Introduction:
1. How did Japan compensate the Allies after World War II?
2. Why did China abandon its claim for war reparations from Japan?
3. Japan's 40 years of aid to China, who should say "thank you"?
background
In 1945, after the end of World War II, the United States occupied Japan, and their policy toward Japan was very strict, the most famous of which was "demolition compensation".
Note that this compensation is not for the Japanese!
Instead, it was stipulated that all of Japan's industrial facilities could be maintained only to the minimum economic needs, and the rest would be dismantled and paid to the Allies as war reparations.
However, not long after the implementation of this policy, the world changed...
In 1947, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union broke out.
In order to resist the Soviet Union, the United States introduced the Marshall Plan to the countries of Western Europe, and in the next 4 years, most of the participating countries returned to pre-war levels, and the entire West was tightly surrounded by the United States.
The effect in the West is obvious, and the Effect in the East is not bad.
The United States also launched an Eastern Marshall Plan in Asia, which supported Japan.
According to statistics, between 1946 and 1951, Japan received as much as $2 billion in support from the United States, which is more unique than the $13.15 billion in aid from Europe as a whole.
In June 1950, the Korean War officially broke out.
In November of the same year, the British held a meeting of foreign ministers in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, and reached the "Colombo Plan", which is intended to provide assistance to Southeast Asian countries.
In hindsight, it became clear that western European countries, after their initial economic recovery, were obsessed with their former colonies, while also preventing Soviet expansion into Southeast Asia.
As a cohort, Japan joined the program in 1954, which gave Japan a glamorous veneer of war reparations.
How did Japan repay war reparations?
It is said that after the outbreak of the Korean War, Japan's status has improved by leaps and bounds, and its economy has returned to its pre-war level.
But as a defeated country, the war reparations it owed to the Allies were not yet paid. The United States has also worked hard for this little brother.
In 1951, under the joint opposition of New China and the Soviet Union, the United States, Japan, and other countries still held peace conferences in San Francisco and signed the "Peace Treaty with Japan", which was very favorable to Japan, that is, the infamous "San Francisco Peace Treaty".
Why is this peace treaty beneficial to Japan?
Because the contract was clearly biased in favor of Japan in territorial disputes with neighboring countries, and even Japan's reparations were changed.
Article 14 of the San Francisco Peace Treaty provides that:
Japan did need to compensate the countries that had suffered and suffered, but their resources were not sufficient to pay all their debts, so the Allies should waive their right to claim compensation from Japan, which in turn provided compensation to the Allies in the form of goods, services, and so on.
In 1952, japan exported goods and services to Southeast Asia, and at this time Southeast Asian countries considered it war reparations, but Japan always called it "economic cooperation".
From the outset, they avoided the idea of reparations in name, which was the basis for Why Japan did not recognize defeat and aggression.
To say that this situation, China, which was the most hurt by Japan at the beginning, should raise objections, but unfortunately, New China has always been ostracized by the United States and the West.
At this time, the nominal representative of China was still the Chiang Kai-shek clique headed by Chiang Kai-shek.
At the beginning of the victory in World War II in 1945, Chiang Kai-shek showed great tolerance for Japan.
From opposing the abolition of the emperor, to Okamura Ninji's innocence, to sending generous supplies to millions of prisoners of war to return home.
His policy of "repaying grievances with virtue and not remembering the old evils" has made the name "Jiang Gong" greatly praised in Japan.
When the Japanese remember him, they often use the phrase "without Jiang Gong, there would be no new life in Japan" to describe.
Later, the United States and Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty, and Chiang Kai-shek was also angry. Because he was not invited, he signed the contract without taking him.
In 1952, before the San Francisco Peace Treaty officially entered into force, Chiang Kai-shek seized the opportunity to sign the so-called Taipei Peace Treaty with Japan, declaring that on behalf of China, he would renounce Japan's war reparations.
With the understanding of the "representatives" of the country that suffered the most, Japan's misinterpretation of history is even more unscrupulous.
By 1954, Japan's main economic indicators had all returned to pre-war levels. As the economy grows, Japan, a small country with small resources, has become more in demand for overseas markets.
The San Francisco Peace Treaty opened the door to Southeast Asian countries, but there was much more left in Japan for goods, capital, and technology.
The Colombo plan is very much in line with their purpose.
That same year, Japan joined the program, which gave its repayment a glamorous cloak called ODA. By 1958, Japan had completely emerged from the shadow of war reparations, and all that remained was the glorious image of foreign aid.
What is ODA? Why are yen loans famous?
ODA is the English abbreviation of government development assistance, also known as official development assistance.
It is large-scale economic assistance provided by developed countries to developing countries in the proportion of not less than 25 per cent.
ODA is generally divided into 3 parts: paid loans, gratuitous financial assistance, and technical cooperation.
A repayment loan is an interest-bearing loan with a low interest rate;
Non-reimbursable financial assistance is funds that do not require reimbursement from the recipient country;
The scope of technical cooperation is very broad, including but not limited to talent exchange, technology transfer and so on.
As for why the ODA Assistance Program appeared?
In fact, as far as the global environment is concerned, the Western camp after World War II has the support of the United States, and the economy can recover rapidly, but many developing countries are facing political, economic, social shocks and other factors, which further widen the gap with developed countries.
Out of the stability and development of the international community and humanitarian considerations, developed countries have the obligation to shoulder the responsibility of assisting developing countries, and their essence is a derivative of the Colombo Plan.
Compared with the ODA program of other developed countries in Western Europe, Japan is unique.
Most Western European countries have a low proportion of repayable loans and a high donation rate; Japan has a majority of more than 70% of repayable loans, which is due to the principle of "self-help efforts" stipulated by Japan.
Self-help efforts mean that Japan will not provide the funds needed by developing countries in the form of gifts, but in the form of extended repayment deadlines for recipient countries.
Compared with the two, most of the Western aid does not need to be repaid by the recipient countries, and the recipient countries only have to wait for the pie to fall from the sky; on the contrary, the Japanese method is more like the Chinese culture of "teaching people to fish, it is better to teach people to fish."
In the long run, although Japan's repayment loans need to be repaid by recipient countries, it is indeed a win-win strategy.
As a result, the yen loan has become synonymous with a loan repaid in Japan's ODA program, and of course, it also has a rule that the loan must be repaid in yen.
Even so, Japan's ODA program is commendable to recipient countries.
But is that really the case?
Beneath its glamorous exterior, I'm afraid there are still inexplicable careful thoughts.
Why China gave up war reparations
In 1972, the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement was issued, and the diplomatic relations between the two countries began to normalize.
In this statement, we used the following wording:
For the sake of friendship between the Chinese and Japanese peoples, the demand for war reparations against Japan was abandoned.
After more than 20 years, China officially announced that it would renounce war reparations because Leaders such as Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou knew that if China continued to demand reparations, the burden would eventually be passed on to the Japanese people, Chinese people had experienced this kind of suffering. For the sake of peace between the two countries, they do not want the Japanese people to suffer from this kind of suffering.
Of course, there are some historical factors to this consideration.
The issue between the mainland and Taiwan Province is an internal contradiction among the people, and after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, the "Taipei Peace Treaty" signed by Chiang Kai-shek automatically became invalid.
But his declaration of renunciation of compensation was first, and if we continue to claim, the international image will be greatly reduced. After multiple considerations, the final decision was made.
However, the waiver of claims only means that the government has waived this right, and the right of private and individuals to claim compensation from Japan has never been waived!
Even in the 1990s, many mainland leaders publicly stated their positions on this issue on many occasions.
However, because of Chiang Kai-shek's "generosity" at the beginning, Japan had an excuse to set up a clever name, and they not only refused to admit their former acts of aggression, but also greatly changed their textbooks to this end and beautified their history of aggression.
Japan's various acts of falsifying history made it difficult for people to make legitimate claims, and Chiang Kai-shek was enshrined in a temple built by the Japanese after his death.
Japan's ODA aid program in China
In 1973, the first oil crisis broke out, and Japan, as a country that was highly dependent on imports for resources, faced a crisis of economic recession.
To ensure economic security, it must develop new channels for importing resources, and China is the best choice.
But cooperation with China still needs to wait!
By the end of the 1970s, China had embarked on a mighty reform and opening up, and Japan's opportunity had come.
In September 1978, Yoshihiro Inayama, president of the Japan-China Economic Association, visited China and proposed yen loans to China.
In May 1979, China and Japan signed a development financing agreement that included Japan's financing of 420 billion yen (about $1.911 billion at the then-time exchange rate). Interest rate 3%, repayment term of 30 years, including 10 years of lending period), in addition to other private coordinated financing of $2 billion.
In September 1979, Vice Premier Tani Maki visited Japan, and he formally applied for a yen loan to the Japanese government, and the two sides reached the first yen loan agreement.
The second loan was made in March 1984 during a visit to China by Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, and the total amount was 470 billion yen (about $2.084 billion at the then exchange rate). Interest rates 3%-3.25%, repayment term of 30 years, grace period of 10 years), in addition to $370 million of pro bono technical cooperation, with $200 million of gratuitous funding.
The third loan was reached in 1988 by Japanese Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita during his visit to China, and China and Japan reached a loan agreement of 810 billion yen (about $6.428 billion at the then exchange rate).
The fourth time was in 1995, when Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama visited China, with a total amount of 970 billion yen (about $10.258 billion at the then exchange rate).
The fifth was from 2000 to 2005, with a total amount of 540 billion yen (about $5.142 billion at 2000 exchange rates).
Since 2008, Japan has stopped its yen loan business to China, and as of October 2018, Japan's ODA program for China has officially ended, and all projects have ended in March 2022.
Japan's aid to China lasted 40 years, with a total of more than 3.2 trillion yen (about $27.823 billion), more than 157.5 billion yen (about $1.27 billion), and more than 184 billion yen (about $1.48 billion) in technical assistance.
As Premier Zhu once said: Aid has helped the economic development of both sides!
Japan's dispute over China's ODA
For a long time, we knew very little about Japan's aid.
According to Japan, we took Japanese money to build, but we also carried out anti-Japanese propaganda at home!
Therefore, after the end of the Cold War, Japan carried out a lot of propaganda on ODA's aid to China through the media of China and Japan; Japan's NHK television station even made a special documentary; in addition, newspapers and magazines on both sides of the strait and three places also carried out in-depth reports on this issue.
Nowadays, as long as it is said on the Internet which country has helped China a lot, there will be many people who will leave messages in support of Japan, so it seems that their work has been fruitful.
However, for a long time, most of the people's impression of Japan seems to remain in place.
This has to make people wonder whether there is an ODA aid program, will it really affect the impression of Japan on the Japanese people?
When I was checking the information, I saw a conversation in which the Japanese people asked questions of Premier Zhu who was visiting Japan.
He said he felt deeply guilty about Japan's aggressive behavior, but China always demanded an apology from Japan.
Premier Zhu's answer to him was deafening, saying:
In all the official documents, Japan has never apologized to Chinese people, so we can't say that China's endless demand for Japan to apologize, whether it is your business or not, but I hope you will consider this issue.
Seeing this, I kind of understand!
Who should say thank you?
Premier Zhu once commented on the ODA plan: Aid is helpful to the economic development of both sides!
Why?
As mentioned above, the dilemma faced by Japan in the 1970s, China's reform and opening up became The ballast stone for Japan.
By 1985, the Plaza Accord was widely known, and Japan seemed to have lost 10 or 20 years because of it. However, this agreement was strongly promoted by Japan, and their purpose was to appreciate the yen and open up overseas markets.
As mentioned earlier, more than 70% of Japan's foreign ODA assistance program is a paid loan and must be settled in Yen.
In December 1979, $1 was exchanged for 239.9 yen; by December 1986, $1 was exchanged for 162.13 yen; by April 1995, $1 was exchanged for 83.53 yen.
At this time, the appreciation of the yen is no longer a percentage, but a multiplier.
During this period, China signed three loans to Japan, totaling 1.7 trillion yen, and a few months later, the fourth loan of 970 billion yen will also be met.
There may be other factors affecting the change in the exchange rate, but Japan's practice of restricting aid during ODA is not even seen by Western countries.
Restrictive aid, in short, is the use of Japanese aid with additional conditions, such as yen loans can only buy Japanese goods, labor, technology, and so on.
This approach was once rejected by Western European countries, which they considered to have seriously affected the positive image of donors.
Forced to do so, Japan ended this rule at the end of the Cold War, but since then, japanese companies have always fallen behind in the bidding program for aid projects.
As a last resort, Japan negotiated in 1998 to restore the binding conditions and continue to expand.
Seeing this, some friends may have questions: What does China get from the aid?
It is certain that China has profited, but it has also paid a price.
At the beginning of the reformation, we lacked experience and had to seek advice from donor countries and follow their advice.
And Japan was the first country to lend a helping hand to China, although because of the existence of restrictive conditions, what to do and what not to do will be greatly restricted, such as low-end manufacturing, such as environmental damage.
But we are patient and thick and thin!
Before 2006, Japan's total ODA accounted for more than 1/4 of the world's total, of which the Chinese market accounted for the majority; of all the aid China received, Japan accounted for 61.2%.
In the win-win cooperation between the two sides, the 1990s came to a time when Japan gradually felt the pressure of Chinese manufacturing, and in the new century, this pressure was even more obvious.
Japan's policy toward China had to change and change until 2008, when yen loans were stopped, and another 10 years later, nearly half a century of aid officially ended.
After Japan's assistance to China is over, whether or not to say thank you has become a topic of great controversy, and all kinds of discussions about who will help more are also enduring.
To paraphrase Premier Zhu, this is something that is beneficial to the development of both sides!
If so, why thank anyone?
If I have to thank you, it should be my thank you, you thank me!