Shigeru Yoshida Early In China's Diplomatic Thinking

Yosidasigeiru (1878-1967) was a well-known Japanese statesman and diplomat. As a high- ranking official active in the core of the Japanese continental pplicy, he developed his own unique diplomatic thinking and ideas and made his mark in the modern diplomatic history of Japan. So far, because of his special status in Japanese political and diplomatic history after the war and because he placed top priority on development of economy and established it as the basic policy for Japan after the war, people in the academic circles tend to equate the name of Yosidasigeiru with pro-Anglo-American diplomatic thinking and conservatism. Because of his pro-Anglo-American characteristics, it is natural that some Japanese scholars call him a pro-Anglo-American diehard.But careful and extensive reading of his writings and examination of his early diplomatic practice reveals one more important feature of his early diplomatic thinking, that is, his early philosophical thinking formed in his treatment of the diplomatic relation with China. He did not change his ideas with fluctuation of individual persons or schools, but rather firmly based his thinking on loyalty to the king and built his worldview on imperialism. He formulated Japan' s foreign policies according to the changing times and situations and emphasized economic interest, abidance by the law, and pursuit of order. He regarded Anglo-American mediation as solution to the China problem. He tried to use reasonable means to practice his thinking characterized by aggression in diplomatic relation with China. So advocacy and practice of imperialism and pursuit of economic interest characterizes his early diplomatic philosophical thinking toward China. However, there has been little research and study of Yosidasigeiru' s diplomatic thinking in this perspective. The author of this paper makes a comprehensive and systematic examination of Yosidasigeiru' s diplomatic thinking in the context of modern Japanese ?political and diplomatic history. The paper starts with analysis of concrete historical facts with emphasis on typical activities he participated during the three periods before the war, and describes the development of his diplomatic thinking toward China after he entered the Japanese foreign ministry. The paper also reveals important features of his diplomatic thinking toward China, analyses his influence over Japan' s foreign policy, his early development of diplomatic thinking toward China and provides evidence for further study on his strategies for the development of Japan and policies toward China after the war as well as Japan' s political ideological history.The paper is divided into six chapters. In the introduction part, the author traces the development of Yosidasigeiru' s diplomatic thinking toward China and its relations with Japan' s modern continental policies. The author proposes that Yosidasigeiru' s diplomatic thinking toward China was the outcome of his inheritance of Yaosidamatukagei' s continental policies, the gist of which is that what is lost in the west is to be got from China and Korea. The author also reviews related literature and introduces the methodology and approaches of the present paper.In the first chapter the author examines Yosidasigeiru' s early understanding of China and how he carried forward Japan' s Meiji foreign policies, which formed the basis for his diplomatic thinking. The early Chinese Confucianism education and colonialism education background formed the basis of his diplomatic thinking toward China. After growth, he inherited Meiji foreign policies in practice.From Chapter 2 to 4, the author tries to reveal the development, formation and change of Yosidasigeiru' s diplomatic thinking toward China through an examination of three activities which he participated. Specifically, the second chapter examines Yosidasigeiru' s participation in the proposal, operation and outcome of the management strategies of Yalujiang Lumbering Company from which we can see his emphasis on mercantilism in his early diplomatic rel...