Imperial gateway : colonial Taiwan and Japan's expansion in South China and Southeast Asia, 1895-1945

"Drawing on multilingual archives from six countries, this book examines the strategic importance of Taiwan to the Japanese Empire and uncovers the half-century of dynamic relations between Japan, Taiwan, China, and Western regional powers in an ever-shifting international order"--\*Publication of this book was made possible by generous grants from the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange, the Leonard Hastings Schoff and Suzanne Levick Schoff Memorial Fund at the University Seminars at Columbia University, and the City College of New York. Open-access edition funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. In Imperial Gateway , Seiji Shirane explores the political, social, and economic significance of colonial Taiwan in the southern expansion of Japan's empire from 1895 to the end of World War II. Challenging understandings of empire that focus on bilateral relations between metropole and colonial periphery, Shirane uncovers a half century of dynamic relations between Japan, Taiwan, China, and Western regional powers. Japanese officials in Taiwan did not simply take orders from Tokyo; rather, they often pursued their own expansionist ambitions in South China and Southeast Asia. When outright conquest was not possible, they promoted alternative strategies, including naturalizing resident Chinese as overseas Taiwanese subjects, extending colonial police networks, and deploying tens of thousands of Taiwanese to war. The Taiwanese—merchants, gangsters, policemen, interpreters, nurses, and soldiers—seized new opportunities for socioeconomic advancement that did not always align with Japan's imperial interests. Drawing on multilingual archives in six countries, Imperial Gateway shows how Japanese officials and Taiwanese subjects transformed Taiwan into a regional gateway for expansion in an ever-shifting international order. Thanks to generous funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities Open Book Program and its participation in TOME (Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem), the ebook editions of this book are available as Open Access volumes from Cornell Open (cornellpress.cornell.edu/cornell-open) and other repositories. In Imperial Gateway, Seiji Shirane explores the political, social, and economic significance of colonial Taiwan in the southern expansion of Japan's empire from 1895 to the end of World War II. Challenging understandings of empire that focus on bilateral relations between metropole and colonial periphery, Shirane uncovers a half century of dynamic relations between Japan, Taiwan, China, and Western regional powers. Japanese officials in Taiwan did not simply take orders from Tokyo; rather, they often pursued their own expansionist ambitions in South China and Southeast Asia. When outright conquest was not possible, they promoted alternative strategies, including naturalizing resident Chinese as overseas Taiwanese subjects, extending colonial police networks, and deploying tens of thousands of Taiwanese to war. The Taiwanese—merchants, gangsters, policemen, interpreters, nurses, and soldiers—seized new opportunities for socioeconomic advancement that did not always align with Japan's imperial interests. Drawing on multilingual archives in six countries, Imperial Gateway shows how Japanese officials and Taiwanese subjects transformed Taiwan into a regional gateway for expansion in an ever-shifting international order.Thanks to generous funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities Open Book Program and its participation in TOME (Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem), the ebook editions of this book are available as Open Access volumes from Cornell Open (cornellopen.org) and other repositories Acknowledgments Note to the Reader Map of East and Southeast Asia Introduction Part One: Overseas Subjects as Gateway Actors 1. Opening a Gateway into China 2. Taiwanese in South China’s Border Zones 3. Taiwanese in Southeast Asia Part Two: The Wartime Gateway 4. Mobilizing for War 5. Colonial Liaisons in Occupied South China 6. Advancing into the Southern Regions Epilogue Notes Selected Bibliography Index Introduction : Imperial Gateways in Regional Histories of Empire -- Opening a Gateway into South China -- Overseas Taiwanese in South China's Border Zones -- Overseas Taiwanese in Southeast Asia -- Mobilizing the Taiwanese for War -- Colonial Liaisons in Occupied South China -- Advancing into the Southern Regions -- Epilogue : Postwar Legacies of Taiwan's Gateway "Drawing on multilingual archives from six countries, this book examines the strategic importance of Taiwan to the Japanese Empire and uncovers the half-century of dynamic relations between Japan, Taiwan, China, and Western regional powers in an ever-shifting international order"-- Provided by publisher