The tracks of normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations by the pro-Chinese factions in the Liberal Democratic Party－in the focus of Furui Yoshimi

Lu Xueying (Part-time Instructor of Kyoto University , Kobe Women’s University)

It is my great honor to receive the 24th Pacific Basin Academic Grant. As a researcher on pro-Chinese factions in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Sino-Japanese relations in the postwar period, I have kept my respect for the late Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira for his distinguished achievements in the development of Sino-Japanese relations. This is the reason why I am especially delighted to be awarded by the Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Foundation. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Foundation, its Selection Committee, as well as Professor Kazu Nagai at Kyoto University, Mr. Tsutomu Koike in the Japan-China Friendship Center and others who have instructed and supported me for a long time. 　 I was a post-graduate student at Kyoto University when my research subject “Endeavors for the Normalization of Sino-Japanese Diplomatic Relations by Pro-Chinese Factions in the Liberal Democratic Party－Focusing upon Yoshimi Furui” was selected for the Grant. Since then I kept studying on this theme, eventually finished my doctorial thesis, and obtained a ph.D. this March. While writing up, I had several occasions to give lectures to university students on my research subject. This became an invaluable experience for me because of a variety of responses from students. They led me to truly realize the necessity and importance of my project. The purpose of my study is to examine the significance of pro-Chinese factions in the LDP in the course of improvement of Sino-Japanese relations, starting with San Francisco Peace Conference, encountering several deadlocks, and finally having achieved the diplomatic normalization. While a small number of precedent researches existed, it should be pointed out that they were often too fragmentary or too individual in terms of resources they relied on, giving little attention to the ideological background of pro-Chinese groups. Furthermore, in former studies it has not been fully explored how they got involved in the Japanese Government’s policy making processes towards China. In order to overcome these problems, my study meticulously traces a series of regimentation, growth, setback and expansion of the pro-Chinese members in the LDP represented by Yoshimi Furui, referring to changes of international situations. I believe this study would present an overall picture of pro-Chinese factions in the LDP, another political core besides the official government, which have acted to promote the normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations. I am now commencing a new approach on the Japanese diplomacy towards China and pro-Chinese factions in the LDP, shifting to the period from the normalization of diplomatic relations to the end of 1980s. The award of this time has encouraged me to continue and develop my study. Thank you very much.

Profile
Born in 1975 in Shandong Province, China. Graduated from the Japanese language Department, Tianjin Foreign Language University, China, 1997. Served as a Japanese teacher in the Foreign Language Department, Qufu Normal University, 1997-2003. The master’s degree of the Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, 2006. ph.D. of Literature, Kyoto University, 2010. Specializes in postwar history of Sino-Japanese　relations and Japanese diplomatic history.　 Major publications in “Furui Yoshimi and the Sino-Japanese LT Trade Negotiations in 1968” The Shirin,Vol.91,No.5,2008/9 “Furui Yoshimi and the Sino-Japanese MT Trade Negotiations in 1970” Twentieth Century Studies,No.9,2008/12 “Furui Yoshimi and the normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations: Laying eyes on the normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations from the extension line of the LT/MT trade route” The Shirin,Vol.93,No.2,2010/3,and so on.