The China Affairs Board
Bureau of Information, Prime Minister's Department
A central institution to carry on the important work of aiding in the construction of the new China and of realizing a new order in East Asia was created on December 16, 1938 with the inauguration of the China Affairs Board. Need had been felt for a powerful administrative organ to direct the task of development in China, a task with which the very existence of Japan is allied and which naturally includes problems of the utmost importance.
Last year, with the success of the military operations at Hankow, the China Affair entered a new phase wherein the work of reconstruction was to be undertaken side by side with military operations. Previously, concrete plans for the creation of a central administrative organ had been seriously discussed by the Army, Navy and Foreign Departments. Early in October, the Cabinet formally decided on the establishment of the institution now known as the China Affairs Board, which came into being on December 16th upon the promulgation of Imperial Ordinances concerning the Organization of the China Affairs Board and of the Liaison Office of the China Affairs Board, and concerning Amendments on the Organization of the Foreign Office.
As an explanation of the purpose with which the Board was created, we quote here from the address delivered by the then Prime Minister Prince Konoe on the occasion of its inauguration. Prince Konoe stated:
"The ultimate objective of the present hostilities, as has been enunciated on various occasions, does not stop with victory in arms but rather lies in the reconstruction of China and the establishment of a new order in the Far East based on the principle of cooperation between Japan, Manchoukuo and China. The overthrow of the anti-Japanese, pro-Comintern Régime of Chiang Kai-shek must lead the people of China to recognize the rationality and justice of cooperating with Japan, politically, economically and culturally.
"In pursuance of this task the China Affairs Board has been created. The Board endeavours, on the one hand, to coordinate and unify the various forces at home directed toward the consummation of the achievements of the China Affair and, on the other, to keep in close touch through its Liaison Division
with the actual developments in China. Creation of the China Affairs Board will enable the Government to conduct more efficiently the planning and execution of construction work in East Asia and will thereby hasten the attainment of the ultimate objective of the present conflict."
Thus, the China Affairs Board serves as a connecting link between the Government and the operations in China, presenting a united front in the prosecution of national policies. Created in connection with and existing for the duration of the China Affair, the new Board is presided over by the Prime Minister. Exclusive of purely diplomatic affairs, its business comprises (1) political, economic and cultural problems relating to the China Affair; (2) the study and investigation of governmental policies to be taken in regard to the matters coming under the above category; (3) supervision of the operations of the companies established under special laws for the purpose of doing business in China as well as the control of the business transactions in China by persons who are so engaged; (4) the maintenance of unity in the administrative affairs of the different Government Offices relating to China.
Accordingly, the activity of the Board covers a wide field, political, economic and cultural, in which is included the problems of cooperation with the new Governments in China, the supervision of the North China Development Company and the Central China Promotion Company and matters relating to the culture and welfare of the Chinese people. In its organization, the Board is divided into various Bureaus, besides the President's Secretariat, including the Political, Economic, Cultural and Technical Bureaus. The Prime Minister is the President ex officio and is assisted by the Foreign, Finance, Army and Navy Ministers as Vice-Presidents. The Director-General of the Board is Lieutenant-General Heisuke Yanagawa and under him are fifty officers and sixty clerks.
As the result of the taking over of cultural work in China by the China Affairs Board, the Bureau in the Foreign Office which hitherto had charge of this work has changed its name and will devote itself to international cultural affairs, excluding those in China. Other minor changes took place in the organization of the Foreign Office and of the Department of Overseas Affairs.
As for the place where the Liaison Division of the China Affairs Board is to be established and the area within which it will function, these will be chosen and designated by the Prime Minister. It may be added that there is additionally a Liaison Committee whose duty it is to promote unity among the different Government Departments with reference to the undertakings of the China Affairs Board.