China’s Low-Key VE-Day

Seventy-four years ago, World War Two in Europe ended. In China, which had been at war with Japan for nearly eight years, newspapers reported the European events at great length, … Continue Reading →

China’s Ban on ‘The Great Dictator’

Curious news was coming out of China’s wartime capital of Chongqing in the summer of 1941. Charlie Chaplin’s famous movie “The Great Dictator” had been banned in Chinese theaters, allegedly … Continue Reading →

White Russians in China, Part 2

When Japan occupied northeast China in 1931 and 1932 and turned the area into the puppet state of Manchukuo, it also took over a minority of several thousand ethnic Russians … Continue Reading →

The Mystery Explosion

On November 4, 1937, the battle of Shanghai was almost over. Japanese forces were closing in on the Chinese defenses in and around the city, and it was considered a … Continue Reading →

Beijing’s Wartime Police Force

In the months after the Japanese Army occupied Beijing in the summer of 1937, the new administration attempted to introduce a semblance of normalcy. This involved employing local Chinese in … Continue Reading →

A Century of Chinese Uniforms

China has seen tremendous change over the past century, and along with the rest of Chinese society, the transformation of the nation’s military forces has been profound. At the start … Continue Reading →

Nanjing 1948: The Reckoning

A high-profile trial was taking place in Nanjing in early 1948. In the dock were two former Japanese officers, Mukai Toshiaki and Noda Tsuyoshi, identified as the duo who had … Continue Reading →

Mussolini’s Marines: Italians in China

One of the strangest military operations of World War Two featured Japanese opposing Italians on Chinese soil. In September 1943, when Italy signed an armistice with the Allies, abandoning its … Continue Reading →

China’s Holy Guardians

The diorama “China’s Holy Guardians” is master modeler Chang Chung-fu’s take on the 1937 battle of Shanghai, featuring some of China’s elite German-trained troops. This extremely detailed piece of art … Continue Reading →

Goebbels’ China Problem

German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels had a big problem in the summer of 1937. War had broken out between China and Japan, and Germany was staying neutral, even though a … Continue Reading →