Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

226 • SHANGHAI INCIDENT
President Nixon made a public announcement on television that
Kissinger had gone to the PRC to talk with Premier Zhou Enlai, and
Nixon accepted an invitation to visit the PRC. He actually visited
from 21 to 28 February 1972. This was known as the “Nixon Shock.”
It was especially surprising for Japan, a country that had had historically
close contact with China, but had failed to establish a formal
diplomatic relationship due to the strong U.S. pressure against this.
This announcement was “shocking” in the sense that Washington had
not consulted with Tokyo in advance—even though Japan had been a
faithful ally of the United States.
In the Shanghai Communiqué, the treatment of Taiwan was a crucial
issue. The U.S. government clearly declared: “The United States
acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait
maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China.
The United States Government does not challenge that position.” The
Shanghai Communiqué marked the beginning of normalized relations
between the United States and the PRC.
SHANGHAI INCIDENT (1932). Twice in the 1930s, large-scale
fighting broke out between Chinese and Japanese forces in the port
city of Shanghai. The first Shanghai Incident began in early 1932 and
the second Shanghai Incident in late 1937. Because the second
Shanghai Incident formed part of the wider China Incident (or
Sino–Japanese War) that began in July 1937, this account concerns
itself with the first incident alone.
As China’s northeastern provinces fell under Japanese control in
the aftermath of the Manchurian Incident of September 1931, anti-
Japanese demonstrations spread throughout China. Japanese concessions
in the port city of Shanghai came under attack, and, in January
1932, Japanese nationals resident in Shanghai were attacked. One
died as a result. It emerged in the postwar era that these attacks were
plotted and effectuated by Japanese army major Ryūkichi Tanaka in
an attempt to shift world attention away from Manchuria.
A Japanese naval brigade and China’s 19th Route Army clashed on
29 January 1932. The Japanese forces were hopelessly outnumbered
and it was obvious that reinforcements were necessary. At the same
time, Japanese policymakers were aware that an intensification of the
incident directly threatened the livelihood and interests of the 14,000