The Taiwan Development Company and Indochina: Subimperialism, Development, and Colonial Status

本文檢視臺灣拓植株式會社（以下簡稱臺拓）於三十至四十年代之活動。作者使用「次帝國主義」一概念來探討該公司在東南亞的擴展、其業務活動的意義，以及此時期對外擴展對臺、日兩籍員工間的關係所帶來的影響。「次帝國主義」一詞是針對帝國轄區邊緣上的勢力而言的：這種努力往往是把自身利益－－而不是帝國中心或作為整體的帝國的利益－－居於首位的。臺拓及其發起者臺灣總督府的目標是要壟實行於東南亞的所有經濟計劃，並且使該地區法國殖民地的自然資源成為臺灣自身發展的依據，在此意義上，他們的努力與同時也想要開發東南亞的基於帝國中心地區的官方及企業界勢力是大相逕庭的。　臺拓的東南亞業務活動的意義在於，它綜合了兩種在三十年代以前曾被分別追求的目標，即臺灣的經濟發展和日本影響力在東南亞的擴張。因此，臺拓可視為此兩種臺灣政策的具體體現。　最後，臺拓在東南亞的擴展改變了該公司日、臺兩籍員工問的關係，使其更接近，並轉化了臺籍員工的身份，使他們從殖民地的被統治者成為服務於日本統攝東南亞事業的從屬帝國主義者。

This article examines the activities of the Taiwan Development Company (TDC) in Indochina during the 1930s and 1940s. It uses the concept of subimperialism to explore corporate expansion into Indochina, the significance of the company's business ventures there, and impact of overseas expansion on relations between Taiwanese and Japanese employees. Subimperialism occurs when actors on the imperial periphery pursue expansion to advance their own interests rather than those of the imperial metropole or of the empire as a whole. The TDC and its sponsor, the Taiwan Government-General, wanted both to monopolize economic development projects in Indochina and to exploit the French colony's natural resources for the development of Taiwan. These aims put them in conflict with corporate and government interests based in the imperial metropole back in Japan that were also attempting to exploit Indochina. TDC business ventures in Indochina were also significant in that they unified two policies that the Japanese colonial regime in Taiwan had pursued separately before the 1930s: the economic development of Taiwan and the extension of Japanese influence into the neighboring regions of South China and Southeast Asia. The TDC was the institutional reification of these twin goals of policy in Taiwan. Finally, expansion into Indochina changed the relationship between Taiwanese and Japanese TDC employees, drawing them closer together and transforming the Taiwanese employees from colonial subjects to adjunct imperialists in the Japanese domination of Indochina.