【Name】WONG, Cheuk-yin【Organization】
Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University【Title of Research】
Sleeping with the Enemy: the Politics of Collaboration between Japanese Administrationand Local Chinese Elites in Hong Kong from 1941 to 45【Purpose of Research】
This proposed dissertation mainly explores the complex phenomenon and situation ofcollaboration during the Japanese occupation in Hong Kong. This dissertation has twoobjectives. The first objective is to explain what was collaboration, what was notcollaboration, and also the dissertation is also highly interested in the margin cases. A fineline separated dubious from non-dubious behaviour. There were degrees of collaboration,and many different types.
A second objective of this study is to examine Japan’s collaboration policies to determine
what they reveal about decision making processes during their occupation in Hong Kong,and about intra-Army and Army-civilian differences of opinion about how to governing
Hong Kong.
On the whole, the dissertation centres on an important research question:‘What factors shape and explain the dynamics and interactions between the Japaneseadministration and the local Chinese elites in Hong Kong during the occupation period?’This significant topic has been insufficiently studied by Hong Kong, Japanese and foreign
academics. My research aims to address this crucial gap in the existing literature on theHong Kong colonial study in Japanese occupation.

Specifically, there are a number of questions related to Japanese military occupation in
Hong Kong. I propose to examine the following questions in my thesis:(a)What were the negotiations and agreements between the Chinese collaborators andthe Japanese administration in Hong Kong?
(b)

What purpose and how effectively each side pressed its advantages?

(c)Successful administrative implementation required enough staffing support which

seems did not exist in Hong Kong. Did policies made in Japan followed in the field? Is
there lack of unified and coordinated administration throughout the occupation?
(d)

It is assuming that to a certain degree, generally a very limited one, Japan was

1willing to satisfy the requests of her collaborators in Hong Kong. However, beyond thatthreshold, and in all matters the administration felt vital to its own strategic requirements,
collaboration ceased to be effective or productive from the Chinese point of view. To
conclude our findings, is there an effective collaboration?
(e)

Do the historical, cultural, and political differences between Hong Kong andSingapore; and the extent of their military importance to the ‘Greater East Asia
Co-prosperity Sphere’ help to explain the divergence on the Japanese policy towards thelocal Chinese elites in Hong Kong and Singapore?

In summary, it is believed that collaboration, as a historical and political phenomenon, isbest understood when it is assessed on a particular location rather than dealt with as a
global issue only. Similarly, there are advantages in studying collaboration as much fromthe point of view by comparing two similar backgrounds locations. Thus, this study ofcollaboration in Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation will be supplemented by thecase of Singapore during the same period.
【Content/Methodology of Research】
The topic of Collaboration in Hong Kong under Japanese occupation is a relatively
under-studied one. Hopefully, the dissertation can contribute to our understanding of thecolonial history of Hong Kong and Japan.

The tentative organization of my dissertation is as follows:

Chapter 1 General Introduction
1.1 Background
1.2 Literature on collaboration
1.3 Research gap identification: Study of collaboration in Hong Kong during theJapanese occupation
1.4 Research objectives and research questions
1.5 Research methodology
1.6 Chapter organization
1.7 Research limitation

Chapter 2 Analytical Framework
2.1 The definition of collaboration
2.2 Towards my analytical framework: an in-depth comparative study of British colonial
history during the World War II
2.3 Japanese administration in Hong Kong2

2.4 Local Chinese elites in Hong Kong
2.5 Significant and expected contributions of the dissertation

Chapter 3 The case of collaboration in Singapore during the Japanese occupation
1942-45: the Chinese Association

Chapter 4 The relations between British colonial government in Hong Kong and the local
Chinese elites before the Japanese occupation

Chapter 5 The study of collaboration in Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation
1941-45: the Rehabilitation Committee, the Chinese Representative Council, the Chinese
Co-operative Council and the district level administrations

Chapter 6 The dynamics and legacy of Japanese administration in Hong Kong: a newly
established-relation between British colonial government in Hong Kong and the local
Chinese elites in the post-war era

Chapter 7 Conclusion: Occupations Compared—the collaborations in two British colonies
during the Japanese occupations

7.1 Revisiting the concept of collaborations in the cases of Hong Kong and Singapore:
similarities and differences
7.2 Explaining factors created and shaped these differences
7.3 Revisiting the Argument: ‘The Japanese did not have long-term plans in governing
Hong Kong’.
7.4 The legacy of Japanese occupation in Hong Kong

Chapter one starts with a literature review on collaboration issue in wartime Europe,mainland China and also Southeast Asia. The research gap—study of collaboration inHong Kong during the Japanese occupation—would be identified afterwards. The
research objectives, questions; methodology and the research limitations would also beshown and discussed.
Chapter two aims at consider the significant general issues. What does collaboration
mean? What are the political actors in my dissertation? And why did people collaborate?
In my dissertation, what is the Japanese administration and local Chinese elites refer to?
And why the case of Oversea Chinese Association in Singapore during the Japanese
occupation should be examined as to compare with the situation in Hong Kong?
As Professor Goto Kenichi quoted Khong, “Before the Japanese occupation, racial3tensions between the Malays and the Chinese were not characteristic of the relationshipbetween the different communities in Malaya. The occupation changed all that. It
accentuated racial differences and heightened communal fears which later resulted in
racial antagonism and violence.”

Chapter three will focus the case of Singapore. theauthor would try to show that the Japanese also accomplished one of the primaryobjectives of local nationalist leaders in driving out the Western colonial powers, but howthey disappointed local nationalists by failing to hand over power immediately. The military
government moved local civil servants into senior positions, created local military forces,and put local people through various training programs designed to develop skills andbuild character, policies that had lasting consequences. In Singapore, the Japanese highlightened distinctions among the three main racial groups (Malay, Chinese, Indian), andpitting the Malays and overseas Chinese each other.
Chapter four will show the relations between British colonial government in Hong
Kong and the local Chinese elites before the Japanese occupation.
Chapter five will demonstrate

the politics of collaboration in Hong Kong during theJapanese occupation 1941-45 by several concrete cases such as (i) the Rehabilitation
Committee, (ii) the Chinese Representative Council, (iii) the Chinese Co-operative
Council and (iv) the district level administrations in Hong Kong. Different dynamics andinteractions between the Japanese administration and the local elites will bedemonstrated through three phases which are (i) phase one (Military Government Office(Gunseicho) (December 29, 1941 to February 20, 1942), (ii) phase two: Isogai’sadministration (February 21, 1942 to January 10, 1945) and (iii) phase three: Tanaka’sadministration (January 11, 1945 to August 30, 1945).
Chapter six is going to show the dynamics and legacy of Japanese administration in
Hong Kong: a newly established-relation between British colonial government in Hong
Kong and the local Chinese elites in the post-war era.
Chapter seven, the Conclusion, is going to revisit the conventional argument that
‘Japanese plans of invasion and occupation were basically military. They had few notions
as to how to control the territories and countries once they had been occupied.’ The
author would try to re-evaluate this conventional argument. The author believes that theJapanese administration could be seen as a remarkable achievement in many senses.
For an example, obviously careful preparations had been for years in advance so thatwhen the Japanese administrative machinery took over, it runs smoothly and impeccably.
It utilized past administrative structures but failed overall because of the juxtaposition ofinconsistencies between policy and its implementation.

The conclusion finally brings thestory up to date, that is, what has been the legacy of collaboration? Last but not least, theauthor would answer the research question: ‘What factors shape and explain thedynamics and interactions between the Japanese administration and the local Chinese

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elites in Hong Kong during the occupation period?’ before the dissertation reaching to theend.
【Conclusion/Observation】
It is hoped that my dissertation could contribute to the academic world and thecolonial history of Japan and Hong Kong in several perspectives. First, it is going to makeuse the comprehensive oral history projects and personal interview materials in Hong
Kong, Singapore and Japan. This allowed the author the chance to add completely newviewpoints and insights in order to verify facts and get a direct interview with the people
living in that period. Therefore, all kinds of day-to-day people leave a mark for record.
Second, my dissertation is going to utilize first hand original and unpublished datafrom Hong Kong public record office, Singapore National Archives and archives in Japan.
That means there are widely and intensively making use of Chinese, Japanese andEnglish sources at the same time. The author has found that few existing literatures inEnglish that fully using of Chinese and Japanese sources. Therefore, it will adopt a fullrange and comprehensive of ‘tri-lingual’ sources as a new contribution.
For readers who do not know Japanese, the collection provides the added service ofopening a window into Japanese thinking on these matters, both at the time andsubsequently. It can be difficult event to raise the question of a Japanese perspective on
the war, for the suggestion that prevailing understandings are incorrect seems in the Westto be slightly subversive, while in Japan it can suggest sympathy with right-wing causes ortrigger right-wing hostility. For this reason, the publication of this thesis is an act of
personal integrity, even though they are not written in a partisan spirit and provide
balanced and nuanced judgments that do not conform to the prejudices of either side.
Third, my dissertation is going to provide a new type of analysis on the research topic:
a study of politics of collaboration in the military occupation. It can help us to have a
deeper understanding of the uniqueness of Japanese colonialism. Therefore, acomparative study of Japanese military occupation in each of its occupied territories cangive us a more comprehensive picture of how Japan rules its wartime occupied territories
and how its rule in each places differed from the others. It expected can fill in the gap in
the colonial history of Hong Kong and Japan. Most of the literature on the wartime period
has tended to study each occupied area or country individually. Little comparisons havebeen made amongst them. Although both Hong Kong and Singapore were underJapanese military rule, their administration and social structures were obviously dissimilar.
To gain a more comprehensive, vivid and critical analysis, comparisons between two
occupied territories would be insightful. Therefore, my dissertation is going to examine thefactors shaping the similarities and differences between Hong Kong and Singapore in theoccupation era.

5Forth, a new theoretical contribution is expected to establish in my dissertation. Mostof the existing literatures present their views through a simple ‘political, economic andsocial perspective’ and seems to tell us little about the role and interactions of different
political actors. However, the thesis is going to establishing a research framework which
concerning with historical dimension to analysis the dynamics and interactions between
the Japanese administration in Hong Kong and the local Chinese elites in different stageof occupation. It is believed that it is highly important and significant in the study of colonial
history of Hong Kong and Japan.
Last but not least, it is hoped that the dissertation could contribute to the colonial
history of Hong Kong in the sense that it breaks free from the moralistic and tradition
framework in which wartime history in Hong Kong is viewed. If the conflicting motives,tactical concessions, sheer helplessness, and all the other existential uncertainties thatcharacterized the lives of people living in occupied Hong Kong are to be understood andexplained, then current prejudgment dogmas need to be eliminated. But this will be adifficult task. The moralistic interpretation of history, which holds the historian’s task to bethat of assigning ‘praise and blame’, has its roots in 2500 years of Confucian
historiography. Given the rise of Chinese nationalism in this century, and the consistentidentification of the Chinese state with nationalism, it will be difficult of Chinese scholars totranscend categories which are not only officially mandated, but which many of thescholars themselves fully accept as correct judgments on wartime collaboration.

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