The relationship between China and Japan is an important aspect of these two countries¡¯ history. From ancient times, China had long been admired, respected, emulated by Japan. However, during the first twenty years of the twentieth century, the world had witnessed a dramatic change of Sino-Japanese relations due to the shift of global balance of power. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan gradually emerged as a first-class nation in the world and wielded considerable political, economic, and military power. On the contrary, China failed to modernize and fell into a semi-colony after signing a series of unequal treaties with Western powers. From 1898-1919, the Sino-Japanese relations changed from relatively peaceful commercial activities and cultural exchange to antagonistic conflicts and rivalry. There were mainly three stages during this transition period, illustrating the gradual change of Japan¡¯s attitude towards China and the resultant China¡¯s reactions. Analysing the relationship between China and Japan in this period is not only crucial to study the modern East Asian history, and also necessary to understand the current relations

Due to the mutual interests, China and Japan experienced unprecedented intimate relations from 1898-1907 right after the first Sino-Japanese War. Two significant movements best demonstrated this relationship. One was that an increasing number of Chinese students got education in Japan. From the first thirteen students in 1896 to approximately 8,000 students in 1906, the peak year, a large number of Chinese students went to Japan to have education in various areas, particularly in medical and military training. Later, some students abroad became Chinese official elite or influential scholars. For instance, Luxun, a noted thinker and writer in the twentieth century, was send to Japan for studying medicine in 1902. The other significant movement is the introduction of Toa Dobun Shoin (East Asia Common Culture Association) whose main purposes were to promote Sino-Japanese cultural exchange and to train Japanese for business and diplomatic services. However, the relationship between China and Japan soon deteriorated after the Russo-Japanese War. According to the Portsmouth Peace Treaty, Japan succeeded to all former Russian rights in south Manchuria, the leasehold on Port Arthur and Dairen. Ironically, Japan expected that ¡°China should have been grateful to them for expelling the Russians from South Manchuria and by extension for removing the threat to the independence of the Chinese Government.¡± This could only be an illusion; China, indeed, rightly began to fear for Japan¡¯s potential expansionist ambitions.

The SMR was not only a successful commercial enterprise, it also acted as an instrument of Japan¡¯s political, economic, and military penetration to China. According to the Article VI of the Portsmouth Treaty, the SMR had the right to manage the railway operation as well as mining in that region. Moreover, Japan established political and military control over the so called ¡°railway zone.¡± The Japanese Emperor appointed the Governor General of Kwantung Leased Territory to take the administrative and judicial responsibilities of the railway zone. The multifunction of the SMR decided its role as half commercial enterprise and half Japanese political agent in Manchuria.

Although China did not participated in the Russo-Japanese War, this would not impede other imperialist powers to partition off China as their booty. Japan did not hesitate to exploit the chance brought by its victory of the Russo-Japanese War. It fastened economic expansion in China, especially in Manchuria during the period of 1907-1914. The establishment of the South Manchuria Company (SMR) was the most prominent example of Japan¡¯s economic expansion in China during this period. Although the United States proposed the ¡°Open Door¡± Policy in China in 1899, intending to maintain an integrated Chinese government, Japan claimed monopolistic rights to buil

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