跨境的歷史認識－－冷戰時期佐藤慎一郎的「中共觀察」與香港行

Observations on China during the Cold War Period: On the Writings of Sato Shinichiro

本文以佐藤慎一郎為個案，探討日本在冷戰時期的「中共觀察」。佐藤的經歷相當特別。戰爭結束前他具有「中國經驗」，擔任過滿洲國民政部文書科屬官、大同學院教官，後來成為總務廳參事官，敗戰後於1947年歸返日本。1959年，佐藤在拓殖大學任教，開始一連串地「中共觀察」。這位昔日的「支那通」貫穿戰前與戰後，成為「中國問題研究家」，也是日本有關「反共」言論的代表。1967年的香港左派騷動結束，他以拓大教授名義，連續三年前往香港訪問中國內地逃脫的難民；此外，當「日中邦交正常化」時，還公然抨擊日本田中內閣的親共外交。出版多本有關分析中共農業集體化及人民公社著作的佐藤，甚至主張中國的文化正統在臺灣。要理解冷戰時期佐藤慎一郎的言論，吾人似乎無法迴避其思想延續性，包括他戰前對華有關農村破產與再建的思考。因此，藉由佐藤之例，本文希望增添文化冷戰的一頁新史。

This article examines the writings on China and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by the late Shinichiro Sato (佐藤慎一郎; 1905- 1999). His works are of great interest to historians in large part because of his unique experiences. Prior to and during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Sato served, in turn, as an official of the Manchurian Ministry of Civil Affairs, an instructor at the Tatung Academy, and a counselor of the Department of General Affairs. He left Manchuria and returned to Japan in 1947, following Japan’s surrender at the end of the war. In 1959, after assuming a teaching position at Takushoku University, Sato began writing a series of essays known as the CCP Observations. The old China hand had now become a staunch anti-communist. Beginning in 1967, in his role as professor of Takushoku University, Sato visited Hong Kong for three consecutive years, where he interviewed refugees from mainland China. When the Joint Communique of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People’s Republic of China was signed on September 1972, Sato was openly critical of the pro-communist stance of the Tanaka cabinet in Japan.
I argue in this paper that to understand Sato’s works written at the height of the Cold War, including his critiques of China’s agricultural collectivization efforts and its people’s communes, we must also look at his writings from prior to the Cold War, for there is a great deal of continuity in his thought. He was sharply critical of traditional China, and his criticisms of Cold War China were an extension of his former views. According to Sato, traditional Chinese culture was embodied in Taiwan after the Kuomintang (KMT) government relocated to the island; hence, he was critical of aspects of Taiwan as well.