INTERVIEW/ Shinichi Yamamuro: China is once more a challenge for the world

Following are excerpts from an interview with Shinichi Yamamuro, professor at Kyoto University's Institute for Research in Humanities, about the 10 most important incidents in modern and contemporary history in East Asia.

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The 10 most important incidents that I chose are:

1. World War I

2. The Asia-Pacific War and establishment of the Japanese Constitution

3. The Russo-Japanese War

4. The 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

5. The Korean War

6. Founding of the People's Republic of China

7. Japan's annexation of Korea

8. First Sino-Japanese War and cession of Taiwan to Japan

9. Establishment of Manchukuo, war-displaced Japanese and people detained following its collapse

10. China's economic reforms and its opening up to the world

Although World War I does not have any obvious connection with contemporary East Asian history, there is good reason for it to be at the top of my list. It was the starting point for a number of incidents and gave rise to a new way of thinking, which is why people should realize its relevance to this part of the world.

Former U.S. President Thomas Woodrow Wilson's theory of national self-determination was partly responsible for the March 1 Movement in Korea and the May 4 Movement in China, which triggered a wave of anti-colonialism drives across Asia.

At the same time, the Russian Revolution of 1917 set the stage for decolonization and demands for national independence within the framework of the international communist movement.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government's 21 Demands to the Chinese government, its 1918-22 push into Siberia, known as the Siberian Intervention, and other incidents deepened conflicts with China, Europe, the United States, and the Soviet Union, setting the stage for the Pacific War.

Furthermore, the establishment of the League of Nations triggered changes in the international structure and efforts to outlaw war. Japan could not cope with this transformation, and a sense of crisis against a possible all-out war promoted the rise of the military instead. Culture and ideology saw an inclination toward modernism as well as skepticism of Western culture and values.

Next on my list are the Asia-Pacific War and the establishment of the Japanese Constitution.

Although Japan had a completely different experience during World War II from at any time in the past--with Japanese soldiers facing local people in each Asian country--that did not lead to a change of perception about the rest of Asia.

However, on the basis of train of thought since the end of the Edo Period (1603-1867), the war-renouncing Constitution--one of the most significant documents in human history--has continued to win public support because of what soldiers endured on the battlefield, what people experienced in Japanese colonies, the hard time they faced returning home after Japan's defeat and the miserable life at home during World War II.

The Russo-Japanese War, which preceded World War I, brought about an awareness and a rise of Asian races.

Students and independence activists came to Japan from Vietnam, China, India and elsewhere. Here, they organized the League of East Asia and other associations, which led to the Xinhai Revolution by the Tongmenghui, also known as the Chinese United League. This also influenced black movements in the United States and Africa.

The 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki horrified the world in much the same way that airstrikes by Japanese and U.S. forces against Chongqing, China, and Tokyo, respectively, resulted in the indiscriminate massacre of noncombatants.

The Korean War reproduced the Cold War structure between the United States and the Soviet Union in East Asia, prompting Japan's rearmament. The two Koreas are still technically at war today.

The Cold War structure is also inherent in the founding of the People's Republic of China. Difficult issues such as relations between China and Taiwan, Tibet and the minority Uighur people continue to this day.

Debate still rages over the legality of Japan's annexation of the Korean Peninsula. It remains a thorn in Japan-South Korea relations, hindering reconciliation between the two countries. It also produced an argument that claimed Manchuria and Inner Mongolia as a lifeline to retain Korea.

The age-old Sinocentric order in East Asia, in which the Chinese emperor controlled local rulers by giving them investiture in return for tribute, collapsed as a result of the First Sino-Japanese War and the cession of Taiwan to Japan. The region had started shifting to the notion of international law. Japan became an empire ("national empire" as I call it) by occupying Taiwan, eventually moving toward the concept of the Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

The establishment of Manchukuo brought Muslim minorities in China under Japan's colonial umbrella. Japan headed full steam toward the expansion of dominance in Asia.

Manchukuo became a theater to give a rise to Japan's Nobusuke Kishi and South Korea's authoritarian President Park Chung Hee, among others. Anti-Japan movements served the grounds for claiming the legitimacy of the government of China and North Korea's Kim Il Sung regime. Manchukuo still casts a shadow over the postwar structure of East Asia.

Meanwhile, for war-displaced Japanese in China and those detained in Siberia, a fundamental solution is urgently needed.

The last item on my list, China's economic reform and its opening up to the world, was the starting point for a Greater China in Asia in the 21st century.

The current state of international affairs is different from that of the Sinocentric period in which China's influence was felt across East Asia, but the world is again facing a historical challenge in how to cope with China.

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Shinichi Yamamuro studies the history of interconnections between political and legal thought in Asia. He wrote "Shiso Kadai Toshiteno Asia-- Kijiku, Rensa, Toki" (Asia as an ideological challenge--foundation, interconnection and projection) and other books. He received the Shiba Ryotaro Prize for "Kempo 9-jo no Shiso Suimyaku" (Train of thought regarding Article 9 of the Constitution).(IHT/Asahi: May 6,2008)