanization and racialized identity making. Developing a concept of \u201carchive as infrastructure,\u201d this article argues that visual policing was an important component in the ideological and material building of US, British, and Hong Kong offshored, transnational migration infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The article concludes with a reading of Dinh Q. L\u00ea\u2019s multimedia installation and digital archive Erasure (2011), which uses found photographs to engage ephemerality as a counterarchival response to the dehumanizing nonarrival enacted in the colonial state&#8217;s aesthetics of bureaucratic rationality and visual capture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Author: Christopher Chien Source: positions Link: <a href=\"https:\/\/read.dukeupress.edu\/positions\/article-abstract\/33\/4\/783\/403399\/The-Archive-as-Infrastructure-Vietnamese-Refugee\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/read.dukeupress.edu\/positions\/article-abstract\/33\/4\/783\/403399\/The-Archive-as-Infrastructure-Vietnamese-Refugee<\/a> Abstract This article examines colonial Hong Kong as a US border outpost during the Vietnamese refugee crisis, during which the city processed 195,833 Vietnamese asylum seekers between 1975 and 1997. After 1982, Hong Kong implemented a \u201cclosed camp\u201d policy, which led to colonial police carrying out daily oceanic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145170531,"featured_media":6534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[776957933],"tags":[776958255,776958192,776958076,776958256,776958257],"class_list":["post-7631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category--en","tag-archive","tag-infrastructure","tag-newsroom","tag-photography","tag-vietnamese-refugee"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pai6UY-1Z5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7342,"url":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/2025\/11\/12\/article-east-by-southeast-hong-kong-in-the-decolonising-pacific\/","url_meta":{"origin":7631,"position":0},"title":"[Article] East by Southeast: Hong Kong in the Decolonising Pacific","author":"\u624b\u6c11\u51fa\u7248\u793e","date":"12\/11\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Author: Wesley Attewell Source: Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography Link: https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1111\/anti.70043 Abstract This essay seeks to complicate Hong Kong's seemingly common-sensical geographical identity as an East Asian\u2014specifically, Chinese\u2014metropolis through a contrapuntal mapping of its historical connections with Southeast Asia. It takes seriously the role that this supposedly hinterland region\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hong Kong Studies Newsroom&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hong Kong Studies Newsroom","link":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/category\/%e9%a6%99%e6%b8%af%e5%ad%b8%e8%a1%93%e6%83%85%e5%a0%b1%e5%ae%a4-en\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7704,"url":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/2026\/03\/02\/article-colony-in-crisis-riots-propaganda-and-omission-in-the-hong-kong-film-unit-1966-1968\/","url_meta":{"origin":7631,"position":1},"title":"[Article] Colony in Crisis: Riots, Propaganda, and Omission in the Hong Kong Film Unit 1966\u20131968","author":"\u624b\u6c11\u51fa\u7248\u793e","date":"02\/03\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Author: Seth Henderson Source: Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television Link: https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/01439685.2024.2435684 Abstract In 1966, the British colonial government\u2019s Hong Kong Film Unit inaugurated its monthly current affairs film series, Hong Kong Today (1966\u20131974). Initially established in 1959 under the Public Relations Office and later renamed Government Information Services\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hong Kong Studies Newsroom&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hong Kong Studies Newsroom","link":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/category\/%e9%a6%99%e6%b8%af%e5%ad%b8%e8%a1%93%e6%83%85%e5%a0%b1%e5%ae%a4-en\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7413,"url":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/2025\/12\/08\/article-the-geopolitics-of-infrastructure-and-the-unmaking-of-an-island-the-hong-kong-zhuhai-macau-bridge\/","url_meta":{"origin":7631,"position":2},"title":"[Article] The Geopolitics of Infrastructure and the Unmaking of an Island: The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge","author":"\u624b\u6c11\u51fa\u7248\u793e","date":"08\/12\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Author: Brian Scanlon Source: Geopolitics Link: https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1080\/14650045.2023.2199928?fbclid=IwY2xjawOvVchleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFwa01vZTd0em04bFVJcm15c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHjZl2DyBpCwiNUbe_u15yEZUzHz6JAAOm17eHC6t82xn0bJoB9RcTfbGgGvX_aem_rLDgA2bCT_0pPayYkHmzYQ Abstract The completion of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge marks not only a record-setting achievement in engineering, but also a materialisation of ongoing efforts by the People\u2019s Republic of China to engage in cooperative projects aimed at expanding and deepening integrative connections with the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hong Kong Studies Newsroom&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hong Kong Studies Newsroom","link":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/category\/%e9%a6%99%e6%b8%af%e5%ad%b8%e8%a1%93%e6%83%85%e5%a0%b1%e5%ae%a4-en\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7590,"url":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/2026\/01\/21\/article-catchwater-colonialism-reshaping-hong-kongs-hydrology-infrastructure-metabolism-and-landscape-1937-1968\/","url_meta":{"origin":7631,"position":3},"title":"[Article] Catchwater Colonialism: Reshaping Hong Kong\u2019s Hydrology, Infrastructure, Metabolism and Landscape, 1937\u20131968","author":"\u624b\u6c11\u51fa\u7248\u793e","date":"21\/01\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Author: Jack Greatrex and Florence Mok Source: Urban History Link: https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/journals\/urban-history\/article\/catchwater-colonialism-reshaping-hong-kongs-hydrology-infrastructure-metabolism-and-landscape-19371968\/003CBE66A536F8B616DA5C172C213E85 Abstract This article explores the development of hydrological infrastructure in colonial Hong Kong between the late 1930s and the late 1960s. Utilizing archival sources in Hong Kong and London, it shows how this infrastructure fundamentally reshaped Hong Kong\u2019s geography.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hong Kong Studies Newsroom&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hong Kong Studies Newsroom","link":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/category\/%e9%a6%99%e6%b8%af%e5%ad%b8%e8%a1%93%e6%83%85%e5%a0%b1%e5%ae%a4-en\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8295,"url":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/2026\/06\/30\/article-basketball-courts-in-hong-kong-a-historic-and-socio-political-perspective-on-social-infrastructure-in-a-high-density-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":7631,"position":4},"title":"[Article] Basketball Courts in Hong Kong: A Historic and Socio-political Perspective on Social Infrastructure in a High-density City","author":"\u624b\u6c11\u51fa\u7248\u793e","date":"30\/06\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Author: Jeroen van Ameijde Source: Urbanie & Urbanus Link: https:\/\/www.uandujournal.com\/abstract.php?id=114 Abstract Basketball courts play a unique role in Hong Kong\u2019s high-density urban fabric, offering opportunities for sports and socialising in every neighbourhood within the territory. This study examines their historical roots and development in colonial Hong Kong, increasing socio-political significance,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hong Kong Studies Newsroom&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hong Kong Studies Newsroom","link":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/category\/%e9%a6%99%e6%b8%af%e5%ad%b8%e8%a1%93%e6%83%85%e5%a0%b1%e5%ae%a4-en\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7641,"url":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/2026\/03\/09\/planning-culture-in-a-city-of-scarcity-an-interview-with-melody-yiu\/","url_meta":{"origin":7631,"position":5},"title":"Planning Culture in a City of Scarcity\u2014An Interview with Melody Yiu","author":"\u624b\u6c11\u51fa\u7248\u793e","date":"09\/03\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Editor\u2019s Note: In Hong Kong, where land is measured in square feet and futures are habitually justified in economic terms, culture has often been treated as an accessory\u2014desirable, perhaps, but dispensable when space or profitability is at stake. Yet the city\u2019s theatres, museums, and civic cultural spaces have never been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Notebook&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Notebook","link":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/category\/notebook-en\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/webpost-profile.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/webpost-profile.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/webpost-profile.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/webpost-profile.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/webpost-profile.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/typesetter.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/article.png?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/145170531"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7631"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7632,"href":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7631\/revisions\/7632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typesetter.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}