On the morning of September 21, 2023, Professor Yin Yanjun of Kanto Gakuin University, Japan, was invited to give an advanced lecture on world politics with the topic of “Sino-Japanese War Reparations and Peace Treaties - Starting from the Diplomatic Negotiations between China and Japan”. The lecture was hosted by Associate Professor Zhao Guangrui of the School of International Studies and was attended by more than 30 undergraduate students majoring in international politics.
From a historical perspective, Professor Yin Yanjun took the Sino-Japanese War of of 1894-1895, the 14-year War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Cairo Declaration, and the Poznan Declaration as examples to sort out and analyze the evolution of the diplomatic negotiations between China and Japan, as well as the key concerns and demands of the two sides in the history of modern international relations. He pointed out that the issue of war reparations has been the focus of post-war talks between the two warring sides. After the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing government, as the defeated party, had no more bargaining opportunities, while Japan took the opportunity to obtain huge amounts of reparations through the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which were used to accelerate domestic industrial and military modernization. After the World War II, as the time was ripe for the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, the issue of war reparations came up again. China’s eventual renunciation of war claims against Japan reflects the principle of peace and friendship that China has always honored in its foreign relations, and represents the magnanimity and long-term vision of a great nation. He suggested that although China and Japan still have many frictions and differences over the historical issue, both sides are still trying to find common ground for cooperation in order to realize the normal development of relations between the two countries.
In the Q&A session, the students actively asked questions about the current policy direction of the Japanese government, the US factors in Sino-Japanese relations, and the obstacles of resistance in the development of China-Japan relations. Professor Yin patiently answered them one by one. The lecture ended with warm applause from the students, who expressed that they had benefitedgreatly from it. (Text/ Wang Xinyu, Translate/ Bao Yiwen)
