Wednesday, 7 February

The content of the article entitled, “Japanese Public Opinion and  Re-armaments” written by Youshu (游叔) that was published in Huaqiao Ribao on the thirtieth of last month is good. The overall content is as follows:

• The Japanese was not very concerned about the peace treaty because after the defeat national morale is low. The Japanese only want to take rest and do not want to think about the big issues of the world. They even feel fine that the occupation is in place so that they do not need to worry about it.
• The Japanese do not have either good or bad feeling towards General MacArthur. Their only thoughts are that the facts are like this, there is no need to find reason to illustrate. They do not want to waste their emotions for hope or comfort.
• The Japanese are afraid to have war again, and old military men in particular. They think that within thirty years after the defeat it would absolutely impossible to mobilize Japanese soldiers to go to the battlefields.
• The author listened to Japanese people talking on the train. One of them said that if there was war in the future he would join the Communist army first, and try his best to make himself captive of the American army. The United States still treats captives in a humanitarian manner. When the war ended if the United States scored victory, the captives would be released. If the Soviet Union won the war, the Soviets would not kill him either as he was originally a Communist solider, whom was captured by American imperialism in the battlefield. Another Japanese said he wanted to open a small factory, which specialised in making flags. One flag would be the Soviet Union, while another flag the United States. He would put the two flags into one tube. When the Soviet army invaded, one only had to pull the string then the Soviet flag would show up. When the American army came, one only had to pull the string then the American flag would show up. For security reasons, people would buy such things and he would make a big fortune. Such thought is still very popular in the last year.
• Originally the Japanese were not sympathetic towards Korea, but during the early stage of the Korean War, Koreans were brave enough to fight against the Americans; now they grudgingly respect them. Nevertheless, both sides killed people wantonly, while the tone of the Japanese Communists seems to be that such a thing is only very natural, so it makes the Japanese fear that the CCP would join the Korean War, which has complicated the emotions and thought of Japanese people. Originally, the Japanese were afraid of the Soviet Union therefore they praised the CCP. But later the CCP was just like one part of the Soviet army, and its political, economic and other ties with Soviet Union, which aroused suspicion and fear amongst Japanese. When the troops of the CCP and North Korea occupied Seoul, 2,500,000 South Koreans fled to Busan. They abandoned their children and many died from bitter cold and starvation. When the Japanese saw this they found such things too painful, and the armies of the CCP and North Korea dispersed people from the back in a manner like herding dogs and sheep, which made them even more dreadful.
• It was rumored last month that the CCP would settle the war with speed. Korea would send 210,000 North Korean soldiers in accord with 100,000 CCP troops crossing the sea to liberate Japan. It made the Japanese fearful. The Japanese are afraid of war and being killed by people. When they asked the Japanese Communists, the latter unexpectedly said that for the victory of Communism war is necessary, while the anti-reactionary elements should be destroyed. All these were necessities of history. When the Japanese heard about it they dreaded it.
• Mainichi Shimbun carried out an opinion poll at the mid of last month and the result was as follows:

The Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshida Shigeru (吉田茂),[1] did not originally  advocate re-armament, but now he has to advocate Japan having its own defense power. However, the Japanese Democratic Party has clearly advocated that the rearmament should serve the purpose of democracy, while the Social Democratic Party of Japan has long advocated an all-round peace treaty and is opposed to rearmament. But now the latter is divided into leftist, rightist and the middle cliques.

[1] Yoshida Shigeru (1878-1967) was a Japanese statesman.