『大東亜戦争への道』（展転社）
中村 粲
その５ 第二章 第二節 日清戦争：清国軍の暴状
すでに国内法の近代化を進め、条約改正も進捗していた日本は、明治２７年７月、日清戦争の開戦直前に、まず英国との間で治外法権撤廃に成功していました。国際法についても、天皇の宣戦の詔勅で「いやしくも国際法にもとらざる限り」一切の手段を尽くすべし、と述べられているように国際法尊重を強く将兵に求めていました。
国際法順守を主張するのは普通、弱国か敗戦国で、強国や戦勝国は国際法を平然と無視するのが通例ですが、わが国は違っていました。日本は終始、圧倒的な戦勝者でありながら国際法を忠実に守ったのでした。フランスの国際法学者フォーシーユは次のように述べています。
事実は日本政府がその採択せる文明の原則を実行するに堪えることを示した。日清戦争で敵が国際法の原則を無視したにもかかわらず、自らはこれを尊重した。
一方清国兵の暴虐は旧態依然たるものでした。フィガロ紙の記者カレスコーとイリュストラシオンは従軍記に次のように述べています。
ひるがえって清軍を見よ。日本軍卒の一度彼らの手に落つるや、あらゆる残虐の刑罰を以てこれを苦しむるにあらずや。あるいは手足を立ち、或いは首を切り、睾を抜く。その無常、実に野蛮人にあらざればよくすべき業にあらず。
ところがこうした実状にもかかわらず、日本軍の暴行という誇大虚偽報道が、この時すでに出現しているのです。南京虐殺報道の先駆者です。アメリカの『ワールド』紙は、「旅順陥落の翌日から４日間、非戦闘員、婦女子、幼児など６万人を殺害し」と書いているのです。後年旅順に新市街ができたときの人口が１万５千に過ぎなかったことを考えると、誇大が過ぎています。南京は陥落時、安全区に２０万人がいたが、１か月後に２５万になっているのに南京３０万虐殺を主張しているのと軌を一にしています。
・その５，第２章２節 日本語原文：http://hassin.org/01/wp-content/uploads/Road5.pdf
・ 〃 第２章２節 英訳文： http://www.sdh-fact.com/CL/Road5E.pdf
令和４年１０月２４日
「史実を世界に発信する会」 会長 茂木弘道
協力者代表：神奈川大学教授 小山和伸
＊拡散大歓迎
THE ROAD TO THE GREATER EAST ASIAN WAR
Nakamura Akira, Dokkyo University Professor Emeritus
(English Translation: Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact)
Part 5: Chapter 2: The 1st Sino-Japanese War -2
After inaugurating the Meiji Renovation, the Japanese proceeded to modernize domestic law, using Western legal systems as their models. As a result, they were able to make some progress with treaty revision. In July 1894, not long before the commencement of the 1st Sino-Japanese War, they succeeded in removing the extraterritoriality clause from their treaty with the UK.
Thus, even before the 1st Sino-Japanese War commenced, Japan had demonstrated its respect for international laws and regulations. Emperor Meiji, in his imperial rescript declaring war on China wrote that “We command each and all of our competent authorities … to carry on hostilities by sea and land against China, with all the means at their disposal, consistently with the Law of Nations.”
Ordinarily it is weak or defeated nations that advocate strict observance of international law. Powerful or victorious nations tend to blithely disregard it. But the behavior of Japanese military personnel during the 1st Sino-Japanese War was different. Throughout the conflict the Japanese won victory after victory, yet they adhered faithfully to the principles of international law, and won the praise of at least one French legal scholar, Paul Fauchille, for having done so.
Facts have demonstrated that the Japanese government knows how to apply the principles of the civilization it has embraced. (…) During the Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese faithfully adhered to the principles of international law, despite the fact that their enemy did not.
On the contrary, the Chinese Army resorted to long-established sadistic acts. Two war correspondents, Messrs. Ganesco and Lalo, who wrote for the French newspapers Le Figaro and L’Illustration, respectively, wrote:
Once the Chinese capture a Japanese soldier, they will use every means available to them to punish him and cause him to suffer. They will cut off his arms and legs, or decapitate him, or slash off his genitals. Only savages could behave with such cruelty.
However, strangely enough, articles appeared in some foreign periodicals reporting that the Japanese army committed atrocities in Port Arthur. They could be described as precursors to subsequent descriptions of the Nanjing Incident. According to the New York World, the Japanese murdered approximately 60,000 noncombatants, including women and children. Considering that later, when a new city sprang up in Port Arthur, there were only about 14,000 Manchurians living there, we can assume that the 60,000 figure is simply a gross exaggeration. When Nanjing fell, there were 200,000 civilians in the Safety Zone, and the population increased to 250,000. But the so-called Nanjing Massacre mythmakers insist that 300,000 people were massacred. The contentions that massacres took place in Port Arthur and Nanjing share a common central theme.
URL: https://www.sdh-fact.com/book-article/1978/
PDF: http://www.sdh-fact.com/CL/Road5E.pdf
MOTEKI Hiromichi, Chairman
Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact