The Neutral Enemy? A study of Norwegian representation and diplomacy in China 1937- 1947 Dennis Askeland Dennis Askeland Masteroppgave i historie, 2018. Institutt for Arkeologi, Historie, Kultur- og Religionsvitenskap Universitetet i Bergen 1 Acknowledgements This thesis was completed through the support of many people, I first want to extend my sincere appreciation to my supervisor Camilla Brautaset, whom I admire as a great scholar. You have truly gone beyond the call of duty and I greatly appreciate your razor-sharp and guiding pen for its excellent work and your excellent advice about literature on all topics related to China and Norwegian foreign policy, and everything else. I will miss our small conversations about these various subjects. I would like to thank Kristoffer Berents, Mette Berents, Elisabet Engelstad, Roy Engelstad, George Kulstad and Johan Tidemann Johansen for warmly receiving and answering my inquisitive questions and everything else. Our conversations and the things you have given me have been of terrific value to me and I have learnt a lot from you. Thank you. I want to express my gratitude to the staff at the Norwegian National Archives, for your help with finding relevant source material in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ archive and for examining restricted archives for me. I also want to express my gratitude to Archivist Mallory Furnier at California State University, Northridge, who provided me, a foreign national scans free-of-charge. This student humbly thanks you. I cannot write my acknowledgements without mentioning my dear friends and family, you know who you are. I thank you all for listening to my tireless monologues about Norwegians in China, and China in general. Now you can read more about China in this thesis instead. Thank you all for sparring with me on rhetorical problems, and for helping me make sense of difficult handwritten letters, I have taken up much of your time. Christian Skauge deserves a special mention for spending so much of his veryvaluable free time proofreading this thesis. More than anyone else I would like to thank and also apologize to my dearest Joana and my little Louis, who was born while I was occupied with this thesis, I thank you for all your essential support,your patience and for coming with me on field excursions. Without you, this thesis would never have been completed. I also wish to thank Ate Niezel and Kuya Jerome for accommodating us during our stays in Oslo. 2 Contents. 1.0 Thesis Introduction. .................................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Introducing the Topic. ......................................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Literature and Research Status. ............................................................................................................. 10 1.3 Literature about Norwegians in China and Hong Kong. ..................................................................... 11 1.4 Biographies and Recent Research about Norwegian Interests in China. ............................................ 14 1.5 Recent Studies of the History of Norwegian Foreign Policy. ................................................................ 16 1.5.1 Peace Politics as Foreign Policy ....................................................................................................... 16 1.5.2 The Diplomat and the Citizen ........................................................................................................... 17 1.6 Time Delimitation and Methodology ...................................................................................................... 20 1.7 Primary Sources ....................................................................................................................................... 20 1.7.1 Archives ............................................................................................................................................. 21 1.7.2 Newspapers ........................................................................................................................................ 26 1.7.3 Informal Conversations with Interviewees. ...................................................................................... 27 1.8 Thesis Structure ....................................................................................................................................... 29 2.0 Treaty Ports and the Sino-Japanese War ................................................................................................... 30 2.1 Treaty Ports .............................................................................................................................................. 30 2.2 Norwegian Representation and Western Society in China. .................................................................. 33 2.4 Towards War. ........................................................................................................................................... 38 3.0 Shanghai 1937-1942. ..................................................................................................................................... 40 3.1 The outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War ................................................................................... 40 3.2 Enveloped Island ...................................................................................................................................... 43 3.3 Drawing Lines and Preparing for War. ................................................................................................. 47 3.4 Norway’s response to the Shanghai Municipal Council Shooting. ...................................................... 47 3.5 World War Two in Asia and Official Norwegian Representation in Shanghai 1937-1942. ............... 51 3.6 Leaving Shanghai ..................................................................................................................................... 61 3.7 Chapter Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 64 4.0 The Norwegian Diplomatic Mission in the Chinese Wartime Capital. .................................................... 65 4.1 Establishing a Different Diplomatic Mission ......................................................................................... 65 4.2 Reaching Out. ........................................................................................................................................... 70 4.3 Chapter Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 74 5.0 Hong Kong. The British Colony. ................................................................................................................. 75 5.1 The Hong Kong Reports. ......................................................................................................................... 75 3 5.2 The Cost of Escaping. .............................................................................................................................. 78 5.3 The Price of Escaping Hong Kong. ......................................................................................................... 82 5.4 A Fragmented Community of Enemies. ................................................................................................. 85 5.5 Internment in Stanley. ............................................................................................................................. 88 5.6 Chapter Conclusions ................................................................................................................................ 90 6.0 Shanghai 1942-1945. ..................................................................................................................................... 91 6.1 Chongqing- Shanghai Communications. ................................................................................................ 91 6.2 Committees and Consulates .................................................................................................................... 92 6.3 Managing Norway’s Neutrality............................................................................................................... 99 6.4. Living Conditions During the Last Three Years of the Japanese Occupation of Shanghai ........... 108 6.5 Chapter Conclusion: .............................................................................................................................. 112 7.0 The End of World War Two- Return to Form ......................................................................................... 113 7.1 The Immediate Aftermath of The War- Repatriations and Representatives. .................................. 113 7.2 Reparations ............................................................................................................................................. 118 7.3 Chapter Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 119 8.0 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 119 4 On Wade Giles, Pinyin and Colonial Terms for Cities and Provinces The