<論説>古井喜実と一九六八年の日中LT貿易交渉

Abstract

一九六二年一一月、松村謙三ら自民党内親中国派の努力で、「日中総合貿易に関する覚書」(LT貿易) が調印された。この協定は「準政府間貿易協定」とも言われ、日中間の政治、経済関係の改善、人的交流に大きく寄与した。しかし、佐藤内閣は対中国政策において対決姿勢を取り、中国でも文化大革命の影響で対日姿勢が強硬になったため、一九六七年末に期限切れとなるLT貿易協定は厳しい交渉の結果、五年間の長期貿易から単年度の覚書取決めとなり、名称もLTからMTに変わった。この貿易交渉については、従来の研究でも取り扱われているが、交渉の矢面に立っていた古井喜実の役割は十分に明らかにされてきたとはいえない。本稿は親中派の中心メンバーの一人である古井喜実の行動・思想を中心にしながら、今まで十分に検討されてこなかった政府間ルートとは異なるもう一つの日中関係改善のために行動してきた自民党内親中派の役割を確認する。

In November 1962, through the efforts of Mtumura Kenzo and other pro-Chinese members in the Liberal Democratic Party, the Memorandum on Japan-China Overall Trade (LT Trade) was signed. The agreement, also known as Semi-governmental Trade Agreement, improved the Sino-Japanese political, economical relationship and stimulated unofficial personal exchanges. However, the Sato Cabinet adopted a confrontational approach to China, and China also hardened its attitude toward Japan under the influence of the Great Cultural Revolution. Sino-Japanese relations began to deteriorate rapidly. That situation overshadowed the talks on the LT trade, which was to be expired at the end of 1967. The tough negotiations (February and March 1968) resulted in a replacement of a five-year trade agreement with a single-year one. The name was also changed into the MT (Memorandum Trade). It would be safe to say that the presence of Furui Yoshimi was crucial to this MT agreement. Without the painful effort of Furui, who had proved himself as a key player in the pro-Chinese group, the trade negotiations would have failed. During the talks, the blistering attack from the Chinese side put Furui in an extremely awkward position. Seeing that even reaching agreement on the communique was too difficult to achieve, some members of the negotiation team proposed that the Japanese delegation suspend the talks and return home. Nevertheless, in order to protect the fragile connection between China and Japan, Furui continued his utmost effort to the end. A great deal of research works have been done on the role of the pro-Chinese group in the development of postwar Sino-Japanese relations and trade negotiations. However, in these previous works, the leading role of Furui has not been fully explored. Moreover, the process of the trade negotiations 1968 has not been discussed in detail. Using the original Furui Yoshimi's documents provided by the Furui family to the Faculty of Letters, Kyoto University, this study reappraises the Sino-Japanese LT trade negotiations in 1968. This article emphasizes the following two points. Firstly, by comparing the attitudes to China of the Sato Cabinet with those of Matsumura, Furui and other pro-China persons, this article sheds light on the difference between them. Secondly, though Furui and other pro-Chinese members were criticized for their diplomatic policy being "too timid" ("Dogeza gaiko" ) by the hawks in the LDP, they struggled to keep and preserve the LT route. The main purpose of this paper is to depict the role of the pro-Chinese group in the LDP, who acted to improve Sino-Japanese relations via the LT route. This route was different from official route and has not been fully investigated in previous studies. The MT trade did not account for a large share in the Sino-Japanese trade, so it might be of little economic importance. However, as Furui himself pointed out, it had political and diplomatic significance. In the 1960s, even the left-wing parties or groups could not keep close connections with China. People supporting the LT route became the only link between Japan and China and later they played an important role in the Sino-Japanese diplomatic normalization. Even after the MT negotiations had settled, those who involved in the MT trade were in dire straits because of the changing international situation surrounding China and the deterioration of Sino-Japanese relations. Furui continued fighting mostly alone in order to keep the Sino-Japanese fragile relationship, even when it was on the verge of collapse. Throughout this period, Furui, who succeeded the position of Matsumura, established firm status as the focal figure in Sino-Japanese negotiations. And, for all difficulties, he became a key person in an improvement of Sino-Japanese relations. The presence of Furui was vital to Japan, which later took a large step toward the diplomatic normalization with China.