What kind of China policy did the Japanese government adopt after the September 18th Incident?

After the conclusion of Tanggu Agreement, Japanese Foreign Minister Hirota launched "Concord Diplomacy" in an attempt to win "economic support" from China National Government and Japan. Soon, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs successively carried out "military diplomacy" and "three principles of wide field" diplomacy, but none of them worked. Then, Takeshi Sato became the foreign minister and introduced the China policy of "economic support" and "Japan-China goodwill". In the past, due to the limitation of historical materials, domestic academic circles did not study the "economic support to China" proposed by Japanese Foreign Ministers Hirota and Sato after the "September 18th Incident", while Japanese academic circles often ignored the real purpose of "economic support" proposed by Hirota and Sato. Based on Japanese East Asia strategy, this paper analyzes the policy of "revitalizing China's economy" promoted by Hirota and Sato.

First, the strategic intention of "economic support" to China during the period of "Concord diplomacy"

Japan launched the "September 18th Incident", invaded the northeast of China, publicly withdrew from the League of Nations, and announced that it would replace the previous "coordinated diplomacy" with so-called "independent diplomacy", which meant that Japan tore up the "Nine-Nation Convention" and was determined to completely break the international order in East Asia stipulated by the Washington system. After the incident, the Japanese government and military departments began to study a new round of East Asian policy objectives. 1933 10 10 During the period from 3 to 20 October, the Japanese cabinet held five five-phase meetings, and according to the opinions of the military department, it was decided that "Japan, Manchuria and China supported and helped each other under the guidance of the empire" should be realized first (Note: Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Japanese Diplomatic Chronicle and Main Documents/kl )' s East Asian policy objectives. This "imperialist guidance" is actually intended to completely break the international order stipulated by the Washington system and establish a new order centered on Japan in East Asia. The most important content of this policy is to make the China National Government change from being pro-British to pro-Japanese, obey Japan's "guidance" and become a vassal state of Japan.

However, Japan knows very well that after the "September 18th Incident", Japan was very isolated internationally, and its relations with China deteriorated extremely, making it impossible to win over or oppress the China National Government to obey Japan's demands. Faced with this situation, the Japanese government is trying to find a diplomatic breakthrough with China. After a period of exploration, Ambassador Ji Ming telegraphed Foreign Minister Hirota that "economic support is possible" and that "seeking to achieve this goal quickly is a shortcut to Japan-China friendship in five to 10 years" (Note: 1934 February, Ambassador Ji Ming telegraphed Foreign Minister Hirota, Japanese Foreign Ministry document.