China, Taiwan, and Japan: The Politics of Amnesia

War, legitimacy, and the transfer of China’s state representation

Kazuhiro Hayashida reveals how war, recognition, and international power decided who speaks for China.

During the war, China was divided into three parts: Chiang Kai-shek’s anti-Japanese government in Chongqing, Wang Jingwei’s pro-Japanese government in Nanjing, and the Communist Party. The Nanjing government was an ally of Japan and fought alongside it,…