Inescapably but perhaps tragically, free world attention in this part of the world is focused on the Peiping-backed aggression in Vietnam. Too few people seem to realize or care that Japan still remains a hotbed of Communist ideological cultivation and Red China's No.1 target in Asia
Policy and propaganda are cast from matching molds. So it is that Peiping's psychological offensive against Japan accompanies prodigious efforts on political and economic fronts. The Communist objectives are to influence Japan, to neutralize it, and then to establish a "People's Government of the Republic of Japan".
In the years just after Communist usurpation of power on the Chinese mainland, Peiping was carrying out the Kremlin's instructions for world communization. Geographical proximity brought Asian nations within the Red Chinese sphere of responsibility. Since the Red camp rift of 1963, the Chinese Communists have had to compete with the Russians for the reins of Asia. But the basic design remains the same: Japan still heads the list of targets.
The Chinese Communist offensive against Japan has not been as conspicuous as their acts of aggression elsewhere in Asia. But that is partly because Red infiltration in the land of cherry blossoms has been easy and virtually unobstructed.
The Chinese Reds are well aware that for historical, cultural, and other reasons, the Japanese feel a special affinity for China, and that continental China is too big and close for the Japanese to ignore. Peiping's messages, no matter how distorted, have a special appeal to the Japanese, whose artistic, religious, and social traditions have come from or have been influenced by China through the centuries.
World War II defeat and subsequent occupation by foreign troops, on the other hand, made some Japanese feel that their nation was being used as "a U.S. tool to protect American interests in the Far East". It did not take long for Communist influence to turn this sentiment into open acts against the Americans and what the Reds called "Western imperialism".
The occupation authorities took great pains to replace militarism with democracy in Japan. But democracy is by nature vulnerable to Communist infiltration. The Japanese Communists broke their wartime silence and began to spread the seeds of Marxist-Leninist hatred. Utilizing their newly gained freedom of speech, many young people turned left in hot debates about "renovation" and "progress". Leftist ideology became "fashionable". It was an unmistakable echo from the early 20th-century period when Marxism was fashion. Today Japan has more then 200 leftist-inclined civic organizations of a domestic and international nature. Members come from all strata of society.
The San Francisco peace treaty committed Japan to support the free world and oppose Communism. The present government of Eisaku Sato is regarded as more anti-Communist than the preceding administration under Hayato Ikeda. But the ruling Liberal-Democratic Party itself has minor factions that more or less speak for Moscow and Peiping. The leftist-leaning Socialist Party is a powerful opposition. The militant Communist Party remains legal and exercises some influence in politics.
Further complicating such social and political situations are economic considerations that include overproduction and a dull market. Many Japanese manufacturers have been clamoring for government support in expanding trade with Communist China. They indulge in dreams of decades ago, when the Chinese mainland nurtured the economic growth of an imperial Japan. But times have changed. A free nation that trades with Peiping is only paying the bill for its own destruction.
Peiping has steadfastly promoted the growth of anti-Western sentiment in Japan. The regime's survival and development call for total U.S. withdrawal from Asia.
Coveted by Mao
Japan's postwar industrial and technological growth has kept the mouths of Peiping leaders watering. Mao Tse-tung and Co. realize that if Japan's know-how and productivity can be channeled into the development of material and human resources on the Chinese mainland, they need not fear anyone.
But to gain dominant influence in Japan, Peiping must first split the Japanese away from the Americans. Then they will have a free hand in communizing the' island nation. The Chinese Communists may have to spend long years in working toward this goal, but they will never give up.
In the economic field, Japan-Peiping trade has been increasing rapidly, although the overall volume still doesn't amount to much. Japan imported US$44 million worth of goods from Communist China in 1962. Imports were US$71 million in 1963 and US$146 million last year. Japan's exports to the Chinese mainland in the same three years were US$40 million, 66 million, and 143 million, respectively. The disapproval and repeated warnings of the Government of the Republic of China have helped restrain Japan. In 1964, trade with Communist China was about 2 per cent of Japanese foreign trade.
Mass Media
In the political sphere, Peiping has demanded that Japan enter into a diplomatic relationship. The Japanese Communist Party and some of the pro-Peiping members of the Japanese Socialist Party sponsor an "Association for the Restoration of Sino-Japanese Diplomatic Relations". Mass meetings have been held and petitions presented to the government.
Japanese social, cultural, and business leaders have been invited to Peiping and have been used as instruments of pro-Peiping propaganda. Key Chinese Communist figures-including Mao Tse-tung, Kuo Mo-jo, Chou En-lai, and Liao Cheng-chi—have issued a number of statements on "Sino-Japanese friendship" in recent years. These have been widely disseminated in Japan, but with little effect on the basically pro-Western Tokyo government.
Peiping's biggest bid for Japanese support is made through mass communications. Nearly 50 Chinese Communist newspapers and periodicals in Chinese or Japanese languages are circulated in Japan. At least seven Peiping-published English-language periodicals are sold. Nearly 20 left-leaning Japanese publications are supported financially by Peiping. Translations of Mao Tse-tung's works and other Chinese Communist books are distributed by more than half a dozen publishers, some of them with sizable sales networks. Peiping Radio's Japanese- language broadcasts total 31½ hours a week, the highest figure for broadcasts aimed at Asian countries. Disguised messages also reach the masses in Japan through pro-Peiping news agencies and civic organizations under the supervision of the so-called LT Office (Liao Cheng-chi and Takazaki Office).
The relationship between the Communists of Japan and China goes back to the spring of 1941, when Sanzo Nozaka, who still heads the Japanese Reds, went from Russia to Yenan in China's northwestern province of Shansi. At that time Mao Tse-tung was outlawed and cornered in Yenan, the wartime Red "capital" of China. Nozaka learned subversive techniques, and later that year established a "Japanese industrial and agricultural school" in Yenan to turn Japanese prisoners of war into Communist fighters for the "liberation" of Japan. Several schools of a similar nature were set up by Nozaka at other Red bases.
Anti-U.S. Drives
Nozaka returned to Japan shortly after V-J Day and breathed life into the Japanese Communists, who had been crippled and suppressed through the war years. The newly established democratic order legalized the Communist Party, which in 1964 seized 35 seats in the 466-member Lower House of Japanese Diet. The Japanese Communist Party now has some 200,000 members and is continuing to grow. About 90 per cent of them are pro-Peiping either by choice or by compulsion. Those who speak for Moscow are subjected to pressure. Many have been expelled.
These are some of the activities of the Peiping-supported Japanese Reds:
—Opposition to the U.S.-Japanese Security Treaty. Proposals to strengthen the treaty have been bitterly opposed. Japanese Communist Party Secretary-General Kenji Miyamoto and Inajiro Asanuma, president of the Socialist Party, went to Peiping in 1958 for briefings on strategy. Their return to Japan was followed by a fierce anti-U.S. propaganda campaign. Demonstrations against the treaty flared throughout Japan in the spring of 1959. Civic organizations on the Chinese mainland were instructed by Peiping to voice support of the Japanese leftists. Huge rallies were held in Peiping, Shanghai, and other major cities.
—Opposition to U.S. military bases in Japan. As in Vietnam, the Communists want American forces withdrawn as a step toward communization. Since July, 1960, many organized demonstrations have been held at U.S. bases in Japan. The number of participants varies from a few score to hundreds of thousands. Objections also are raised to the visits of missile-launching U.S. nuclear submarines, establishment of missile bases where the missiles are pointed in the direction of the Chinese mainland, and the conducting of military exercises.
—Demand for return of the Ryukyus to Japan. Under the United States, Okinawa has become a free world sword pointed at Mao's throat. If the Ryukyus were returned to Japan, the Communists could demand withdrawal of U.S. forces. Recovery of the Ryukyus has popular appeal among Japanese of all political faiths.
Demonstrations against the presence of American troops in Okinawa have been held in both Japan and the Ryukyus. The Communists are trying to kill at least three birds with one stone. They want to win Japanese approval, embarrass the pro-American Tokyo government, and use the masses to force the U.S. military out of Okinawa.
Offices in Tokyo
Peiping has backed all these moves. The Chinese have used every possible means to present themselves as "true friends" of the Japanese.
Peiping maintains two permanent offices in Tokyo: (1) the LT Office staffed by Sun Ping-hua, Wu Shu-tung, Chen Han, and Lin Po; and (2) the newspaper correspondents' delegation that includes representatives of the New China News Agency, China News Agency, the People's Daily News, Ta Kung Pao, Peking Daily News, Kuang Ming Daily News, and Wen Hui Pao. (It is reported that three newsmen returned to the Chinese mainland recently.)
On the surface, the LT Office is to promote trade relations between Tokyo and Peiping, and the Red newsmen are present for reporting. Actually, both groups serve as command posts for the Chinese Communist propaganda effort in Japan. The two groups occupy a 10-room office in the Kawaguchi Building in Tokyo's quiet Bunkyo District. The monthly rental is 1.29 million Japanese yen (about US$3,600) paid in a lump sum every six months.
Peiping also is represented by the "Tokyo Overseas Chinese Association" and Asia News Service, which are charged with direct propaganda work. The former was organized in 1951 when the Communists failed to win over the pro-Nationalist Tokyo Overseas Chinese Association. The Red association, bearing the same name as its anti-Communist counterpart, has a membership of some 2,000 and publishes two newspapers - one Chinese-language daily and one Japanese-language weekly. The association also collects information for Chinese agents, raises funds for pro-Peiping activities among overseas Chinese, and takes care of visitors from the Chinese mainland.
Pro-Peiping Media
Asia News Service, formerly known as China News Service, was founded in Tokyo in 1945. CNS was dissolved by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers because of radical editorial policy, but emerged again as Asia News Service in November of 1951.
ANS, as an informal branch office of NCNA, has a pro-Peiping Japanese editor-in-chief named Kazuo Kanemaru. It translates monitored NCNA dispatches into Japanese and English for distribution in Japan.
Many Japanese mass communications media often express opinions more or less advantageous to the Chinese Communist regime. A number of them are obviously pro-Peiping. They include:
—Nippon Denpa News, founded by Yasuo Yanazawa, a former NHK (Nippon Hoso Kyokai) radio commentator, in February, 1949, following his return from China. NDN imports Peiping's newsreels and taped radio programs.
—Japanese Council of Journalists, consisting of pro-Communist journalists. It has close connections with both Peiping and Moscow, and has launched campaigns against "U.S. imperialism" and "Japanese monopoly capitalists". Many pro-Peiping articles in Japanese publications have been written by its members. The council was founded in March, 1945.
—Japanese Press Service, founded April 12, 1947. It has business contracts with NCNA and Grozi Shudian, the Red publishing center in Peiping. It distributes news releases and photos.
—Chinese Cultural News Service, established in March, 1949, with Peiping's financial assistance. It is connected with Radio Peiping's Japanese section, the Chinese Communist National Trade Union, NCNA, and Peiping's Workers Daily News. CCN circulates newsletters three times a month among left-leaning organizations and unions. It has sponsored a number of Radio Peiping Listeners' Parties to promote Communist causes.
—New Japan Publishing Company, co-sponsored by the Chinese Communists and the Japanese Communist Party. Noriharu Anzai, JCP secretary, is its general manager. It publishes Japanese editions of Mao Tse-tung's works.
Of the approximately 50 Peiping-originated periodicals circulated in Japan, the following three Japanese-language magazines are especially important:
—Peking Review, which disseminates Communist ideology. It formerly was published only in English. Spanish and French editions were introduced in March of 1964. The Japanese edition made its first appearance as a bi-monthly in August of the same year. It is a weekly now. Subscription rate is 800 yen (US$2.22) a year. Each issue contains some two dozen pages of reports on Peiping politics, economy, and diplomacy. Akahata, the Japanese Communist Party organ, offered 20,000 introductory copies to its readers. The Japanese edition since has been promoted with an array of gifts to readers, including desk calendars, scrolls, and notebooks. Questionnaires have been used to solicit reader opinions to "improve" the publication.
—China Pictorial, like Peking Review, published by Peiping's Foreign Language Press. The Life magazine-size monthly contains 40-odd pages in color as well as black and white. Both news and feature photos are carried and language is simpler than in the Peking Review. Price is 60 yen (16 U.S. cents) per copy.
—People's China, an illustrated monthly, which became available in Japanese in the summer of 1963. The format is Japanese. Each issue contains editorials, news stories, feature, short stories, cartoons, etc., and is accompanied by an eight-page supplement of Chinese language lessons for Radio Peiping listeners. The radio lessons and magazine supplements are tied together to promote both listenership and readership. Those who learn Chinese through Radio Peiping may well be influenced by Red propaganda.
The three publications are printed in Peiping and airmailed to Japan. Total monthly circulation is said to be more than 140,000 copies.
Radio Offensive
According to the U.S. Information Agency report, "Asian Communist Bloc Propaganda Offensive: 1963", Peiping's international broadcasts at that time totaled 898 hours a week. Fifty per cent of the airtime, or 443 ½ hours a week, was directed toward Asian audiences.
The Asian broadcasts included: -212 hours in Mandarin.
—102 hours in the Amoy, Canton, and Swatow dialects.
—31 ½ hours in Japanese.
—28 hours in Vietnamese.
—21 hours in Indonesian.
—17 ½ hours each in Laotian and Burmese.
—14 hours each in Malay, Thai, Cambodian, and Korean.
Broadcasts are beamed to Japan five times a day. Power is strong and reception is reportedly good throughout Japan.
The Chinese Communists employ other means and organizations to infiltrate Japan. The Chinese Communist Party's Central Political Bureau has a special division that maintains direct and indirect contacts with Peiping representatives in Tokyo and the Japanese Communist Party This division, under Liao Cheng-chi, directs at least 11 mainland associations in "private" approaches to their counterparts in Japan. The organizations cover "people's diplomacy", labor, international trade, foreign cultural ties, journalism, literature and arts, women's activity, youth relations, student movement, Buddhism, and "Asian unity".
The Red attempt to poison the Japanese is not limited to the use of words. The Peiping regime each year squeezes from Japan alone some US$170 million through the sale of smuggled opium, according to the Japanese National Committee for the Struggle Against Addiction to Drugs. In the last three years Peiping smuggled more than 700 kilograms of heroin from Hongkong to Japan.
Peiping's offensive against Japan is many-sided. The responsibility for countering it lies largely in the hands of the Japanese. Their freedom and the future of their country is at stake. Red Chinese atmospheric testing of nuclear devices, and its mad rush to attain nuclear weapons and the means of delivering them, have begun to wake up some people. Japan, after all, is the only land in the world to have experienced the effects of atomic bombings. It does not relish the idea of nuclear weapons in the hand" of anyone, least of all a close neighbor.