【Date】
January 18 (Wed), 5:00-6:00 p.m.

【Venue】
Ground Floor, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, The University of Tokyo

【Speaker】
Hsiao, Ming-Li (Visiting Research Fellow, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo)

【Title】
China Demands Reparation for Shipping Losses from Japan after World War II

【Commentator】
Mariko Tanigaki (Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo)

【Abstract】
It is estimated that over 123 Chinese steamships, with a total weight of approximately 215,000 tons, were captured by Japan during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). After the Pacific War, under the request of private shipping companies, the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China demanded Japanese Government to return or reparation those steamships being captured. Concerning the issue of reparations, although the GHQ/SCAP had approved the Restitution of Looted Property Policy in July 1946, due to the differences and contradictions of opinions on war reparations among Allied countries, the issue of reparations was not progressing smoothly until 1949. As for the issue of returning the ships, by the time of 1949 those steamships captured during war had been returned to China. By putting an eye on the process of how did the Government of the Republic of China requested Japan for reparation, we can perceive that the Government of the Republic of China argued strongly on just grounds concerning the issue of war reparations and tried to further the interests of China and private shipping companies, rather than taking the stance of ‘render good for evil’ as it is believed.

** Seminar will be held in Japanese.