Zang Yunhu: Modern Japan’s Path Toward Wars of Aggression Against China [1][2]
General Secretary Xi Jinping, in his important speech at the symposium commemorating the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, pointed out: "Japan’s sustained aggression against China is the darkest page in the history of China since the beginning of the modern era." Starting with the invasion of Taiwan, China, in 1874, modern Japan’s aggressive actions against China spanned more than 70 years, with the half-century encompassing the First Sino-Japanese War and the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression being the most prominent.
The 20 Years Prior to the First Sino-Japanese War (1874–1893). Following the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese government dispatched envoys to China in 1870. On September 13, 1871, representatives of China and Japan signed the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Amity and the Sino-Japanese Trade Regulations in Tianjin. The preamble of the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Amity emphasized that China and Japan had "long cultivated friendship over many years, and now wish to jointly renew old ties to further consolidate diplomatic relations." Article 1 stipulated that both countries should henceforth "redouble their harmony and friendship, enduring as long as heaven and earth," and further provided that "territories belonging to either country shall be treated with mutual respect, without any encroachment, to ensure permanent security." This was the first equal treaty concluded between China and Japan. However, shortly after the establishment of diplomatic relations, Japan repeatedly requested treaty revisions, all of which were rejected by the Chinese government. Parallel to the treaty revision negotiations, the two countries engaged in diplomatic struggles surrounding the following events.
At the beginning of the modern era, the so-called "Argument for Conquering Taiwan" [1] emerged in Japan. In late 1871, Japan used the "Mudan Village Incident" [2] as a pretext to seize the opportunity to attack Taiwan. In February 1874, the Japanese government formulated the "Outline for the Disposal of Taiwan's Aboriginal Territories." In May, Japanese troops formally invaded Taiwan. The people of Taiwan rose in resistance, and the Qing government dispatched officials to Taiwan to manage maritime defense. Japan sent a mission to Beijing for negotiations, and on October 31, the Special Articles on the Taiwan Affair were signed, stipulating that China pay Japan 500,000 taels of silver in reparations and that Japanese troops withdraw from Taiwan by December 20. The 1874 invasion of Taiwan was the first major incident to occur after the signing of the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Amity; it marked the first time modern Japan deployed troops overseas, directly targeting Chinese territory, thus initiating more than 70 years of sustained aggression against China.
While invading Taiwan, Japan was also preparing to annex the Ryukyu Islands. In 1871, Japan abolished the feudal domains and established prefectures, replacing the Satsuma Domain with Kagoshima Prefecture and placing Ryukyu affairs under its jurisdiction. In October 1872, the Japanese government established the "Ryukyu Domain" independent of Kagoshima Prefecture, attempting to gradually incorporate Ryukyu into Japanese territory. The Qing government engaged in negotiations with the Japanese government, but Japan decided to forcibly "dispose" of Ryukyu. In 1879, the Japanese government abolished the "Ryukyu Domain" and renamed it "Okinawa Prefecture"; the Ryukyu Kingdom thus fell. The Qing government continued negotiations with Japan, but the matter eventually came to nothing due to the outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War.
Simultaneous with the "Argument for Conquering Taiwan," Japan also proposed the "Argument for Conquering Korea." In April 1875, Japan dispatched warships to encroach upon Korea, instigating the "Ganghwa Island Incident." On February 26, 1876, Japan forced Korea to sign the Treaty of Ganghwa, an unequal treaty imposed by Japan. In 1884, the Gapsin Coup occurred in Korea, and both China and Japan dispatched troops to the peninsula. In 1885, China and Japan signed the Sino-Japanese Convention of Tientsin (Tianjin), which provided Japan with the convenience to deploy troops to Korea again. In 1890, Japanese Prime Minister Yamagata Aritomo formally proposed the "Two Lines" theory for Japanese national development: in addition to the first "Line of Sovereignty," he explicitly defined a second "Line of Interest," the focus of which was the Korean Peninsula. Modern Japan’s "Continental Policy" of invading China via the Korean Peninsula was thus formally established.
The 20 Years After the First Sino-Japanese War (1895–1914). In the spring of 1894, the "Donghak" [3] peasant organization in Korea launched an uprising. The Chinese government dispatched troops at the request of the Korean government, and Japan also sent land and sea forces. Subsequently, Japan not only refused to withdraw its troops but, while China was withdrawing, launched a surprise attack on Chinese warships in the waters off Pungdo, starting the war without a formal declaration. The First Sino-Japanese War had begun. Chinese land and sea forces suffered a crushing defeat, and Japan occupied China's Liaodong Peninsula and Weihaiwei. Following Japanese demands, the Qing government sent Li Hongzhang to Japan for negotiations. On April 17, 1895, the Treaty of Shimonoseki (Maguan) was signed. This war was a landmark historical event signifying a "reversal" in modern Sino-Japanese relations. From this point, Japan developed into one of the military-feudal imperialist powers, China’s semi-colonial status was greatly deepened, and the Chinese nation faced a severe crisis of national subjugation and racial extinction [4]. After the war, the Sinocentric tributary system ceased to exist, the nascent Japanese Empire rose, and the international regional order in East Asia was completely transformed.
Following the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan intensified its aggressive actions against China alongside Western powers. In 1900, to suppress the Boxer Movement in China, Japan participated in the "Eight-Nation Alliance" [5] that invaded China, occupied Tianjin and Beijing, and forced the Chinese government to sign the Protocol of 1901 (Xinchou Treaty). Japan contributed the largest number of troops to the Alliance, serving as its vanguard and main force. To monitor the Qing government’s implementation of the treaty, the various powers stationed troops along the railway from Beijing to Shanhaiguan; Japan dispatched the "China Garrison Army" (Qingguo Zhutunjun) with headquarters in Tianjin—the first army modern Japan stationed within China.
The Treaty of Shimonoseki stipulated Japan’s annexation of the Liaodong Peninsula, but Russia, joined by Germany and France, intervened to force Japan to return the peninsula after China paid a redemption fee. On February 10, 1904, in order to seize Northeast China and Korea, Japan formally declared war on Russia. Subsequently, under American mediation, representatives of Japan and Russia signed the Treaty of Portsmouth, which stipulated the transfer of Russian interests in China's Liaodong Peninsula to Japan. Japan then dispatched a mission to Beijing to force the Qing government to sign a treaty recognizing this transfer of Chinese sovereignty between Russia and Japan. Southern Northeast China subsequently became a base for Japanese aggression and expansion in China.
After the First World War (1919–1930). In July 1914, World War I broke out, and Japan declared war on Germany using the Anglo-Japanese Alliance as a pretext. After the Japanese army landed on the Shandong Peninsula, it joined the Japanese navy to capture Jiaozhou Bay. On January 18, 1915, the Japanese Minister to China formally presented the "Twenty-One Demands" to Yuan Shikai in Beijing. On May 7, Japan issued an "ultimatum" demanding that China accept them. On May 25, the Yuan Shikai government signed the Sino-Japanese Treaty of the Fourth Year of the Republic (Min-Si Treaty), basically accepting the demands. Japan thus inherited and expanded all German interests in Shandong, continued to expand interests in Manchuria and Mongolia, and established the joint Hanyeping Company.
In 1919, at the Paris Peace Conference, the Chinese government delegation raised legitimate demands to abolish the "Twenty-One Demands" and recover Shandong, but these were refused discussion. The May Fourth Movement broke out within China, and the Chinese delegation refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles. At the Washington Conference, the Chinese delegation again proposed the abolition of the "Twenty-One Demands." In December 1922, the Chinese government recovered sovereignty over Shandong, but Japan retained several interests. In 1923, when Russia's 25-year lease of Lushun and Dalian expired, the Chinese government demanded the Japan-inherited lease be abolished; the Japanese government refused to respond, continuing to maintain its so-called "Manchurian and Mongolian interests" through unequal treaties.
Japan colluded with the Fengtian clique of warlords [6] to continuously expand its interests in China. As China’s National Revolution shook the rule of the Fengtian warlords, the Tanaka Giichi cabinet convened the Eastern Conference in June 1927, determining a policy toward China focused on separating Manchuria and Mongolia. After the meeting, Prime Minister Tanaka submitted this policy to Emperor Showa; the "Tanaka Memorial" exposed the strategy and route of Japanese imperialist wars of aggression. On May 3, 1928, to obstruct the Northern Expedition of the National Revolutionary Army and protect its special interests in North China and Manchuria-Mongolia, Japan instigated the Jinan Incident. On June 4, the Japanese Kwantung Army engineered the Huagutun Incident [7] and began brewing an even larger conspiracy to invade China.
From Regional to Total War of Aggression (1931–1945). In 1931, Japan launched the September 18th Incident, seizing more than 1.1 million square kilometers of territory in Northeast China. In March 1932, Japan propped up the puppet regime of "Manchukuo" led by Puyi. In 1935, Japan engineered the "North China Incident," attempting to detach five provinces of North China, bringing the Chinese nation to its most perilous moment. As Japan intensified its aggression in North China, the Anti-Japanese National United Front advocated by the Communist Party of China (CPC) gained the support of the whole nation, and the Nationalist Government was forced toward resistance.
On July 7, 1937, the Japanese army provoked the Lugou Bridge Incident (Marco Polo Bridge Incident), opening the prologue to a total war of aggression against China. Later, it provoked the "August 13" Incident in Shanghai to further expand the war. During the stage of strategic stalemate, Japan relied primarily on puppet regimes to maintain rule in occupied areas. The Kuomintang and the CPC resisted the Japanese invaders tenaciously on the frontal battlefield and the behind-the-enemy-lines battlefield, respectively. The resistance behind enemy lines led by the CPC played the role of the "mainstay" (zhongliuzhu), and the Chinese theater became the main eastern theater of World War II. On August 15, 1945, Japan announced its surrender. The 14-year War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression by the Chinese people was the first great victory won by the Chinese nation in a war against foreign aggression in modern times. It was also the historical turning point for the Chinese nation, moving from a deepening crisis toward great rejuvenation.
"The past, if not forgotten, is a guide for the future"; history is the best textbook and a sobering agent. The barbaric aggression of Japanese militarism caused unprecedented disaster for the Chinese people and sparked their tenacious resistance. Today, on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the victory of the War of Resistance, the path of modern Japan’s sustained aggression against China—centered on these two major wars—and its historical lessons still deserve our profound review and in-depth summation.
(The author is a professor in the Department of History, Peking University) Source: Chinese Social Sciences Net - China Social Sciences Today, July 9, 2025. Web Editor: Tongxin