2024/03/13

Even now, there are regions where peoples who should be independent remain oppressed.
February 24, 2019
The articles by Hideo Tamura and Nobuhiko Sakai, together with its editorials, demonstrated that the Sankei Shimbun is now Japan’s highest-quality newspaper.
First, I will introduce Nobuhiko Sakai’s article for those who do not subscribe to the Sankei Shimbun.
A Hundred Years Since the Paris Peace Conference: Why Is It Not Being Reported?
Nobuhiko Sakai, Former Professor at the Historiographical Institute, the University of Tokyo
What was the significance of January 18 this year?
It marked the hundredth anniversary of the opening of the Paris Peace Conference, convened after the end of the First World War.
Although it was a memorable date in history, no newspaper reported it.
Based on the principles of national self-determination and national independence advocated by U.S. President Wilson, the most important outcome decided at the Paris Peace Conference was the simultaneous emergence of independent countries stretching from Finland in the north to Yugoslavia in the south.
At the same time, four empires collapsed: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Turkey.
In other words, a major advance in history was achieved as peoples who had been oppressed under imperial rule gained independence.
However, only European countries became independent at that time.
Later, independent countries also emerged in the Middle East from the territories of the former Turkish Empire.
But the “principles of national self-determination and national independence” were not applied to Asia and Africa, where colonies consequently continued to exist across vast areas.
Furthermore, Japan’s proposal concerning racial discrimination at the Paris Peace Conference was rejected by President Wilson’s ruling, even though supporters outnumbered opponents.
The United States faced serious problems of racial discrimination, and Japanese immigration was subsequently prohibited.
After the Second World War, however, the system of colonial rule that had endured for hundreds of years collapsed, and many independent countries emerged in Asia and Africa.
Furthermore, influenced by African independence, the problem of racial discrimination in the United States also saw improvement.
Yet the movement toward national independence continued.
About fifteen years ago, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fifteen republics that had constituted the federation became independent.
The Czech Republic and Slovakia separated, and Yugoslavia split into seven countries following civil war.
Even now, there are regions where peoples who should be independent remain oppressed.
These are found in none other than the People’s Republic of China, situated before our own country.
China was established seventy years ago by annexing the territories of the Mongols, Uyghurs, and Tibetans through military force.
The regions inhabited by these three peoples cover five million square kilometers, accounting for more than half of China’s total territory of 9.6 million square kilometers.
Why were the newspapers indifferent to the anniversary of the Paris Peace Conference, an event of immense importance in world history?
One must conclude that this plainly demonstrates how little the newspapers understand the course, progress, and development of world history.
〈Nobuhiko Sakai〉
Born in Kawasaki in 1945.
Completed the master’s program at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Humanities.
Worked on the compilation of Dai Nihon Shiryo at the University of Tokyo’s Historiographical Institute.