Click the star to add/remove an item to/from your individual schedule.
You need to be logged in to avail of this functionality.
Log in
- Convenor:
-
Andrea Revelant
(Ca' Foscari University of Venice)
Send message to Convenor
- Stream:
- History
- Location:
- Bloco 1, Piso 0, Sala 0.06
- Sessions:
- Friday 1 September, -
Time zone: Europe/Lisbon
Short Abstract:
Sino-Japanese relations in the first half of the 20th century through an analysis of public opinion and official discourse: competing visions of world order and critical turning points.
Long Abstract:
Most narratives on the relations between Japan and China in the first half of the 20th century have stressed the reasons for conflict, tracing a continuous line from the crisis over Japan's 21 Demands in 1915 to the outbreak of total war in 1937. Japanese scholars, in particular, have long framed this interpretation into a broader discourse on the inescapable consequences of imperialism. This view has been challenged by those who claim that the Great War led to the emergence of a 'New Japan', which actively engaged in international cooperation through the 1920s. The question, in the latter case, is how to explain the steady worsening of bilateral relations in the next decade.
The aim of this panel is to re-examine both theses through an investigation of public opinion and official discourse in China and Japan, with the addition of Great Britain as an external observer. We argue that mutual perceptions of the prospects for peaceful cooperation were not just an outcome of political and military events, but also one of the factors that influenced policy makers in taking decisions that led to such events. Moreover, we point out that public opinion reacted to the representation of one's country that came from overseas, as filtered by the domestic media. This consideration brings forward the need to further readdress national histories in terms of interconnected narratives, inquiring the role of information networks in the development of foreign policy. Accordingly, the panel attempts to bridge the methodological divides between studies that focus on either institutional actors (as typically in diplomatic and political history) or the social dimension (intellectual history and media studies).
The first paper outlines the evolution of competing visions of regional order in Asia by comparing China-centred views with Japanese Asianism. On this premise, each of the other two papers discusses a turning point in bilateral relations. One analyses the international impact of the 21 Demands through the lens of British sources, while the other illustrates how Japanese public opinion reacted to the establishment of the Nationalist government in China.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Friday 1 September, 2017, -Paper short abstract:
The paper illustrates how Japanese public opinion responded to the establishment of the Nationalist government in China, shedding light on the diversity of viewpoints expressed in major newspapers and magazines about the prospects for bilateral cooperation.
Paper long abstract:
With the Northern Expedition (1926-28), the Nationalist Party (GMD) emerged in China as the leading force for reunification of the country. International diplomacy had thus to face a new government in Nanjing that claimed back the sovereign rights lost to the foreign powers since the late Qing period. To Japan, in particular, the establishment of the Nationalist regime posed a threat to its 'special interests' in Northeast China. Historians have studied extensively the political process that in 1931 led to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, taking into account both domestic conditions and the wider international context. Public opinion in Japan, however, has remained rather on the sidelines of research.
This paper aims to illustrate how Japanese society responded to the rise of the GMD in the crucial years between the start of the Northern Expedition and recognition of the Nationalist government by Japan in June 1929. A systematic survey of major newspapers and magazines brings to light a diversity of opinions that previous research had not acknowledged adequately. Within the liberal camp, for instance, the Asahi and Mainichi groups followed two distinct editorial lines. On the other hand, by tracking threads in the discourse on China, it is possible to detect the overall shifts in public opinion through the period examined.
Discussion focuses on four key issues, that is to say: the reliability of the Nationalist government; the prospects for actual unification of China under the GMD; the chances for Japan to coordinate its China policy with the other powers; and the importance of Manchuria relative to the rest of China in Japan's foreign relations and economic development. As the Japanese press dealt with these issues with an eye to public opinion in the Unites States and Europe, the latter became one of the inputs in the domestic debate. The paper concludes by pointing at the conditions for Sino-Japanese cooperation according to the mainstream press. These results provide a basis for further investigation into the following years, up to the outbreak of the Manchurian Incident.
Paper short abstract:
This paper examines the international impact of the 21 Demands, mainly using British primary sources that previous research had neglected. It also presents the debate that developed over this issue in the British press, with a focus on the opposition between The Manchester Guardian and The Times.
Paper long abstract:
The Twenty-One Demands, which Japan presented to China in 1915, are known as a turning point in Sino-Japanese relations. By concluding a treaty with China based on these demands, Japan gained a secure place in Manchuria. In retrospect, the demands are regarded as the herald of Japanese expansion on the Continent in the 1930s. On the other hand, China resisted Japan fiercely in the negotiations, which became a catalyst for Chinese nationalism. May 9, the day when the Chinese government accepted the Demands, was named a 'National Humiliation Day'.
This paper examines the international impact of the Twenty-One Demands, mainly using British primary sources. Although there are a lot of previous studies drawing on American and Japanese sources, the works based on British archives are relatively few. From this perspective, the paper re-examines how the negotiations proceeded and what impact they had on Sino-Japanese relations during and after the First World War.
Discussion also focuses on the British newspapers, which have been neglected in previous studies. British journalists were in a serious dilemma in the face of Japan's demands. Japanese expansion in China clearly had the potential to damage existing British interests, but Japan was an ally and its support was necessary in the war against Germany. The Manchester Guardian, whose position was near to that of the radicals and which reflected the interests of the trading community of Lancashire, was critical of Japan's demands and insisted that British interests in China should be protected. On the other hand, The Times, which was conservative and friendly with the Foreign Office, basically reported in favour of Japan. This paper analyses in particular the initiative taken by Henry Wickham Steed, the director of the Foreign Department of The Times, as well as the roles of the newspaper's correspondents.
Paper short abstract:
This paper discusses how Chinese visions of regional order in Asia and Japanese Pan-Asianism evolved and influenced each other in the first half of the 20th century. In particular, the analysis tracks the legacy of the concept of tribute relations in modern nationalist discorse.
Paper long abstract:
This presentation explores the mutual relationship between the Chinese perception of Asia and Japanese Pan-Asianism in the early 20th century, tracking the formation and revision of these views of world order through three successive phases.
Firstly, under the 'Guangxu New Policy' the Qing government adopted modern diplomacy. Chinese intellectuals gradually changed their vision of the world, which shifted from a China-centric order towards acceptance of the so-called international society of sovereign states. The concept of tribute relations with the surrounding Asian countries, however, lingered among intellectuals and in the official historiography. Textbooks presented the history of Asia as part of Chinese history, describing the process of colonisation and imperialist advance of the Western powers in terms of China's loss of its 'national rights'. At the same time, there were many Chinese students in Japan who came in contact with textbooks that put the accent on the decline of China in the international order, but with the purpose of denying the central role of China.
Japanese intellectuals initially proposed the concept of Asianism with strong sympathy for those countries that faced aggression by the Western powers. In the 1910s, however, Japanese Asianism took a strong imperialist connotation. Chinese intellectuals opposed such discourse, emphasising equality and friendship among Asian countries. Moreover, some politicians and intellectuals, like Sun Yat-sen, re-evaluated positively the traditional tribute relations in contrast to Western imperialism. Others supported an even more nationalistic stance, claiming that all the former tribute countries should be part of the Chinese national territory. In the 1930, the KMT revised its interpretation of the Three principles of the people, insisting on friendship among Asian countries with a shared historical experience so as to oppose Western aggression and pursue independence.
Lastly, in wartime, Japan launched the concept of a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, while China proposed its counter-concept under the Three principles of the people. Chiang Kai-shek visited India to pursuit cooperation with Nehru as leaders of Asia. However, some intellectuals and officials who harboured strong nationalist sentiments against Japan still imagined that China had to include the former tribute countries.