Detention of overseas Chinese in enemy countries in wartime is an act permitted by international law.
US President Barack Obama and visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the Arizona Memorial Hall in Pearl Harbor and presented flowers to the deceased.
Recently, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Hawaii, visited the Arizona Memorial Hall in Pearl Harbor with US President Barack Obama, and presented flowers to the deceased. Subsequently, Abe expressed "heartfelt and permanent condolences" to the American soldiers and other victims of World War II who were killed in the Pearl Harbor incident. After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the history of the United States detaining 6.5438+0.2 million Japanese-Americans in China was also reviewed by many media, and was regarded as an inhuman "crime" of the United States in wartime.
In fact, during World War II, Japan also built a concentration camp in China to detain nationals of the United States, Britain and other allies, and the means were even worse; The National Government also promulgated the Regulations on National Treatment of Enemy Countries and other laws to control overseas Chinese who are enemies of Japan, Germany, Italy and other countries in China.
It is in line with international law to detain one's enemies and overseas Chinese in wartime, and it is a necessary measure to prevent spies.
Since modern times, many countries have detained overseas Chinese from enemy countries in wartime, which is now regulated by the Geneva Convention.
In modern times, it is a common practice to expel or detain overseas Chinese in enemy countries in wartime. For example, the Overseas Chinese in Enemy Countries Act promulgated by the United States 1789 gives the President the power to expel and control overseas Chinese in enemy countries. During the "World War I", Britain asked German overseas Chinese to leave the country within seven days, and adult men who did not leave the country after the deadline were detained in a unified manner; France, on the other hand, prohibits German men aged 17-55 from leaving the country and taking them away in designated areas. After the outbreak of World War II, the International Red Cross proposed that all countries should protect their domestic enemies and overseas Chinese according to the provisions of the Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War signed in 1929, which was widely responded. ①
1949, countries concluded the Fourth Geneva Convention aimed at protecting civilians, which formally stipulated the status and rights of overseas Chinese in wartime. According to the convention, after the war begins, the enemy overseas Chinese of the participating countries have the right to leave the country with their belongings, and those who do not want to leave the country still enjoy the rights in peacetime. However, when national security is absolutely necessary, the overseas Chinese may be detained or placed in designated places. It can be seen that it is still allowed by international law to detain overseas Chinese in enemy countries under special circumstances.
The American government's suspicion of the Japanese is justified, and it is a decision made to ensure national interests.
There is a reason why the United States controls the Japanese. The day after the Pearl Harbor incident, the Los Angeles Times said in an editorial that California, where the Japanese live, is a dangerous area. "All alert and judicious citizens should cooperate with the military authorities to deal with spies, subversives and other fifth column elements." In fact, the US military's suspicion of the Japanese has a long history. Because most Japanese live in Hawaii and the west coast of the United States, the United States once suspected that the Japanese government might want to control Hawaii through the Japanese, and suspected that the Japanese settled near the naval base on the west coast with ulterior motives and intended to help the Japanese in wartime. ②
In fact, the Japanese government has indeed expanded its influence among Japanese Americans and developed intelligence personnel. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recruits young people under the age of 30 with high school education or above in Japanese (referring to the second generation of Japanese, most of whom have American citizenship) and promises to make them diplomats after graduation. In the selection of exams, the topics of English papers include "About the New East Asian Order", which requires a printer to answer questions-convenient for recording when listening to the radio in the future. Later, many of these Nishi entered the radio room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and were responsible for monitoring the broadcasts of European and American allies; Nisei was also a broadcaster who made deceptive propaganda and broadcast to the US military in wartime, such as the famous "Tokyo Rose". After MacArthur led the army to occupy Japan, he liquidated some Japanese traitors. ③
While controlling the Japanese at home, the United States also helped South American countries expel the Japanese. After 1940, there was a rumor in Peru that "the Japanese army smuggled weapons" and "there were 8000 machine guns hidden in the Japanese flower shop". Peruvian officials even provided information to the United States that at the beginning of 1942, the Japanese tried to buy Peruvian soldiers and engage in espionage. American Vice President Wallace was misled by this information and reported to Roosevelt that "there is reliable information that the Japanese in Peru will attack … strategic strongholds, thus destroying the important bases that the United States is building there". During the war, this information attracted the attention of the American government. In order to nip in the bud, the United States increased its control over the Japanese.
The national government also monitored the overseas Chinese in Japan, Germany and Italy in wartime.
It is particularly necessary for the national government to control overseas Chinese in enemy countries during wartime. Japanese people are very similar to China people in appearance, so they are easy to act as spies. In June, 1938, a recruit in Guangdong Province was found to have abnormal behavior. After investigation, it was found that the recruit was a Japanese spy, disguised as a strong man and serving in the army, looking for opportunities to steal military intelligence. Since then, the National Government has formulated the Instructions on the Methods of Identifying Japanese, saying that Japanese people are "long and short" and "cannot pronounce the word" two "in China Putonghua". ⑤
German and Italian nationals are also under special surveillance by the national government to prevent them from engaging in espionage. For example, 1944- 1946, Kunming Police Department put on record 16, unannounced visits to some German employees and missionaries in China, and eliminated their spy suspects one by one, which played a certain role in preventing military intelligence from leaking. ⑥
Site of American Embassy in Chongqing
As for the treatment of overseas Chinese, the measures taken by Japan are much worse than those taken by the United States.
After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the United States detained 6,543,800 Japanese, but by 654.38+ 0942,654.38+00, it had begun to change its detention policy.
Before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the United States was already preparing for war. 1936, according to Roosevelt's instructions, the FBI began to compile a list of dangerous people, including quite a few foreigners; 1940, the National Assembly passed the National Law on Registration of Foreigners, requiring all foreign citizens to register their fingerprints, and it is not allowed to possess guns, explosives and wireless transmission devices. Japanese organizations are divided into ABC three categories according to the degree of danger. Because of this preparation, the United States started the wartime mechanism immediately after the war broke out, and detained thousands of foreign citizens on the day of Pearl Harbor, 737 of whom were Japanese. By the end of 10, the FBI had arrested 5,534 Japanese, 4,769 Germans and 2,262 Italians. The Japanese arrested this time are mainly leaders of some organizations and teachers of Japanese schools.
Under the pressure of military law and public opinion, Roosevelt signed executive order 9066 in February 1942, which forced all foreigners and Japanese-American citizens to move away from the west coast of the United States in the name of wartime needs. Subsequently, 654.38 million Japanese were transferred to resettlement centers in various states, where the conditions were very poor. "Just like the accused criminals are locked up and separated by barbed wire, they (Japanese) flood into wooden barracks as dangerous as prisons that only guarantee minimum security. A family has only one room, where there is no furniture except narrow beds and light bulbs. They have to eat bad food and enjoy inadequate medical conditions and school education." This has left great psychological trauma to Japanese expatriates and nationals.
By June 1942, 10, the US military had regained the initiative in the Pacific battlefield, and the possibility of the Japanese landing on the west coast no longer existed. At the same time, the American government also realized that it was inappropriate to continue to detain the Japanese and deprive them of their freedom. As a result, some Japanese are gradually allowed to leave the resettlement center to work, go to school and even join the army. During the war, about 1.8 million Japanese-Americans joined the army, and they won 3,600 Purple Hearts, 8 10 Bronze Stars and 342 Silver Stars. ⑦
Japanese people get food at the reset center in the United States.
The Japanese also set up enemy overseas Chinese concentration camps in China to detain and treat the British and Americans cruelly.
During the war, Japan also detained overseas Chinese from the United States and Britain. After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Japanese army occupied the Shanghai Concession and declared the citizens of the United States, Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium and other countries 16 as enemy overseas Chinese. Those who have reached the age of 65,438+03 are required to wear red armbands, and the letters on the armbands represent the nation. They are not allowed to enter cinemas, dance halls and other entertainment places. At that time, there were 1369 Americans and 5865 Britons in Shanghai. 1943+ 10 In June, the Japanese army set up eight concentration camps in Shanghai, holding about 5,258 overseas Chinese.
At the height of the war, the Japanese army moved some elderly and ill enemy overseas Chinese to Yangshupu (where the main Japanese military and industrial facilities were concentrated) to prevent the US military from bombing there. The United States protested against this, saying that the Japanese government violated its commitment to abide by the Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners in Time of War, which not only caused "cruel treatment of detainees" but also put them in danger. Today, this practice is obviously much worse than that of the United States.
Allied expatriates stranded in North China were detained by the Japanese army in wei county Yuedao Hospital, with about 1600 people held successively. Weixian concentration camp has strict regulations. For example, David Brainerd, a New Zealander, recalled, "No matter whether it is windy or rainy, no matter whether you are sick or not, you should queue up for roll call on time, and you should count out loudly to the Japanese guards standing in front of the team in Japanese. If the voice is low, you will be embarrassed and have to start again. " As for diet, 1943 at the beginning of the establishment of the concentration camp, mung bean rice, bread and so on. Can be eaten to meet the demand. However, after the Japanese army got into trouble in 1944, the food supply became a problem, and the detained foreigners could only eat moldy sorghum noodles containing impurities such as sediment. 1945, American troops captured Yuedao Hospital and rescued these foreigners. ⑨
The United States and Japan are also enemies and overseas Chinese. The day after the Pearl Harbor incident, the US government proposed through Switzerland: "Is the Japanese government willing to exchange Japanese consular officials and diplomats and important Japanese people in principle in exchange for American consular officials and diplomats and American citizens blocked in Japan and China?" The United States estimates that about 6,000 Americans have been detained by Japan. Through two exchanges of 1, 942- 1, 943, 2,700 Americans, 300 Americans from other countries and 3,000 Japanese returned to China respectively. Some of these people who were transferred back to Japan came from the reset center, and they declared their loyalty to Japan.
The United States has apologized and compensated the Japanese; These Japanese accelerated their integration into American society after the war.
At that time, the practice of the United States to evacuate the Japanese and isolate them caused a lot of opposition. When the Supreme Court confirmed by 6:3 that it was necessary to take the above measures militarily, the opposing justices clearly protested that the detention of Japanese-Americans was a violation of constitutional rights and an ugly stain of racism. 1948, the U.S. congress passed the American Japanese Resettlement Claims Act, and began to revise the wartime special policy.
1976, President Ford issued a proclamation to rehabilitate the Japanese people, saying that "the evacuation at that time was wrong, and Japanese-Americans were and are loyal American citizens". In 1983, an investigation report pointed out that "Executive Order No.9066 was not issued out of positive military needs, and subsequent decisions were also forced by military conditions. The obvious historical reasons for these decisions are racial discrimination, war fanaticism and the mistakes of political leaders. " By 1988, President Reagan signed a bill to provide 125 billion dollars in compensation for former detainees who are still alive.
The wartime detention policy made the Japanese lose their property and suffered physical and mental trauma, but it was not without positive effects. On the one hand, there is still a big gap between these Japanese and American societies before the war, which is also an important reason why the US government is uneasy about them. Most Japanese people proved their loyalty to the United States during their detention, and gradually dispelled the doubts of American society about their identity. On the other hand, in the process of evacuation and detention, many Japanese families cut off contact with Japan, and the Japanese children in the resettlement center received a complete American education, which accelerated the process of this group's integration into American society. Today, the Japanese have become a "model minority" recognized by the United States.
Weifang concentration camp site
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① Hu Yongling: Public International Law in Wartime, Zhonghua Book Company 1947, pp. 84 and 87; ② Participated in Song Dynasty: A Study on the Japanese Detention Camp of the US Army during World War II, Zhengzhou University, 2012; ③ Wang Qingmin: A Study of Japanese Americans during World War II, East China Normal University, 2008; ④ Hu Xinsu: A Study on the Expulsion of Japanese by Peru during World War II, Fujian Normal University, 2014; ⑤ Chen Tong: A Study of Foreigners in Chongqing during the Anti-Japanese War, Chongqing Normal University, 2015; ⑥ Ouyang Hanyun: A Study on the Management of Foreigners in Kunming during the Republic of China, Yunnan University, 2013; ⑦ Wen Ronggang and Zhang Jinsong: American Special Control over Japanese-Americans during the Pacific War, Japan Studies, No.4, 2003; ⑧ Xiong Yuezhi: On the Allied Expatriate Concentration Camp in Shanghai, Proceedings of the Shanghai Seminar to Commemorate the 60th Anniversary of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's Victory, Shanghai People's Publishing House, 2005; ⑨ Jing Kui, et al.: Overview of wei county Yuedaoyuan Concentration Camp, Archives of the Republic of China, No.3, 1998.
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