A Member of China’s Greatest Generation Passes Away

Taiwan’s former Prime Minister Hau Pei-tsun passed away in Taipei Monday, at the age of 100. Also a former defense minister, Hau played an important role in the post-war development … Continue Reading →

The Nanjing Massacre: A Swedish Diplomat Reports (Part Three)

In late 1937 and early 1938, the Swedish envoy to China, Johan Beck-Friis, who was based in Shanghai, filed a series of reports to the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm about … Continue Reading →

The Nanjing Massacre: A Swedish Diplomat Reports (Part Two)

“The soldiers have murdered, burnt and looted while raping women without worrying about the presence of witnesses.” By early 1938, the Swedish envoy to China, Johan Beck-Friis, was in no … Continue Reading →

The Nanjing Massacre: A Swedish Diplomat Reports (Part One)

In December 1937, the Japanese Army captured the Chinese capital of Nanjing and immediately imposed a complete news blackout of events in the city. As a result, the outside world … 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 →

China at War: A New Zealand View (Part 3)

  As the war in the Asia-Pacific progressed, life as a New Zealand missionary in partly Japanese-occupied China became more difficult. After the Allies declared war on Japan in 1941, … Continue Reading →

China at War: A New Zealand View (Part 2)

  Southern China was an area in desperate crisis in the late 1930s. Up north, the densely populated areas near Shanghai and Beijing had fallen to the victorious Japanese Army, … Continue Reading →

China at War: A New Zealand View (Part 1)

  When war broke out between China and Japan in the 1930s, tens of thousands of foreigners became unwilling spectators of the bloody events. Among the witnesses were Presbyterian missionaries … Continue Reading →

The Fate of America’s Missing Airmen in Thailand in WW2

Daniel Jackson, a US Air Force pilot and the author of several books on military history, has done extensive research on the role of American aviators in China during World … Continue Reading →

Disaster in Shanghai, Part 2

  On August 23, 1937, Shanghai was only getting used to war when a bomb, probably dropped by accident, hit a busy part of Nanjing Road, gutting Sincere Department Store … Continue Reading →