This session explores the intersection of Cold War intelligence, political solidarity, and ideological exchange within Afro-Asian networks, particularly focusing on how these global relationships were shaped by suspicion and surveillance. Using newly declassified intelligence reports, journalistic articles, and visual culture, the papers in this session investigate how Cold War geopolitics influenced the global political landscape, especially in relation to the Afro-Asian world.

Yan Yu's paper on Chinese artists in post-independence India traces how artistic exchanges between China and India were framed by wartime displacement, ideological differences, and political tensions. Her study challenges dominant narratives of Afro-Asian solidarity by exploring how Chinese intellectuals in India, particularly Chang Xiufeng and You Yunshan, were marginalized by both their Chinese peers and Indian authorities. Their lived experiences reveal how art, ideological divides, and Cold War geopolitics intersected in unexpected ways, shaping cross-border exchanges amid the global struggle for influence.

Jessica Breakey's paper on Josie Fanon’s journalism delves into how the Cold War’s geopolitical anxieties were articulated through revolutionary journalism in Algeria. By focusing on Fanon’s portrayal of China, this paper uncovers how journalistic narratives shaped Third Worldist discourse and how China, as both a figure of solidarity and suspicion, became a key player in debates about nuclear warfare, the Vietnam War, and Afro-Asian alliance-making. Breakey shows how revolutionary journalism not only conveyed intelligence but also shaped public perceptions of geopolitical threats.

Zifeng Liu's paper examines Robert Williams’s visits to China during the early 1960s and how Chinese officials wrestled with his stance on race and class. By analyzing newly released Chinese government documents, Liu explores the ideological differences between Williams’s vision for Black liberation and China’s model of revolution. Liu’s paper highlights the role of intelligence and political scrutiny in shaping Afro-Asian solidarity movements, revealing the tensions and uncertainties inherent in Cold War ideological exchanges.

Together, these papers highlight how Afro-Asian solidarity and intelligence networks were interwoven with Cold War geopolitics. They illustrate how suspicion, surveillance, and ideological contestation were embedded in everyday exchanges between China, Africa, and the global South. Through a range of sources — from intelligence archives to journalistic accounts and visual culture — the session demonstrates how these Cold War interactions helped to shape global understandings of revolution, solidarity, and security.