The United States and the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895

Abstract

In the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the United States claimed to be neutral, but was in fact pro-Japanese. Before the war, it repeatedly refused mediation requests by China and Korea and rejected Britain’s joint mediation proposal while tacitly agreeing to or inciting Japan’s launching a war. During the war, American diplomats, as wartime protectors of both Japanese and Chinese nationals, frequently went beyond the limits of international law to protect Japanese spies in China. As the only mediator between China and Japan, the United States rejected the joint mediation efforts of European powers and helped reduce international pressure on Japan. At the same time, it unilaterally convinced the Qing government to accept Japan’s aggressive demands so as to help Japan achieve its war aims. The main reason for the United States’ bias towards Japan was that it hoped to use Japan to end the tributary relationship between China and Korea in order to further open the door to China while weakening the influence of Britain and Russia in East Asia.     

The First Sino-Japanese War Indemnity Revisited

Abstract

The question of the amount of the First Sino-Japanese War indemnity involves three main elements: Japan’s military expenditure on the war, China’s actual payment, and the actual amount Japan received. On all of these issues, there have always been considerable differences between Chinese and Japanese scholars. In this study, we analyze relevant archives and documents and the main scholarly work in both China and Japan and provide a detailed discussion of several scholarly points of views and their basis, and examine the pre- and postwar exchange rates between the yen, the Chinese treasury standard (Kuping) silver tael, and the pound sterling, taking account of the fluctuating value of the yen before and after the war. On this basis, we calculate that Japan’s actual military spending on the war was no more than 125 million yen, while the actual payments by the Qing government, converted to pounds sterling and then to yen, totaled 358.36 million yen. Japan extorted 233.36 million yen from China, or three times Japan’s total annual revenue at the time.     

The Hidden Logic of Japan＇s Foreign Wars： 1592-1945

从1592年到1945年,日本在东亚地区先后发动了“壬辰倭乱”、“甲午战争”和侵华战争等大规模兵燹。这一系列剑指东亚的侵略行动,定凋于丰成秀吉,承绍于明治天皇,膨胀于昭和时代,已形成隐秘于事实背后的一以贯之的思考模式和行为惯性。“二战”后主张切断战争『日J关联的意见,并不符合历史上日本人的自身说法和做法,却符合现代日本学界的个别表述。因此,钩沉每场战争之间的事实和逻辑隐情,还区域战事以本来属性．或许能对东亚问题的基础研究和现实关照有所补益。     

The Hidden Logic of Japan’s Foreign Wars: 1592-1945

From 1592 to 1945, Japan conducted a series of military incursions in East Asia, including the invasion of Korea of 1592-1598, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and the Japanese War of Aggression against China of the 1930s-1940s. The tone of this series of aggressive actions was set by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was continued in the Meiji Restoration and magnified in the Showa era, crystallizing into a pervading pattern of thought and action hiding behind the facts. Those post-World War II views that propose to cut the connections among these wars launched by Japan do not conform to the way Japanese said and behaved in the past but merely endorse some contemporary Japanese academic opinions. Therefore, exploring the facts and hidden logic linking these wars and restoring the original attributes of each regional war may be of benefit to fundamental studies and realistic concerns about Eastern Asian issues.     

论抗日民族解放战争中的毛泽东

抗日战争是中国近代以来第一次取得完全胜利的反侵略战争,在抗日民族解放战争中,毛泽东正确地分析了全面抗战爆发后的形势和党面临的任务,适时领导我党我军实行军事战略的转变;科学地预见抗战历史进程;系统地阐明了持久战的理论和抗日游击战争的战略方针;在总结统一战线工作的经验教训的基础上,制定了抗日民族统一战线的策略总方针,完整地提出了同国民党顽固派斗争的政策和策略;全面总结了中国革命的经验教训,系统地论述了新民主主义革命理论;创造性地发动整风运动,使全党在马克思主义基础上达到了空前的团结和统一;领导召开党的第七次全国代表大会,制定出打败日本侵略者解放全国人民的政治路线和纲领,为抗日战争的胜利和夺取新民主主义在全国的胜利奠定了基础。     

评《苏德互不侵犯条约》与第二次世界大战的关系

关于二战爆发前夕前苏联与纳粹德国签订的《苏德互不侵犯条约》，长期以来史学界褒贬不一。争论焦点在于该条约与二战的爆发是否有直接关系上。事实证明，二战的爆发与德国的野心及英法的绥靖政策间有着直接的关系，而苏德条约客观上虽促使二战提前爆发，但它同时也具有一定的积极作用。     

抗日战争时期科技发展的模式转换和道路分野

科技发展是推动近代中国社会演进的核心力量。“五四”以后,科学作为一种新的文化价值系统和信仰权威进入中国社会的具体操作层面。中国社会的科学化与中国社会的现代化相伴而行;抗战时期中国的科技事业在进退失据中曲折发展,一方面表现为国统区英美式的科技发展模式的继受和顿挫,另一方面表现为解放区苏联式科技发展模式的辟莽和创新;抗战时期国共科技政策的价值取向存在差异性,但在绩效上也具有一定的趋同性,二者都成为抗战胜利的重要因素,皆是中国现代化进程中不可或缺的环节。     

自我行动与自主经营理解中国人何以将自主经营当作其参与市场实践的首选方式

是什么决定着中国人将自主经营当作其参与市场实践的首选方式?本文的假设是,自我行动是影响和决定中国人选择自主经营这一市场实践方式的根本力量. 其中,源于自我主义的自治感是引导中国人偏爱以自主经营的方式参与市场实践的主观力量;而来自关系理性的亲友关系运作则是决定个体能否获取社会资源, 从而决定其能否实现自主经营的客观力量. 这一假设给出了有关中国私营企业成长的两个显著特征,即增长迅速,但其组织规模偏小的解释,同时,也使我们得以对中国人参与市场实践的两类变通性策略行动（即合伙经营和打工）及其后果作出一种延伸性的解释.     

SPECIAL ISSUE： DIALOGUE,INTERACTION AND NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN PHILOSOPHY IN CONTEMPORARY CHINA - SPECIALIST FORUM ON CHINESE,WESTERN AND MARXIST PHILOSOPHIES：Wanted： dialogue at the level of value beliefs among Chinese,Western and Marxist philosophies

价值信念层面的对话是哲学对话的深层维度，同时也是最为困难和艰难的维度。价值信念层面的良性对话，是中国哲学、西方哲学、马克思主义哲学三者之间进行一种真正开放和深入的沟通和融合的前提条件，也是立足于当代中国人的生活世界，推进当代中国人生命存在的自我理解、建构当代中国哲学形态并生成我们民族“哲学自我”的重要内容与根本途径。