CYIL vol. 13 (2022)

MAX HILAIRE CYIL 13 ȍ2022Ȏ never forgiven Japan for the atrocities its forces committed in Nanjing. 23 Japan has also not acknowledged that its forces committed such atrocities, and it has never apologized or paid reparation to Chinese victims. Diplomatic relations between Japan and China are cordial but the issue of Nanjing remains a contentious issue between the two countries. The relationship between China and Japan is based on the mutual economic interests of both sides. Memories of Japanese atrocities at Nanjing continue to arouse strong passion in China and remain one of the single most unifying issues among the Chinese people. The humiliation China experienced at the hands of Europe and Japan would continue well into the 20 th century. 24 European Hegemony Beyond China The humiliation China suffered at the hands of European states and Japan was not unique. In many respects, European mistreatment of non-Europeans was the norm in international law in the 19 th century. Africa had a far worse experience with European states than China. Europeans enslaved Africans for centuries, and in 1885 the Berlin Conference divided Africa among various European powers. 25 African kingdoms were demolished, and their rulers were forced to sign unfair treaties with European states which gave European powers sovereign control over the territories they were allotted at the Berlin Conference or acquired by force. Some African leaders were banished from their lands and forced into exile while European powers exploited their mineral resources, enslaved the natives, and committed what would be considered today “crimes against humanity” against the native population. 26 The indigenous peoples of Asia, the Middle East, India, Latin America, and the Caribbean were all mistreated by European powers up until the end of World War II. The indigenous peoples of the Americas and the Caribbean were exterminated by Europeans, particularly during the Spanish Inquisition. 27 European nations forced local leaders to grant their nationals preferential treatment, and they reserved the right to use military force if their citizens were treated unfairly in violation of the doctrine of “Minimum Standard of Human Dignity,” or their property confiscated without just, prompt and adequate compensation, as stipulated under European international law. 28 European nations sought special treatment for their nationals irrespective of the treatment the national laws of these states provided to their citizens. European states intervened repeatedly against Latin American nations to collect the debt owed to their nationals. In protest, the Latin American nations adopted the Calvo Clause, which called for the prohibition of such practice in international relations. 29 A similar measure subsequently enunciated by the Foreign 23 For a detailed account of Japanese atrocities committed in Nanjing, see, The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II (1997). 24 LI Chen, “Universalism and Equal Sovereignty as Contested Myths of International Law in the Sino-Western Encounter,” 13 Journal of History of International Law (2011), p. 77. 25 See, BROOKE-SMITH, R. The Scramble for Africa (1987). 26 King Leopold is alleged to have killed or committed serious atrocity crimes against three million people in the Congo; See, EWANS, M. European Atrocity, African Catastrophe: Leopold II, The Congo Free State and its Aftermath (2017). 27 FITZMAURICE, A. “Discovery, Conquest, and Occupation of Territory,” in FASSBENDER B., PETERS A. (eds), The Oxford Handbook of the History of International Law (2012), p. 841. 28 NEFF, S. “A Short History of International Law,” in EVANS, M. D. (ed), International Law : NY: Oxford Univ. Press (2018), p.3. 29 FREEMAN, A. V. “Recent Aspects of the Calvo Doctrine and the Challenge to International Law,” 40 AJIL (1946), p. 111.

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