On September 19, 1931, the Empire of Japan launched the invasion of a vast territory in northeast Asia called Manchuria. The occupation of this area lasted until August 1945, after Japanese forces were defeated by the Soviet Union .
In an article from the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun , quoted by Courrier international , historian Kazunari Hironaka notes disturbing similarities between this episode in Sino-Chinese history and current events in Ukraine . He denounces the imperialist methods of the Russian regime aimed at subjugating Kiev .
False reason to annex a strategic territory
In 1931, when the Japanese army began its first offensives in China, the government tried to legitimize these actions. After having orchestrated the explosion of a Japanese railway line in its neighbour, Tokyo declared that it was doing everything possible to protect its people threatened with anti-Japanese attacks. A characteristic of the story which is reminiscent of Putin's speech, when he proclaimed that he wanted to save the Russian populations in Ukraine "victims of genocide".
Another similarity raised by the historian is the strategic aspect of these two invasions. Manchuria was a crucial territory for Japan. At a time when the Soviet Union was perceived as a real threat by the island people, this land allowed the Japanese state to deal with potential attacks from the USSR . Vladimir Poutine, convinced that NATO has for supreme ambition to weaken Russia, sees in Ukraine a crucial zone to be defended from an organization which he considers threatening for his country.
Instrumentalize a government
Russia enjoys the support of part of the Ukrainian population, gathered in the east of the country. If Moscow manages to conquer its neighbor, it is quite possible that the Kremlin will establish a puppet regime there, governed by the pro-Russian factions in Ukraine. If this eventuality were to become a reality, it would very clearly echo the puppet regime established by the Japanese Empire. Manchukuo, a de jure independent state, was a puppet government that allowed Tokyo to control the politics of Manchuria until 1945.