<論説>近代中国における日系漢字紙の宣伝と筆禍 --一九二七年の『盛京時報』筆禍事件をめぐって--

Abstract

本稿は、近代日本の対中宣伝と紛争について、日本人が中国で経営していた漢字新聞を手掛かりに解明を試みるものである。行論では、満洲を舞台とした日系漢字紙である『盛京時報』の筆禍事件を中心に、それをめぐる経緯と日中交渉を明らかにし、日中関係への影響と歴史的意義を示した。『盛京時報』は一九二七年六月に北伐戦争中の奉天軍戦況に関する記事を掲載したことで、中国官憲に購読を禁止された。元より新聞業界の騒ぎに過ぎなかった同件は、在奉天総領事吉田茂の対中強硬策の一環として利用され、｢満蒙懸案｣の一つに取り上げられ、日中間の外交問題に発展した。が、世論を煽ることで中国側から譲歩を引き出し、日中問題を早期に解決するという本来の目的とは逆に、中国官憲の反感を買い、日中交渉をさらに難航させた。

The emergence of modern Chinese newspapers began with those operated by foreigners in China, with the Japanese operating the largest number of Chinese-language newspapers and having the greatest influence. Among these newspapers was the Shengching Shihpao 盛京時報, a Chinese-language newspaper established in Manchuria after the Russo-Japanese War. Subsidized by the Japanese government, the newspaper had a large circulation and widespread influence in China at that time, which also led to many disputes.In addressing the broad theme of incendiary writing and propaganda by Japanese-owned Chinese-language newspapers, this paper takes a calamitous incident sparked by the Shengching Shihpao in 1927 as an example, details its context, and examines the process of diplomatic negotiation between Japan and China. Meanwhile, it uses this incident to explore the topic of Japanese-owned Chinese newspapers' propaganda in China and their incendiary writing. This paper first makes an overview and categorization of the Japanese-owned Chinese newspapers' incendiary writings and clarifies the place of the incident caused by the Shengching Shihpao in 1927. Secondly, it considers the original cause of this incident by searching in the archives of Fengtian clique in the Liaoning provincial archives and the original news published by the Shengching Shihpao. Finally, the whole process of negotiations between Japan and China regarding this incident is clarified based on extant documents from the Japanese Foreign Ministry. Calamitous incidents sparked by writings in Japanese-owned Chinese newspapers can be roughly divided into two categories: one type was spontaneous boycotts initiated by the Chinese people, and the second was a top-down subscription ban issued by the Chinese government. The calamitous incident caused by the Shengching Shihpao in 1927 was an example of the latter type. In June 1927, the Shengching Shihpao was banned from subscription and distribution until the end of January of 1928 by the Chinese government for publishing a war telegram about the Fengtian Army 奉天軍in the Northern Expeditionary War, which the government regarded as untrue. During the period of sanctions, the newspaper led by its chief writer Kikuchi Teiji 菊池貞二continuously published editorials critical of the Fengtian clique and Chang Tso-lin 張作霖(this event was so called "the Manchuria incident of the pen" by Japanese). Because this was precisely the period of negotiations between Japan and China over the Manchuria issue, it was used by Japanese consul general Yoshida Shigeru in Mukden to implement his tough policy towards China. It then ceased to be only a serious issue for the press, but also developed into a diplomatic issue between Japan and China, which drew attention widely both domestically and overseas. Because Japanese-owned Chinese-language newspapers in modern China usually played a political role of propagandizing for Japan and criticizing China, it was not unusual for calamitous incidents caused by writings in their pages to arise. Underlying these calamitous incidents sparked by the Japanese-owned Chinese newspapers was not only the political rivalry between China and Japan, but also the psychological resistance of the Chinese to the newspapers, whose very existence was seen as "an unwanted favor." It can be said that in the case of the Shengching Shihpao, the use of a Japanese-owned Chinese newspaper in hopes of smoothing over issues between Japan and China by manipulating public opinion may not only have been ineffective but also counterproductive, making the uncertain Japan- China relations even worse.