Yellow River, one of China’s mother river which fostered the Han ethnicity throughout history, turned into a ruthless murder killing nearly millions of people during the second Sino-Japanese war. The 1938 Yellow River Flood, also known as “Huayuankou (Flower Garden mouth) embankment breach event” was one of the most severe ecological disaster and the largest act of environmental warfare in history. Though the flood was claimed to be a strategic decision in order to halt Japanese marching to Wuhan under a mood close to panic at that time , people kept questioning the necessity of such massive casualties and the actual value comparing to its disastrous aftermath. The ruthlessness and inhumanity shown in the hasty decision made this human catastrophe
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Young, the correspondent for international news services in Tokyo published the article “Japs Charge Chiang drowned 300,000 to save his army” on The Kane Republican, one of two daily newspapers of Pennsylvania. In the article, James quoted the statement of Japan Foreign Minister General Kazushige Ugaki and Rear Admiral Kiyoshi Noda, which denunciated the Yellow River Flood as “atrocity perpetrated by Barbarians.” The statement was made to foreign news correspondent in order to term the Nine-Power-Treaty, which was signed in 1922 to affirm the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China, as out of date under current condition. The article clearly reveals the desire of Japan to maintain its relationship with western countries especially Britain and United States since they are facing the “aggravated attitude” after the break out of Sino-Japanese war . On the other hand, Ugaki declared that “Japan has no territorial ambitions” in China and he strongly believed in “China for Chinese” to explain their recent military campaign and keep other powers in the treaty from interrupting the war. Concerning Yellow River flood, Noda charged Chiang with “sacrificing thousands of civilian lives merely to save his own army,” thus questioned the eligibility of KMT government as ruler of China and necessity of Japanese intervention. Though this news article was released right at the time of the flood, it mainly aimed at justifying Japanese invasion in China rather than revealing the truth to the western countries. The statement is one-sided, serving for Japanese political purpose and is for sure biased. However, since the flood did halt Japanese army for a certain time, the statement based on Japanese victims accusing Chiang’s atrocity should be receivable and
Young, the correspondent for international news services in Tokyo published the article “Japs Charge Chiang drowned 300,000 to save his army” on The Kane Republican, one of two daily newspapers of Pennsylvania. In the article, James quoted the statement of Japan Foreign Minister General Kazushige Ugaki and Rear Admiral Kiyoshi Noda, which denunciated the Yellow River Flood as “atrocity perpetrated by Barbarians.” The statement was made to foreign news correspondent in order to term the Nine-Power-Treaty, which was signed in 1922 to affirm the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China, as out of date under current condition. The article clearly reveals the desire of Japan to maintain its relationship with western countries especially Britain and United States since they are facing the “aggravated attitude” after the break out of Sino-Japanese war . On the other hand, Ugaki declared that “Japan has no territorial ambitions” in China and he strongly believed in “China for Chinese” to explain their recent military campaign and keep other powers in the treaty from interrupting the war. Concerning Yellow River flood, Noda charged Chiang with “sacrificing thousands of civilian lives merely to save his own army,” thus questioned the eligibility of KMT government as ruler of China and necessity of Japanese intervention. Though this news article was released right at the time of the flood, it mainly aimed at justifying Japanese invasion in China rather than revealing the truth to the western countries. The statement is one-sided, serving for Japanese political purpose and is for sure biased. However, since the flood did halt Japanese army for a certain time, the statement based on Japanese victims accusing Chiang’s atrocity should be receivable and