INTERVIEW/ Kazuko Mori: Modern China's impact has yet to be defined

The following are excerpts from an interview with Kazuko Mori, a Waseda University professor of East Asian relations, about the 10 biggest incidents in modern and contemporary histoy in East Asia. This interview is part of a series to complement the "Impact of History--150 years in East Asia."

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The 10 biggest incidents I chose are:

1. Opium Wars (1840-1842);

2. Meiji Restoration in 1868;

3. First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and cession of Taiwan;

4. Japan's annexation of Korea (1910-1945);

5. 15-year war between Japan and China starting from the Manchurian Incident in 1931;

6. Pacific War (1941-1945) and Japan's defeat;

7. Establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and the Asian Cold War from the 1950s to the 1970s;

8. Japan's democratization and high economic growth after the end of World War II;

9. South Korea's democratization movement since the 1980s;

10. China's "four modernizations" since the 1980s.

(In chronological order)

East Asia's modern age started with the "Western shock." The Opium Wars led to the decline of the Qing Dynasty and opened the way for modern China's sufferings. Meanwhile, Japan dealt with the situation by ending its policy of isolation and the Tokugawa Shogunate returning political power to the emperor. Does the Meiji Restoration mean Japan was the first country in East Asia to embark on modernization? Or did it give direction to Japan's ambitions in East Asia? There are many questions that need to be addressed in this regard.

With the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), the international order in East Asia drastically shifted gears to the reorganization of the Chinese empire by Japan. The cession of Taiwan led by Li Hongzhang's diplomatic initiative foreshadowed the Japan-China War and became the root cause of a "divided China" that continues to this day. In that sense, the First Sino-Japanese War has a very modern significance.

With the 1905 Second Japan-Korea Agreement and the 1910 Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty, the Korean Empire ceased to exist as Korea became a Japanese colony, symbolized by soshi-kaimei, the practice of forcing Koreans to adopt Japanese names. Japan-ruled Korea was an abnormal colony, militarily, economically and culturally. We need to clarify why modern Japan's disdain for Koreans and the rule of Korea came to have a unique structure comprising elements that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

Starting with the 1931 Manchurian Incident by the Kwantung Army (a branch of the Imperial Japanese Army based in Hsinking, present-day Changchun, in China's Jilin province) and after the 1937 Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Japan and China entered into an all-out war. Japan's aggression in northern China prompted China to act as one under the banner of anti-Japanese nationalism. After exhausting vast amounts of personnel and other resources, Japan suffered a crushing defeat. Japan and China are still troubled by a deep-seated grudge over historical recognition of the war and its estimation.

Japan, which found itself in a quagmire with its slumping military operations in China, went to war against the United States and Britain. It also advanced its aggression in Southeast Asia with an aim to obtain war resources. Around the middle of 1942, the tide turned against Japan as it faced the overwhelmingly powerful U.S. and British military forces. From there, the war situation continued to deteriorate. However, the Japanese leadership chose to fight to the last man rather than surrender. Was the decision to go to war rational? At what point should Japan have stopped? Who should shoulder ultimate responsibility? These points need to be clarified.

In response to the start of the Cold War in Europe, the People's Republic of China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) came into being in East Asia. The Korean War, which started in 1950, and China's entry into the war made the structure of division in East Asia conclusive. The situation remained in place until the United States and China became closer and Japan established diplomatic relations with China in 1972.

But what did socialism bring to China? The way it is unable to analyze the positive and negative aspects of the "legacy" left behind by Mao Tse-tung shows it is still too early to define the significance of the establishment of the people's China.

After Japan lost World War II, it underwent democratization by the occupational forces. The peace Constitution was also enacted. But we should not judge the situation by "transplanted" aspects alone.

Like Taisho democracy, the liberal movement that swept Japan during the Taisho Era (1912-1926), the foundation the Japanese people built before the war made "transplanted democracy" take root in Japanese society. The tragic consequences of the Japan-China War and the Pacific War also brought pacifism to the Japanese people.

Democracy, peace and economic growth are Japanese-style forms of self-denial and self-criticism for prewar Japanese behavior. There is no denying that they served as a growth model for postwar East Asia and became a major asset.

After being ruled by military governments, the southern part of the divided Korean Peninsula underwent transition to a democracy. Behind the trend is the emergence of the middle class and the international environment that does not tolerate military dictatorship. Although it is too early to say that democracy has been firmly established, democratization of South Korea, along with that of Taiwan, had a major impact on East Asian political order.

With the Great Leap Forward movement and the Cultural Revolution, China was left far behind the rest of the world. With Mao out of the picture and the Gang of Four's fall from power, China moved toward economic development under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping and others who promoted "four modernizations" and the plan to boost China's gross domestic product fourfold.

China parted with socialist economy and adopted an open-door policy to introduce foreign currencies and technology. In particular, with the acceleration of market economy introduced under Deng's initiative since 1992, Chinese economy continues to make remarkable growth. How long will it last? What impact will "major power China" have on the world order? These are matters of great interest in international society from now on.

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Kazuko Mori is a professor at Waseda University's Faculty of Political Science and Economics specializing in Chinese politics and foreign policy and Asian relations. She is the leader of the "21st Century COE Creation of Contemporary Asian Studies" program organized by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the author of "Gendai Chugoku Seiji" (Modern Chinese politics) and a book on Japan-China relations.(IHT/Asahi: March 3,2008)