The next meeting of the Japan History Group (JHG) at the Institute of Social Science (ISS), University of Tokyo, will be held on Friday, 15 June 2018, at 6:00 PM in No.1 Meeting Room (Dai-ichi Kaigi-shitsu), 1st floor of the Main Building of ISS, Hongo Campus.



Presenter: Seung-young KIM (Professor, Kansai Gaidai University)



Title: 'Open Door or Sphere of Influence?: The Diplomacy of the Japanese-French Entente and Fukien Question, 1905-07'



Discussant: Yuichi Sasaki (Assistant Professor, Tokyo Metropolitan University)



Abstract:

After the Japanese victory in the Russo-Japanese war, France strove to secure the safety of its colony in Indo-China in return for facilitating Japanese loan in Paris financial market.Such efforts of France led to the conclusion of the Japanese-French entente of 1907; but the course of negotiations for the entente revealed highly contrasting approaches to the application of the Open Door principle in China.Having learned about France's wish to receive the guarantee for the safety of French colony in Indo-China, Japan strove to define Fukien as its additional sphere of influence once it had secured much needed loans in Paris.France tried to resist Japan's request to define Fukien as its sphere by adopting a secret note, and attempted to restrain Japan's future expansion into China by enmeshing Japan in the web of political and financial ententes with itself and Britain supporting the principle of Open Door.This approach of France was a continuation of French policy toward East Asia since the Boxer Uprising, securing its economic interests by supporting Open Door rather than pursuing territorial competition with other great powers in China.In contrast, the Japanese government strenuously attempted to weaken the general application of Open Door doctrine in China, and could define Fukien as Japan's additional sphere by securing a secret explanatory note for such a purpose.This paper reveals under-studied diplomatic negotiations over China at the beginning of the twentieth century, while also illuminating diplomatic practice during the era of 'Old Diplomacy' before the First World War.


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Dr. Naofumi NAKAMURA
Professor of Business History
Institute of Social Science,
The University of Tokyo
naofumin@iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp <mailto:naofumin@iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp>
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