辛亥革命１００年―新たな日中交流の機に

2011/10/12
--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 9
EDITORIAL: A perfect opportunity for Japan, China to strengthen ties.
辛亥革命１００年―新たな日中交流の機に

On Oct. 10, 1911, a military uprising against China's Qing Dynasty broke out in Wuchang, a city on the bank of the Yangtze River's middle reaches.
　干支（えと）で辛亥（かのとい）の年にあたる１００年前の１０月１０日、中国の長江中流域、武昌で清朝に対する蜂起が勃発した。

The uprising triggered a revolution that overthrew China's last imperial dynasty and established the Republic of China, the first such political system in Asia.
これが引き金になって、アジアで初の共和国である中華民国が誕生し、清朝は倒れた。

It is called the Xinhai Revolution because 1911 was a "xinhai" year in the sexagenary cycle of the Chinese calendar.
辛亥（しんがい）革命である。

Sun Yat-sen, a revolutionary who played a leading role in those events, also called the Chinese Revolution, sought to create a nation based on a political philosophy known as the Three Principles of the People: the principle of nationalism, the principle of civil rights and the principle of people's livelihood.
　革命を主導した孫文の理想は、民族、民権、民生という三民主義の実現だった。

Although he continued the struggle to realize his political vision, punctuated by strife with Yuan Shi-kai, a general and politician who attempted to become emperor of China, and years of living in exile, Sun didn't live to see the Kuomintang, the nationalist party he founded, consolidate its power and establish a unified government. 　孫文は袁世凱との対立、亡命などの苦闘を続けたものの、国民党による統一政権は見ることはできずに世を去った。

As his last words uttered on his deathbed, Sun said, "The revolution has not yet succeeded."
遺言は「革命未（いま）だ成らず」だった。

The Kuomintang government, however, lost control of the nation to the Communists in civil war and retreated to Taiwan in 1949.
　その国民党政権も共産党との内戦に敗れ、１９４９年に台湾に逃れる運命をたどった。

A century later, the Xinhai Revolution is still celebrated as a glorious moment in Chinese history because it ended more than 2,000 years of monarchic autocracy in China.
　そんな辛亥革命が１００年たっても輝きを失わないのは、やはり、中国大陸で連綿と続いた専制王朝を崩壊に導いたという歴史的意義があるからだろう。

The Chinese Communist Party, which has cast itself as "the most solid supporter of the revolution and its most faithful successor," organized a variety of events to commemorate the 100th anniversary with an eye toward future unification with Taiwan.
　「革命の最も堅固な支持者であり、最も忠実な継承者」とする共産党は、台湾との統一を見据えて様々な記念行事を開く。

But the Communist Party has not embraced the principle of civil rights and the separation of powers such as government and legislation advocated by Sun.
　しかし、孫文が訴えた民主制を求める「民権」や、行政と立法などの権力分立は受け入れていない。

The ruling party's failure to adopt these key principles of democracy has been hindering the country's healthy development and created widespread discontent among the Chinese people.
そこが健全な発展の足かせとなっていて、国民の不満の原因でもある。

The party cannot claim to be a "faithful successor" to the revolution.
とても、革命の忠実な継承者とは誇れまい。

Meanwhile, Taiwan has become a democracy.
　一方で、台湾は民主化を果たした。

The island's democratization has guaranteed the Taiwanese people's freedom of speech.
民主化は言論の自由を保障し、

Some politicians in the opposition camp even argue that Sun, who was born in mainland China, has nothing to do with Taiwan.
野党からは「大陸で生まれた孫文と台湾は関係ない」との声も聞かれるほどだ。

The Xinhai Revolution still claims attention in Japan because many Japanese provided broad support to the movement.
　日本で辛亥革命が関心を集めるのは、多くの人々が幅広い支援をしたからだ。

Another factor behind Japanese interest in the event is that Chinese who studied in Japan played the central role in the revolution.
また、日本留学経験者が革命の主力を担ったことも注目される一因だ。

But Japan's relationship with China has yet to shake off the damaging effects of a collision in September last year between a Chinese trawler and Japan Coast Guard vessels off the disputed Senkaku Islands, which triggered a bitter diplomatic row.
　しかし、現実の日中関係は昨年秋の尖閣諸島沖衝突事件の影響から抜け出せていない。

When he became prime minister, Naoto Kan said in his policy speech at the Diet that Sun had many Japanese friends who supported his cause.
　菅直人・前首相は施政方針演説で「孫文には、彼を支える多くの日本の友人がいました」と語った。

Kan's reference to Sun's ties with Japan probably reflected his desire to use the centennial of the revolution as an opportunity to start the process of fixing the strained bilateral relations.
これは、革命１００年を日中関係改善の糸口にしたい意欲の表れだったのだろう。

Some of the Japanese who supported the Chinese Revolution did so as a selfless, purely altruistic act.
　しかし、革命の日本人関係者には無私無欲の人もいたが、

But many of the Japanese who helped the Chinese revolutionaries were ambitious persons driven by prospects of winning monetary gain in China.
中国利権を目指した野心家が多かった。

The Japanese government at that time adopted an indifferent attitude toward Sun mainly out of consideration to the Qing Dynasty.
清朝への配慮などから当時の政府は孫文に冷淡だった。

Two decades after the revolution, the Manchurian Incident took place.
　そして革命から２０年後には満州事変が起きた。

Japan chose the rule of might instead of the rule of right that Sun called for and invaded China.
日本は孫文の求めた「王道」ではなく覇道で中国を侵略した。

Japan cannot hope to build stable, friendly relations with China if it fails to take a hard look at its past behavior and focuses only on the facts concerning the revolution that are convenient to it.
　そんな歴史を凝視せず、辛亥革命のいいとこ取りをしただけでは、安定した友好関係は築けまい。

Next year will mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the formal diplomatic relationship between Japan and China.
来年は中華人民共和国と国交樹立して４０年を迎える。

Both the Japanese government and the country's private sector should use the landmark year as an opportunity to launch fresh efforts to build multilayered relations with China for the next 100 years.
　節目の年に次の１００年を視野に入れ、政府と民間は重層的な関係構築につとめるべきだし、

We urge China, which has regained its status as a great power, to adopt a future-oriented attitude in its relations with Japan.
大国の地位に戻った中国も未来志向で臨んでもらいたい。