Through a critical examination of how the Chinese diaspora came to shape biomedicine in China and
Taiwan from 1937 to 1970, my talk makes the case for a new concept of "global medicine" in
understanding the multivalent flows of medical practices and ideas circulating the world that shaped
Chinese East Asia in the 20th century. I will explore two case studies in my book for this presentation.
The first examines how Chinese American women medical personnel established the first Chinese
blood bank in New York City and China. The second reveals how Singapore-born and Edinburgheducated
Dr. Robert Lim and his collaborators relocated the National Defense Medical Center from
China to Taiwan in 1948 despite the tumultuous Chinese Civil War. This presentation highlights the
critical intersections of scientific expertise, political freedoms, and transnational connections in
shaping global medicine through the critical examination of these two medical encounters between the
Chinese diaspora and local Chinese and Taiwanese.
