Japanese private sector economic diplomacy toward China after the Manchurian Incident

This article examines changes in Japanese private sector diplomacy before and after the Manchurian Incident of 1931, by focusing on how Japanese businessmen and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dealt with tariff revisions enacted by the Chinese Nationalist governments during the 1930s.<br> 　 In May 1933, the Nationalist regime raised tariffs on Japanese imports under the initiative of Song Ziwen, the minister of Finance. As the result of feeling a sense of crisis in the midst of rapidly declining foreign trade and a deterioration of Japan’s economic status in China after the Manchurian Incident, Japanese businessmen active in Shanghai sought the help of Zhejiang capitalists with financial influence within the Nationalist regime to alleviate the situation. They were also supported by the Nikka Jitsugyo Kyokai （Sino-Japanese Business Association）. <br> Meanwhile, the Japanese Foreign Ministry, which was also struggling in negotiations with the Chinese Nationalists over the tariff revisions, sought the intervention of the business community to break the deadlock. These efforts toward public-private cooperation were achieved with the establishment of the Nikka and Chunichi Boeki Kyokai in February 1936, which was composed of Japanese and Chinese businessmen. These business circles negotiated a solution to the tariff problem from August 1936 to March 1937.<br> In the negotiations, the Japanese side was also seeking a solution to the current North China problem and China’s acceptance of its mediation by the British. These efforts were thwarted by the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s efforts to build a strictly bilateral relationship with the Chinese regime.<br> The author concludes that Japan’s private sector diplomacy was initiated after the Manchurian Incident, at which time the leaders of the Nikka and Chunichi Boeki Kyokai built an organization to solve Sino-Japanese economic difficulties. In the process, the Japanese Foreign Ministry valued such private sector efforts as a viable means of negotiating with the Chinese, despite differences in approach to the problems at hand.