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The
series of wars and conflicts between China and Japan are
known as the Sino-Japanese Wars. These wars weakened
China, while helping Japan gain more power; that is,
until the final war, in which China finally gained
allies, most notably the United States and Great Britain.
The Second Sino-Japanese War is also considered a part of
World War Two.
While
no armed conflicts have broken out since the end of World
War Two between these two Asian nations, a lot of
distrust and animosity remain, partly as leftovers from
the Japanese Occupation of China, but also as a result of
nationalist politics in both countries, as seen in the
recent dispute over the Diaoyu-Senkaku
Islands.
First
Sino-Japanese War
(1894-1895)--The first conflict between China and
Japan took place over who would control Korea, a small
nation located between them. Japan defeated the
technologically inferior Chinese forces, and gained
control of Korea. Japan would rule Korea until the end of
World War Two in 1945. Japan gained control of the
Chinese Diaouy Islands. The Japanese name for this
uninhabited island chain is the Senkaku
Islands.
The
Boxer Rebellion
(1899-1901)--A Chinese secret society called the
Righteous Harmony Society, and called "The Boxers" by
Western observers, began an uprising to drive Western
influence from China. While the rebels also at first
opposed the ruling government, called the Manchu Dynasty,
the government soon managed to direct most of the
violence against European, American, and Japanese
cultural, political, military, and diplomatic interests
in China. After the rebels and the government's military
began a siege of the Foreign Legations (foreign
embassies) in the capital of Beijing (known as Peking at
the time), an unlikely alliance of eight nations gathered
military forces to invade China and save their embassies,
as well as to preserve the power and influence they had
long held in China. These allies included: Great Britain,
France, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Russia, the
United States, and Japan. This China Relief Expedition
totaled nearly 45,000 men, and quickly invaded China,
seizing Beijing. China was forced to pay war reparations,
(in other words, they had to repay their enemies for the
financial cost of the war), accept more foreign troops on
Chinese soil.
Jinan
Incident (May 3rd Incident)
(1928-1929)--During the period of Chinese civil wars
between the Nationalist government and various warlords,
one of the warlords allied himself with Japan, who
already occupied the Shantung Peninsula during World War
One. In 1927, the advancing Nationalist army clashed with
Japanese and warlord forces. A cease-fire was agreed upon
in March, 1928.
Japanese
Occupation of Manchuria (1931-1932)--The
Japanese Army invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria
in 1931, setting up a puppet government. Japan wanted
Manchuria due to the great natural resources in this
northern portion of China. Japan's excuse for invading
was the so-called Mukden Incident (known as the "9.18
Incident" in China). Some historians date the beginning
of World War Two to the beginning of the Mukden Incident
and the Japanese takeover of Manchuria.
First
Battle of Shanghai (January
28 to March 4, 1932)--In an attempt to break the
Chinese boycott of Japanese goods and businesses begun
after the Mukden Incident, the Japanese Army lands at the
Chinese port city of Shanghai in January of 1932. The
Chinese 19th Route Army held 70,000 Japanese troops to
the area around the waterfront for nearly a month until
being driven from the city by the invaders. As a result
of the Japanese seizure of the city, China abandoned the
boycott. Japan's effective use of aircraft carrier-based
planes was the first use of this tactic in the
Pacific/East Asia region. This is also known as the
Shanghai War of 1932.
Japanese
Invasion of Jehol Province (January
to March 1933)--The Japanese advanced from their
positions in occupied Manchuria (which they renamed
Manchukou), to occupy Jehol, near the Mongolian border.
Chinese resistance ended as the Japanese advanced closer
to Peking. An armistice was signed on March
31.
Second
Sino-Japanese War
(1937-1945)--Japan launched an all-out invasion of
China after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on July 7,
1937. Japan used this battle as an excuse to invade
China, beginning a war which would kill millions, draw in
the United States, Great Britain and other nations, and
end with the defeat of Japan in 1945. Some historians
date the beginning of World War Two to the beginning of
this war.
Map
Courtesy of the AP
Diaoyu-Senkaku
Islands Dispute
(2010)--While Japan and China have not fought a
war since 1945, they really do not like each other. This
is partially evidenced by the ongoing dispute over a
group of uninhabited islands between Japan and China
(which Taiwan also claims, by the way). China calls them
the Diaoyu Islands, while Japan calls them the Senkaku
Islands (see map above). Both nations claim the islands
as their territory, and this dispute escalated in
September, 2010, when Japanese authorities seized a
Chinese fishing trawler that collided with Japanese
patrol boats and arrested the boat's captain.
Nationalist-minded
Chinese activists previously have landed on the rocky
islands in order to raise the Chinese flag, but the boat
incident is the most serious diplomatic dispute over
these islands in decades.
Again, in August, 2012,
the dispute over these islands erupted, as a group of 14
nationalists from Hong Kong and mainland Chinese traveled
by boat to the disputed islands and planted Chinese
flags. Japanese authorities arrested them, but then
several Japanese nationalists journeyed to the islands to
plant Japanese flags. Chinese public opinion erupted in
anti-Japanese protests and attacks on Japanese business
interests in China.
In mid-September, 2012,
the Japanese national government purchased the three
islands that were under private ownership, presumably to
prevent the governor of Tokyo, who is an extreme
nationalist, from acquiring them with Tokyo funds. This
purchase set off a new round of protests in China. An
escalation of the tension between China and Japan reached
new heights when six chinese military surveillance ships
entered Japanese waters near the islands. Japanese Coast
Guard vessels warned the Chinese ships via radio to
leave. All six Chinese ships eventually left
Japanese-claimed waters.
Senkaku Islands, also
known as the Diaoyu Islands
Recent
Issues Between Japan and China Resources:
Japanese
activists land, raise flags on disputed island, provoking
Chinese protests--Businessweek, August 18, 2012
The
Sino-Japanese Naval War of 2012: OK, it's probably not
going to happen. But if it did, who would win?
-Foreign Policy, by By James R. Holmes, August 20,
2012
Arrest
of boat captain escalates Japan-China
rivalry--Seattle
Times, Sept. 11, 2001
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5th ed. Binghamton, NY: CQ Press, 2004.
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New York: Harper & Row, 1970. 