What can a century-old Kuomintang building tell us about Australia?

Key points

• A building on Ultimo Road in Haymarket, Sydney, has been heritage-listed by the City of Sydney. Built in 1921 for the Sydney branch of the Kuomintang, it later became the headquarters of the party's Australasian organisation.
• The author argues that the building and its archives challenge assumptions about Australia's past, showing that Chinese Australians took part in regional political networks well before the 1970s. The author also notes that migrants bring political memories that can differ from those of their neighbours.
• Heritage listing, the author argues, should be followed by wider public access to the building's archives.