Sun Yat-Sen, Nanyang and the 1911 Revolution

3. Sun Yat-sen's Idea of Regionalism and His Legacy

44 3 SUN YAT-SEN’S IDEA OF REGIONALISM AND HIS LEGACY Baogang He Ideas฀of฀regionalism฀play฀constructive฀roles฀in฀guiding฀directions,฀providing฀ visions,฀and฀setting฀up฀principles฀for฀organizing฀and฀creating฀regional฀ communities.฀They฀touch฀upon฀the฀fundamental฀question฀of฀what฀kind฀of฀ regional฀organizations฀should฀be฀formed,฀and฀how฀they฀should฀operate.฀ In฀the฀first฀part฀of฀the฀twenty-first฀century,฀the฀process฀of฀regionalism฀has฀ been฀speeded฀up฀and฀many฀proposals฀and฀ideas฀concerning฀regionalism฀have฀ been฀put฀forward.฀In฀1984,฀Japanese฀scholars฀proposed฀an฀Asian฀economic฀ circle,฀which฀was฀later฀supported฀by฀the฀Japanese฀ Government฀(Japan฀ Research฀Institute฀1988;฀Yotaro฀1991).฀The฀South฀Korean฀Government฀in฀ 1987฀put฀forward฀an฀idea฀of฀a฀Yellow฀Sea฀economic฀circle฀(Jeong฀and฀Choe฀ 2001).฀In฀1987,฀Chen฀Kuiyao,฀a฀Hong฀Kong฀scholar,฀suggested฀that฀mainland฀ China,฀Taiwan฀and฀Hong฀Kong฀should฀establish฀a฀Great฀China฀circle.฀In฀ 1987,฀Indonesia฀suggested฀triangular฀economic฀cooperation฀among฀ASEAN,฀ Japan฀and฀South฀Pacific฀countries.฀In฀1990฀the฀Malaysian฀Prime฀Minister฀ Dr฀Mahathir฀Mohamad฀(1995)฀proposed฀an฀East฀Asian฀Economic฀Caucus฀ that฀drew฀both฀praises฀and฀criticisms.฀Singapore฀has฀strongly฀advocated฀the฀ free฀trade฀zone฀of฀ASEAN.฀At฀the฀ASEAN฀business฀and฀investment฀summit฀ in฀Bali,฀Indonesia฀on฀6฀October฀2003,฀Singapore’s฀then฀Prime฀Minister฀Goh฀ Chok฀Tong฀called฀for฀the฀building฀of฀an฀ASEAN฀Economic฀Community:฀a฀ single฀production฀base฀and฀a฀single฀market,฀with฀free฀movement฀of฀goods,฀ services฀and฀capital.฀In฀2008,฀the฀Rudd฀government฀proposed฀an฀“Asia฀Pacific฀ Community”฀(APC)฀by฀the฀year฀2020.฀In฀2009,฀Yukio฀Hatoyama,฀former฀ 03฀SunYatSen.indd฀฀฀44 8/24/11฀฀฀2:20:21฀PM Sun Yat-sen’s Idea of Regionalism and His Legacy 45 Japanese฀Prime฀Minister,฀proposed฀an฀East฀Asian฀Community,฀based฀on฀the฀ European฀Union฀model,฀to฀rival฀the฀APC.฀ In฀the฀above฀context,฀it฀is฀surprising฀that฀China฀often฀does฀not฀talk฀ about฀ its฀ greater฀ vision฀ of฀ regionalism.฀The฀ absence฀ of฀ China’s฀ grand฀ vision฀of฀regionalism฀can฀be฀traced฀to฀the฀idea฀of฀regionalism฀in฀the฀early฀ ฀ twentieth฀century.฀In฀this฀context,฀it฀is฀vital฀to฀understand฀Sun฀Yat-sen’s฀ idea฀of฀Pan-Asianism฀which฀provides฀Chinese฀perceptions฀of฀regionalism฀ and฀valuable฀sources.฀ A฀growing฀Chinese฀literature฀has฀been฀devoted฀to฀Sun฀Yat-sen’s฀idea฀ of฀Pan-Asianism.฀Sang฀Bin฀(2006)฀details฀with฀the฀historical฀background฀ in฀which฀Sun฀developed฀his฀idea.฀After฀examining฀positive฀and฀negative฀ evaluations฀of฀Sun’s฀idea฀of฀Asianism,฀Zhang฀Junmin฀(2002)฀suggests฀that฀ Sun’s฀early฀idea฀was฀closest฀to฀the฀Japanese฀civic฀Asianism,฀and฀Sun฀warned฀ of฀the฀danger฀of฀Japanese฀military฀Pan-Asianism.฀How฀Sun฀has฀changed฀ his฀view฀of฀Asianism฀was฀also฀discussed฀by฀Guan฀Wei฀(2003)฀who฀stressed฀ the฀influence฀of฀Li฀Dazhao’s฀neo-Asianism฀on฀Sun’s฀thought.฀Lin฀Jiayou฀ (1994)฀highlights฀the฀centrality฀of฀Sun’s฀nationalism฀and฀locates฀his฀idea฀of฀ ฀ Asianism฀in฀this฀intellectual฀context.฀Dong฀Po฀(2009)฀holds฀that฀Sun’s฀idea฀ of฀Asianism฀offers฀an฀advice฀in฀managing฀the฀relationship฀between฀mainland฀ China฀and฀Taiwan.฀ The฀above฀studies฀offer฀us฀insights,฀materials,฀perspectives฀and฀evaluative฀ criteria,฀but฀provide฀too฀much฀evaluation฀without฀examining฀Sun’s฀idea฀ in฀a฀systematic฀way.฀Often฀they฀presuppose฀the฀unchallenged฀principle฀of฀ nationalism.฀Drawing฀on฀the฀above฀studies,฀this฀chapter฀examines฀Sun’s฀ idea฀of฀Pan-Asianism,฀in฀particular฀his฀famous฀Kobe฀public฀speech฀on฀PanAsianism .฀The฀chapter฀first฀introduces฀the฀historical,฀political฀and฀cultural฀ background฀to฀Sun’s฀idea.฀It฀then฀develops฀a฀content฀analysis฀of฀the฀Kobe฀ lecture.฀It฀also฀assesses฀the฀complex฀impact฀of฀his฀idea,฀and฀his฀legacy฀which฀ still฀has฀resonance฀today.฀ Historical Context Sun฀Yat-sen’s฀expressions฀of฀Pan-Asian฀regionalism฀were฀shaped฀by฀two฀ important฀contextual฀factors.฀The฀first฀was฀China’s฀domestic฀situation.฀In฀ the฀1920s,฀China฀was฀fragmented฀and฀suffering฀from฀the฀constant฀threat฀of฀ military฀conflict,฀with฀domestic฀warlords฀controlling฀significant฀areas฀of฀the฀ country.฀For฀Sun฀Yat-sen,฀the฀root฀of฀this฀domestic฀strife฀was฀imperialism,฀ and฀although฀Germany฀and฀Austria฀had฀lost฀their฀colonies฀following฀their฀ defeat฀in฀the฀First฀World฀War฀and฀the฀young฀Soviet฀Union฀had฀renounced฀ tsarist฀Russia’s฀past฀imperial฀policies฀in฀China,฀Sun’s฀major฀goal฀was฀to฀remove฀ 03฀SunYatSen.indd฀฀฀45 8/24/11฀฀฀2:20:21฀PM 46 Baogang He all฀imperialist฀forces฀from฀the฀country฀and฀nullify฀the฀unequal฀treaties฀that฀ had฀been฀imposed...