60 Major Events of the Chinese War of Resistance Against Japan

Author: Jin Guilan, Han Xudong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: On September 18, 1931, the "September 18th Incident" occurred. Due to the sudden attack by Japanese forces and Chiang Kai-shek's order of non-resistance, most of Liaoning Province and Jilin Province quickly fell into the hands of the Japanese invaders. By January 1932, the entire Northeast was completely occupied. To strengthen colonial rule in the Northeast, Japan adopted the policy of "governing China with Chinese," and in March 1932, it fabricated the puppet state of Manchukuo in the Northeast. Puyi took the stage as the chief executive. The Japanese military headquarters, which planned the "September 18th Incident" and implemented military occupation of China's Northeast, had long had plans for colonial rule in the region. However, opinions were divided on what kind of regime should be established—whether it should be supported by Japan or directly ruled by Japan. The staff of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff and the Kwantung Army General Staff discussed this issue repeatedly. General Itagaki and General Ishihara advocated direct Japanese rule, proposing that the Northeast be completely separated from China and merged with Japan like Korea. General Tōjō, on the other hand, proposed establishing a "Five National Republic" with Japanese as the nominal leader. Some others suggested establishing a regime supported by Japan and finding a suitable puppet figure. After the "September 18th Incident," the latter opinion gained the upper hand. As a result, the Kwantung Army drafted the "Solution to the Manchurian League Issue" on September 22, establishing a Chinese regime supported by Japan, with territory including the four provinces of Northeast China and Mongolia, with Puyi as the head of state, but with defense, foreign affairs, and major portions of transportation and communications under Japanese control. This plan was soon approved by the Japanese military headquarters. Afterward, the Kwantung Army appointed Matsuki Takeo, an international law advisor from the Japanese South Manchurian Railway Survey Department, and Kojima Tokizo, a "special advisor" from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as financial advisors to study and formulate specific plans for establishing the "new regime" and colonial policies. On October 21, 1931, Matsuki Takeo and General Itagaki of the Kwantung Army drafted the "Draft of the Governance Outline for the Manchurian-Mongolian Republic"; on October 23, Jinji Chōji, the chairman of the Manchurian Youth League, proposed the "Program for Building a Free Manchurian-Mongolian Nation"; and in January 1932, the Japanese Ministry of War, Navy, and Foreign Affairs, based on Itagaki's report, jointly drafted the so-called "China Problem Handling Policy." From then on, the Kwantung Army accelerated the pace of establishing a puppet regime in accordance with the wishes of the Japanese government.
From late 1931 to early 1932, Nanjo Jushiro, the former Japanese Minister of War who was now a military counselor, secretly visited the Northeast to meet with General Honjō Shigeru of the Kwantung Army and General Tōjō and others to discuss the next steps in their plan. They decided to invite Puyi to the Northeast to establish an independent Manchurian-Mongolian nation. In reality, after being forced to abdicate, Puyi had been driven out of the Beijing palace by Feng Yuxiang on November 5, 1924, and had fled to the Japanese embassy. In February 1925, Puyi was sent to live in the Japanese concession in Tianjin. Japan used various methods to coax and control Puyi, while Puyi "was completely obsessed with the dream of restoring the Qing Dynasty." He happened to become an ideal puppet figure for Japan's rule of China's Northeast. According to the confession of Japanese war criminal "Kinosaki Hiroshi," "Puyi was chosen" because, first, he "had no connection with the Nationalist Party in China proper"; second, "some old elites in Manchuria and Mongolia still had a traditional yearning for the Qing Dynasty."