On August 15, 1945, the good news came, countless people wept with joy, and the news quickly spread all over China. In the streets and alleys of all parts of the country, people spontaneously celebrate, and the liveliness even exceeds that of the Spring Festival.
For those who lived through this day, the day was full of honor because the surrender of Japan ended the war of aggression against our country.
The Japanese invaded China and committed many crimes, causing irreparable damage to the Chinese nation. According to the post-war agreement, Japan should compensate China with $21.6 billion in war reparations.
In the context of the global economy at the time, this huge amount of compensation was a huge burden for any country. For Japan, which has exhausted its national strength in order to start a foreign war, it will not be able to repay it in the short term.
However, less than a year after the war, the Kuomintang reactionaries provoked a full-scale civil war, and the people in Japan withered and there were no assets that could be used for reparations.
As a result, war reparations had to be postponed.
After the war, after defeating the Kuomintang reactionaries and forming the People's **, our party had almost no diplomatic ties with Japan due to diplomatic tactics. It was not until 1972, when Sino-US relations thawed and Nixon's visit to China that countries in the same camp as China began to gradually establish ties with us.
In the same year, Japan began to contact us, and the two countries gradually established diplomatic relations. The related matters of war reparations were gradually put on the agenda, however, at this time, ** decided to take the initiative to give up the sky-high war reparations that Japan owed us.
At that time, New China was in a critical period of construction, and 21.6 billion US dollars was also a construction fund that was difficult to give up for China. For ***'s decision, many people didn't understand it at that time.
The wisdom and decision-making are forward-looking and far-reaching. Although some people have doubts about the war reparations, in fact, it is a wise choice he made for the future development of New China.
In World War II, the painful memories that Japan inflicted on our country are forever etched in our hearts, reminding us that if we fall behind, we will be beaten. Although Sino-Japanese relations have improved and there are many economic exchanges, we still have a wary and hostile attitude toward Japan.
However, both in the past and now, we cannot deny that the strategic decisions of *** have brought great benefits and benefits to our country.
In the war of aggression against China, the Japanese army committed many crimes, which made people feel heartbroken. However, at that time, he proposed to give up Japan's sky-high war reparations of $21.6 billion, which caused many people to question and puzzle at the time.
Some people can't even understand why *** would make such a decision. However, when this decision was made, it was well known that there would be opposition.
But this is also the decision made after careful consideration and comprehensive consideration of many reasons. At the same time, it is worth mentioning that at that time, neither China nor Japan was willing to mention the issue of war reparations.
The payment of war reparations was first negotiated between the Kuomintang reactionaries and the Japanese.
Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuomintang reactionaries, anxious to start a full-scale war immediately after the end of the civil war, were in a hurry to conclude the negotiations in the post-war negotiations with Japan. As a result, the $54 billion in war reparations that were supposed to be paid to China was reduced to $21.6 billion.
Nevertheless, this amount of reparations was difficult for Japan to pay at the time, because the total war reparations of the 15 Asian countries except China were only $2.2 billion, and Japan also completed this reparations through in-kind payments.
In other words, Japan simply cannot afford the war reparations that should be paid to our country. With the founding of the People's Republic of China, due to the special international situation, although there were certain ties between China and Japan, there was no formal diplomatic action.
MacArthur and the Japanese emperor made Japan wary of China. After the Korean War, Japan became a transit country for the United States, profiting from military supplies and reducing ties with China.
China's status has improved, but Japan does not dare to make formal contact with China because of its dependence on the United States. However, China has been sending signals to promote friendship between China and Japan and restore diplomatic relations.
In 1961, when he met with Pu Yi's younger brother's wife, he stressed that we should look forward, promote Sino-Japanese friendship, restore diplomatic relations, develop economic and cultural exchanges, and not dwell on the past.
Although the meeting with Fu Jie's family sent a positive signal of China's friendship with Japan, Japan is still in a wait-and-see state due to the pressure of the United States and the consideration of war reparations.
The first generation of leaders of our country, especially the first generation, had an open attitude towards the issue of war reparations and had already put forward relevant opinions. Japan's war of aggression against China was initiated by representatives of Japanese militarism, but Chiang Kai-shek, for the sake of his "Chiang dynasty," repeatedly lowered the amount of war reparations and granted amnesty to war criminals such as Gangmura Ninji to satisfy his own interests.
** It has been pointed out that the ordinary Japanese people are also victims in the war of aggression represented by militarism, but the responsibility for the war is borne by the Japanese people, which is inconsistent with the purpose and philosophy of our party.
With the changes in the international situation, the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan has been substantially promoted. In the 70s of the last century, the Soviet Union gradually became at a disadvantage in the Cold War, and the United States began to extend an olive branch to our country.
Nixon, at the urging of Kissinger, secretly visited China and successfully facilitated official contacts between China and the United States. Nixon was very attached to Kissinger, and finally under Kissinger's promotion, on February 21, 1972, Nixon visited Beijing, opening a new chapter in Sino-American relations.
Nixon's visit to China had a profound impact on the world, and countries around the world are aware of the change in US policy toward China. Japan also sees an opportunity to establish diplomatic relations with China, but remains concerned about war reparations.
After the war, Japan received great support from the United States, and its economy has firmly ranked first in Asia, and its speed of recovery and development is even comparable to that of the United States. However, Japan's GDP was only $318 billion that year, and war reparations still accounted for 06% is still a heavy burden for Japan, and it is undoubtedly a challenge to bear this burden during a period of rapid economic growth.
By releasing a friendly signal, Japan decided to make preliminary contact with China in order to resolve the issue of war reparations. In 1972, Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka regarded the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan as Japan's top priority, and set up a special working group to promote the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan.
However, Kakuei Tanaka is facing pressure from within Japan, and many Japanese people are influenced by right-wing and militaristic ideas and have an unfriendly attitude towards China.
Originally, because of Nixon's visit to China, Japan felt the pressure, and if the United States wanted to implement the diplomatic strategy of uniting with China to resist the Soviet Union, it needed countries with established positions and corresponding conditions to establish diplomatic relations with China first, and Japan became the first choice.
Kakuei Tanaka showed goodwill to China and even decided to restore diplomatic relations with China, although it caused an uproar in Japan, but it did not affect Japan's decision-making. This is mainly because Japan's political activities are still influenced by the United States, and even the United States can secretly manipulate some actions of Japan**.
At the height of the struggle between the right and the left, the United States chose the right-wing forces of Japan. However, on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, the United States is more inclined to promote it, because it can also convey to the world that the United States is willing to be friendly with China, and it will be conducive to the implementation of the policy of uniting with China to resist the Soviet Union.
After Kakuei Tanaka came to power in late July 1972, only half a month later, he sent Yoshikatsu Taketo, chairman of the Japanese Citizens' Party, to China, opening a new chapter in the communication between China and Japan.
At that time, under the leadership of the President and Prime Minister, Japan had already drafted a document called the "Draft Joint Declaration", which had only eight articles, and one of them made Japan very excited.
That is, our country has given up the demand for war reparations. After arriving in China, when he was received by Taketo Yoshikatsu,** he also revealed to him the eight articles of the draft joint declaration.
According to Taketo Yoshikatsu's own recollection, when he learned about the seventh item, he was almost dizzy with excitement.
When Deng Yingchao met with Mr. and Mrs. Taketo Yoshikatsu, on the seventh clause on war reparations, China decided to give priority to the friendship between the Chinese and Japanese peoples and give up the right to demand war reparations from Japan.
This is great news for Yoshikatsu Taketo, but he can't be sure that the other terms will be acceptable to Japan**. However, Taketo Yoshikatsu firmly believes that China has shown the greatest sincerity, and Japan** will also compromise.
Sure enough, after the "draft joint declaration" was transmitted back to Japan, the office building of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was filled with cheers, and the staff members celebrated all night. In addition, there is no obvious opposition from the Japanese side to the question of whether or not Japan can sever diplomatic relations with the Kuomintang reactionaries, which is of greatest concern to our country.
**Talk to *** about Japanese war reparations. Under the revelation of ***, ** learned that Japan's compensation to Asian countries is basically material compensation, and the goods are backward.
For example, Japan compensates these countries for the refurbishment of old railroad tracks, which is a form of compensation that has to be adopted after the national capacity is overdrawn. ** Believe that if compensation is only exchanged for these slightly refurbished items, it is better not to compensate.
He understood that war reparations were actually exploitation from the population. Therefore, ** chose to forgo compensation as a way to oppose the exploitation of people.
The far-sightedness with Kakuei Tanaka paved the way for Sino-Japanese relations. On the premise of giving up war reparations, Japan showed sincerity and cooperation, and although there were some frictions in the follow-up negotiations, a consensus was finally reached.
On September 29, 1972, China and Japan** jointly issued a statement to officially restore diplomatic relations. However, the decision to give up war reparations has brought an unexpected boost to China's development after the reform and opening up.
In 1978, Deng Gong promoted the reform and opening up of the national economy, and China began to enter the track of rapid development. However, at that time, China's commodity market did not bring enough economic profits to the country.
Fortunately, Japan's aid loan program has provided China with more capital support and development opportunities.
Although many Western countries do not have a positive attitude towards our country, and few countries are willing to take the initiative to provide loan assistance, China's actions have won the deep touch of Japan.
When Japan established diplomatic relations between China and Japan, China chose to give up war reparations, an act that many Japanese people are very grateful. In 1979, after Japanese Prime Minister Masahiro Ohira took office, he immediately put forward a plan to provide China's first development assistance loan, becoming the first country willing to provide large-scale loan assistance to China after the reform and opening up.
In April 1980, Japan signed a loan agreement with Japan**, which was a Japanese yen loan to China, with a repayment period of up to 80 years.
The agreement covers infrastructure development in economic areas such as railways, roads, ports and airports, as well as rural development, environmental protection and health care improvement.
Assistance in these areas has played a key role in the process of reform and opening up, and has solved many difficulties and problems for us. Of course, the achievements of reform and opening up are mainly due to the courage and support of countless strugglers and leaders in our country, but we cannot ignore the tremendous help that Japan has given us during this period.
In the early days of reform and opening up, Japanese companies took the lead in investing in China, which helped China's industrialization process and won rich returns for Japan. However, Japan's economic development has now come to a standstill, which is closely related to its decision to invest in China in the first place.
China has developed rapidly and has become the country with the most potential to surpass the United States in the world, while Japan has been left behind. Among them, the decision-making of ** played a key role.
Although Japan has yet to apologize to our country for the problems left over from history, whether it is the Yasukuni Shrine or the falsification of history, these acts are intolerable to us.
No matter how distorted Japan may be, we will always remember the truth of history.