蔣介石『中國之命運』の國際的反響

Abstract

China's Destiny, published in March 1943, was regarded as an important work in China because the author, Chiang Kai-shek, as a national leader had a significant presence in the world. The contents and importance of the book were also widely touted. However, there were quite a few people in China who criticized Chiang, pointing out the “feudal” and “despotic” character of the book. Some went as far as deriding the book as the “Mein Kampf of China”. Whether positive or negative, China's Destiny created a sensation as a work by the leader of China. Scholars have focused on the sensation it caused and have revealed many of the details of its domestic reception such as how the Chinese people, and particularly those associated with Kuomintang, responded to the book. However, few studies have given sufficient attention to the international response elicited by China's Destiny. The book also created a sensation outside China, therefore, it is necessary as well to analyze international response to understand the comprehensive influence of the book. This article sheds light on the response of two important allies of China in 1943, the United Kingdom and the United States, and how two English-language versions of China's Destiny, published in 1947, were evaluated in the English-speaking world. Authorities in both the UK and US expressed dissatisfaction with the contents of China's Destiny, because it attributed all the problems of China to the so-called unequal treaties. Because of this, the plan to publish an English version of the book met with a setback. After the end of the war with Japan, the American businessman Philip Jaffe published the English version of China's Destiny with detailed comments critical of Chiang's political stance. Jaffe had not secured permission from the KMT to publish, and thus the KMT vigorously criticized him and published an authorized edition of China's Destiny to counter Jaffe's edition. However, this KMT countermeasure allowed readers in the English-speaking world to clearly recognize the anti-American and anti-British character of the book, resulting in a severe blow to Chiang's reputation internationally.