From: miklg@acuson.com (Michael Goldman )
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,soc.history,soc.culture.china,soc.culture.korea
Subject: Re: An open letter to the Emperor Akihito of Japa
Date: 28 Aug 92 17:48:06 GMT
Organization: Acuson; Mountain View, California

jwb@capek.rdt.monash.edu.au (Jim Breen) writes:

>smittie@beach.csulb.edu (Smittie) writes:

>>>A disinterested study of the history of that area  leads one, IMHO, to the
>>>inescapable conclusion that the Japanese oligarchy was hell-bent on "intruding"
>>>on China from before the Sino-Japanese war of the 1890s...

>>In light of the fact that Britian, Germany, and a few other western powers had
>>already "intruded" into China from monetary gain I suspect that it could be
>>argued that Japan was simply taking a piece of the pie for themselves.

>>I am not suggesting that this justifies anything. I am only pointing out that
>>Japan was not the only country eating away at China's sovereignty.

	Japan was going a lot further than any western power went in China
	and Korea in setting up "independent" puppet regimes in China and
	in assimilating Korea into Japan proper.  Koreans were forbidden to speak
	anything but Japanese, Manchukuo was separated from China as an
	"independent" state, and Japanese were moved into those territories as
	"settlers" with the intent of creating a "Greater Japan" under the
	rule of Japan.  Western powers were in varying degrees greedy
	and grasping (the Russians the worst) but none went further than to
	force long term leases on China.  There was an intent in the Japanese
	actions that went beyond mercantilism or colonialism to absorption of
	territory that makes it qualitatively different from that of the western powers,
	reprehensible though their actions were.  There was also nothing to match
	the _scale_ of Japanese killings of Chinese non-combatants.  It was truly
	different in both intent and implementation.

	If you extend your analogy to French Indo-China you have a closer
	similarity, since (I think) that area was incorporated into metropolitan
	France.  A closer analogy still, would be the European colonization
	of the Americas.  The feeling in the 20th century was that China and Korea
	should not be treated as badly as were the indigenous inhabitants of
	the Americas.

>You are absolutely correct. One of the (many) injustices that peeved the Japanese
>government late in the last century and in the first half of this one was the way
>the western "powers" considered they had a god-given right to carve out colonial
>empires in Asia, and no-one else did. The Intervention in which the UK, France,
>Germany and Russia forced Japan to give up some of the Chinese territory they 
>snatched in the 1890s was racially inspired, to put it mildly.

	The UK was an ally of Japan at that time as was the US.  Both were too
	preoccupied with other military matters to be able to support Japan.
	That two "white" powers supported Japan (however ineffectually) seems to
	me to put this into a standard Imperialist Conflict, and thus non-racial
	in character.

	As long as you guys are trotting out all the old Japanese Imperialist
	propaganda of the 19th and 20th century, why not throw in that the
	Europeans ran the African slave trade?  That argument was used by Japanese
	Imperialists in the 1930s.  Continuing the idea, the Japanese might
	feel slighted because they never got a chance to sack Rome.  I suppose
	it would be racist on the part of the US to condemn Japanese
	predations until we have fully expiated our sin of slavery.  Would you
	like to suspend all legal proceedings until all judges and juries have
	been certified by the pope as ready for sainthood?

	This _is_ a flame, because I find it extremely threatening that Japanese
	propagandists, by continuing their half-truths over the years have
	convinced otherwise intelligent people of their specious arguments.
	I contrast this with the position of the German govt which is active
	in trying to counter neo-Naziism and thus does not find normal people
	defending their actions during WWII.  This demonstrates more than ever
	the importance of a total repudiation by the current Japanese govt of all
	the actions of Japan in China and Korea.  Otherwise, this sympathy for
	Imperialists will continue to persuade those who try to be fair,
	and are naively taken in.

	There has been some progress in the sense of what is the proper way
	for countries to behave over the years.

>Ironically, the nation that first taught Japan that international diplomacy
>was most effectively carried out at gun-point was the US. The memories of
>Commodore Perry and the Black Ships lasted a long time.

	If Japan had stuck to treaty ports, we wouldn't have the controversy
	over apologies.  Let's keep things in perspective.

	- Michael Goldman

-- 
"History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have
exhausted all other alternatives." - Abba Eban
	Disclaimer:  All views are solely my own & not the views of Acuson.
	<sun!sono!miklg>  or  [miklg@acuson.com]