Sri Lanka and the Yellow Races
Posted on August 7th, 2017
by Senaka Weeraratna
The White Man enslaved the Brown Man and the Black Man for centuries. The Yellow Man liberated them. This is the true outcome of the Second World War.
The Brown Man enslaved for nearly 500 years is free today because the Yellow Man fought the White Man at Port Arthur in 1905 followed by the epic attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941.
Had the Yellow Man not fought the White Man, the Brown Man may still be in Chains, because none of the Colonial countries had any serious intention to give freedom to the black, brown and yellow races, except engage in deceitful talks of a never, never kind.
The Black and Brown Races were too weak to do battle on their own or take on the might of the Coloniser then in occupation of vast swathes of Asian and African territory.
It is time to acknowledge world’s debt to Japan for Asia’s liberation from Western colonialism. This is undoubtedly Japan’s greatest achievement in the 20th century, which led to the retreat of the West from the East and its colonies all over the world, shortly after the end of the second world war.
No amount of spin or contortion can change this stubborn fact.
The contemporary Japanese must be made to be conscious and proud about their historic role in Asia’s liberation from colonialism.
Freedom did not fall from the sky to Asia. It came due to the blood sacrifices of many local patriots but mostly daring Japanese soldiers.
It is time to acknowledge this blood debt to Japan and the Japanese.
The majority of the Buddhist Sinhalese would have most likely welcomed the Japanese with open arms and great warmth, had they landed on the shores of Sri Lanka in 1942 to liberate the indigenous people from the yoke of tyranny and subjugation, which is what colonialism is.
Of all the major countries that took part in the Second World War, Japan is the only country that had declared as one of its primary goals the liberation of fellow Asians from Western imperialism. No other country in the West or East declared the grant of freedom to Asians and Africans then in a state of colonial subjugation, following victory in the war.
Here are excerpts from the Speech by Prime Minister General Hideki Tojo to the Assembly of Greater East-Asiatic Nations at an International Conference held in Tokyo, Japan, November 5, 1943:
Hideki Tojo
During the past centuries, the British Empire, through fraud and aggression, acquired vast territories throughout the world and maintained its domination over other nations and peoples in the various regions by keeping them pitted and engaged in conflict one against another. On the other hand, the United States which, by taking advantage of the disorder and confusion in Europe, had established its supremacy over the American continents spread its tentacles to the Pacific and to East Asia following its war with Spain. Then, with the opportunities afforded by the First World War, the United States began to pursue its ambition for world hegemony. More recently, with the outbreak of the present war, the United States has further intensified its imperialistic activities, making fresh inroads into North Africa, West Africa, the Atlantic Ocean, Australia, the Near East and even into India, apparently in an attempt to usurp the place of the British Empire.
The need of upholding international justice and of guaranteeing world peace is habitually stressed by America and Britain. They mean thereby no more and no less than the preservation of a world order of their own based upon division and conflict in Europe and upon the perpetuation of their colonial exploitation of Asia. They sought to realize their inordinate ambitions in Asia, through political aggression and economic exploitation; they brought on conflict among the various peoples; they tried to destroy their racial integrity under the fair name of education and culture. Thus, they have to this day threatened constantly the existence of the nations and peoples of Asia, disturbed their stability, and suppressed their natural and proper development. It is because of their notion to regard East Asia as a colony that they harp upon the principles of the open door and equal opportunity simply as a convenient means of pursuing their sinister designs of aggression, while constantly keeping their own territories closed to us, the peoples of Asia, denying us the equality of opportunities and impeding our trade, they sought solely their own prosperity.
ANGLO-AMERICAN IMPERIALISM
The Anglo-American ambition of world hegemony is indeed a scourge of mankind and the root of the world’s evils. Movements for emancipation have occurred from time to time among the nations and peoples of East Asia, but due to the ruthless and tyrannical armed oppression by America and Britain, or due to their malicious old trick of division and alienation for ruling other races, those patriotic efforts ended largely in failure. Meanwhile, Japan’s rise of power and prestige was looked upon by America and Britain with increasing dislike. They made it the cardinal point of their East Asia Policy on the one hand, to restrain Japan at every turn and on the other, to alienate her from the other countries of East Asia. It was obviously unwise for them to permit either the rise of any one country as a great Power or the banding together of the various nations and peoples. These American and British methods became more and more sinister and high-handed, especially in the last several years”
http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/Japan/tojo%20summit.htm
Greater East Asia Conference Vol.1 November 5, 1943
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue2LjHchY5k
Glorious Imperial Japan, Greater East Asia Conference Vol.2 November 5, 1943
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxwQLbSK-Qg
Glorious Imperial Japan, Greater East Asia Conference Vol.3 November 5, 1943
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDqF7hlFDgk&t=55s
When both Germany and Japan stood condemned like outlaws or pariahs of the international community by the victorious Allies at the end of the second world war seeking huge amounts of reparations and heavy punishments for their leaders, political and military, as war criminals, the leaders and people of Ceylon / Sri Lanka adopted an entirely different approach to both these countries. It was an approach based on the Buddha´s teachings.
The Japanese Peace Treaty – J.R. Jayewardene (1951 Sep 01)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0FTwGA9H0E
In Japanese
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZwnCDckWZQ&t=203s
Peace With Japan (1951)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWkMKkqYKos
JR Jayawardene Memorial Monument in Japan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=are3D0TEaig
The words of Ceylon´s delegate Finance Minister J.R. Jayawardene in defence of a free Japan at the San Francisco conference on September 06, 1951 is worthy of reproduction here. He said:
” We in Ceylon were fortunate that we were not invaded, but the damage caused by air raids, by the stationing of enormous armies under the South-East Asia Command, and by the slaughter-tapping of one of our main commodities, rubber, when we were the only producer of natural rubber for the Allies, entitles us to ask that the damage so caused should be repaired. We do not intend to do so for we believe in the words of the Great Teacher whose message has ennobled the lives of countless millions in Asia, that hatred ceases not by hatred but by love”. It is the message of the Buddha, the Great Teacher, the Founder of Buddhism which spread a wave of humanism through South Asia, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Siam, Indonesia and Ceylon and also northwards through the Himalayas into Tibet, China and finally Japan, which bound us together for hundreds of years with a common culture and heritage. This common culture still exists, as I found on my visit to Japan last week on my way to attend this Conference; and from the leaders of Japan, Ministers of state as well as private citizens and from their priests in the temples, I gathered the impression that the common people of Japan are still influenced by’ the shadow of that Great Teacher of peace, and wish to follow it. We must give them that opportunity.”
Sri Lanka was very fortunate in gaining independence in 1948 despite not having resorted to arms or used violence to rid the country of foreign occupation. It is valiant soldiers from other Asian countries e.g. Indian National Army under Subhas Chandra Bose, and Japan, who primarily made blood sacrifices to fight western domination of Asia during the Second World War. We were simply beneficiaries of these sacrifices and battles.
Finally, it must be admitted without reservation that because of age old Buddhist links, the Yellow Races of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos among othershave proved themselves to be eternal friends of the Sinhalese.
Their services and heroic assistance in the hour of economic and military need of Sri Lanka must be acknowledged with gratitude and reciprocated.
Senaka Weeraratna
See
Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour ignited the liberation of Asia from Western domination
http://www.sdh-fact.com/essay-article/886/
http://www.sdh-fact.com/CL/Japans-attack-on-Pearl-Harbour-.pdf
http://www.sdh-fact.com/auther/senaka-weeraratna/
Sri Lanka’s Independence – a beneficiary of Japan’s entry to the Second World War which sealed the fate of European Colonialism in Asia
http://www.sdh-fact.com/essay-article/924/
August 7th, 2017 at 6:58 pm
The 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty which Sri Lanka supported deprived China its territory grabbed by the Imperial Japanese troops in 1895. Sri Lanka should not have supported it. Since 1945 Japan has been the strongest US outpost in East Asia. Japan must give up Senkuku/Diaoyu islands back to China.
In fact the Pearl Harbour bombing only replaced British colonialism with far worse US colonialism in Asia. Since Pearl Harbour, Christianity has become the fastest growing religion in the Far East with South Korea and Japan leading the way in percentage terms followed by Taiwan and China.
Although South Korea is a very friendly country of Sri Lanka, North Korea is not. Sri Lanka rescinded ties with North Korea in the 1970s. North Korean weapons found their way to the LTTE and other Indian funded terrorist groups in the island.
August 7th, 2017 at 10:27 pm
Christianity in Japan cannot be compared to the situation in South Korea. Christians in Japan are only around one percent.
Click on the links:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2298.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Japan
Following are the views of a Japanese Christian evangelist
http://www.christianpost.com/news/mission-leaderwhy-so-few-christians-in-japan-45217/
In Taiwan the number of Christians is around 4.5 percent of the population but is still a minority.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Taiwan
August 8th, 2017 at 5:26 am
Thanks Dilrook. From my experience with Yellows the Islanders (Japs are sorry but they will not apologize). The yellows from the mainland (Chinese and Koreans) hates for atrocities committed by Japs.
JR the quarter Indian always supported the Indians who headed by Bose supported the Japanese Imperial army.
I do not know where the writer got the idea browns (I am sure he is referring to Indians) were slaves of the whites. That is an insult to the black slaves.
Indians (Browns) were part and parcel of the White (British) Imperialists. Our problems are these Indian colonial parasites.
August 8th, 2017 at 9:29 am
Even todate both the Africa and new colony created as new guinea are exploited by the west for minerals. If they can not get easily they set up tribes one against the other. It is still common in Latin american “banana republics”.
August 8th, 2017 at 1:27 pm
Fact Sheet :
Europe was a troubled area.
That area is sandwiched between massive country Russia & the Middle east.
Those areas have different political ideologies & religions.
Europe has winters. Their lead sailors and pirates sought the conquest of new lands in far flung tropical places – places where exotic products were to be got for Europe, either through outright seizing/robbery, or by trade.
Several Empires & Colonies arose from Europe.
European countries were also at war with each other. Two WORLD WARS came out of Europe. Now we have the EU to unite Europe.
After WW II, America protects Europe, Britain & Israel.
After nearly 500 yrs of western Colonisation, then Ceylon and now Sri Lanka is still partly culaturally westernised. Even China is partly westernised now. So is Japan.
What’s the current problem here in Lanka ?
* It’s the sale of STATE HELD LAND & PROPERTIES TO FOREIGNERS.
New Law after Yahap govt came in : Private properties can be sold to Foreigners.
Solution: Replace the Govt through Elections and repeal this law.
* The DIVISION OF THE COUNTRY ON ETHNIC LINES, via the New Constitition.
Solution : Replace the Govt through Elections and keep the existing Constitution.
Remove the 13-A.
Activate the 6-A.
Keep Lanka intact as One Country !
* Say NO to Neo-Colonisation !
More can be done for Sri Lanka & all her People.
Please write in !
August 8th, 2017 at 4:24 pm
@samurai
It is true Japan’s Christian percentage is 1% but the influence is far greater with at least 8 Christian Prime Ministers. This would not be so if not for its defeat in WW2 triggered by Pearl Harbour. Christianity in South Korea and Taiwan is also the result of Japan’s entry into and defeat in WW2. Today Japan is a US protectorate and a US puppet.
August 9th, 2017 at 3:11 am
RW’s Plan for Lanka may be what Dilrook says of Japan ….. ?
Lanka may be a Protectorate of … ?
Who needs to grow up here ?
– RW ?
– The Leaders/People of Lanka who are UNPATRIOTIC ?
– Aspiring Protectorate/s ?
August 9th, 2017 at 5:13 am
This article is wrong to say Japan liberated asia from European colonialism. It was the United States under president Roosevelt who liberated asia from both European Colonialism and Japanese Imperialism. Had the Americans lost against the Japanese all that would have happened is you would have swapped one type of Imperialism for another Under Japan. This article is stupid. Because asians back didnt want to be under either European or Japanese Imperialism. This article also whitewashed the many crimes against humanity the Japanese inflicted on Asian peoples they conquered. The truth is the whole of Asia especially those under the brief Japanese occupation are greatful to the Americans for defeating Japan in WW2. Also US president in WW2 was no fan of European or Japanese Imperialism. Yes its true that the Americans practically forced the Japanese to attack pearl Harbour. Because Americans had imposed as oil embargo. Japanese really didnt want a war with the US because they knew the Americans were strong and would probably defeat them in the long run. But US under Roosevelt practically blocked Japans oil and the Japanese had no choice but to go to war with US. There is evidence to suggest that Roosevelt wanted a war with Japan. Because there were many opportunities for the Americans to prevent the pearl harbour attack. If they wanted to. This was kept secret from the American people who favored isolationism in WW2 and not getting involved. But after the surprise attack by Japan. This enraged the American people it was only a matter of time after that before Japan was crushed by the US. As history proved.
Also its true that Japan wanted the Europeans out of Asia and replace it with their own Empire by conquering the lands held by UK, France, Spain, Holland, Portugal. Japanese propaganda at the time was clear about this. US president wanted a war with Japan for two reasons. One he despised Japanese imperial expansion in Asia and believed they would eventually wage war against the United States territories in the pacific and the mainland. But most importantly a war with Japan would dig the US economy out of the depression of the 1930s and make it the most technologically advanced due to American military technological advances, the most prosperous and militarity the most powerful country in the world. Which is in face is what happened when Japan was totally defeated by the United States in Aug 1945.
So in summary its the Americans who liberated Asia from both European and Japanese Imperialism in Asia. I know this is difficult for many people to understand but it is the truth.
Even though the intention of the Americans was not to liberate Asia but to wage a war against Japan solely for the benefit of the United States. The unintentional consequence is that with the defeat of Japan. Asia was liberated from European Colonial rule. Becuase US president Roosevelt made it clear that they the Americans were not waging war against Japan so that the UK and the European powers can continue to hold on to their colonies in Asia.
Thats the truth which this biased Japanes war crimes apologist biased article fails to mention.
August 9th, 2017 at 5:27 am
@Dilrook what asia was replaced by something much worse than British Colonialism.
US Imperiliasm? Really are you a closet British Imperialist? I do not see any independence movements in Japan, Taiwan or South Korea. The majority of peoples are happy to have the US as close partner and friend. Because the reality is these countries would not be the rich or prosperous countries they are in Asia if Japan wasnt defeated in WW2. On the other hand most of the countries that were under British Colonialism were some of the poorest in the world. All their wealth robbed and taken back to the UK. US never imposed direct rule from Washington DC. Unlike the UK did with direct rule from London to their colonies. In summary dilrook. You are wrong and naive and not very well educated. The best is to have no imperialism.
But in my opinion.
I would rather be under US imperialism. Than the robbing British Imperialism.
August 9th, 2017 at 7:20 am
There’s nothing surprising if several Christians became Japan’s Prime Ministers (with U.S. blessings) since the Japan was occupied by the forces of predominantly Christian America.
However the country’s World War II defeat indirectly benefited Japanese Buddhists. During the war years Japan pushed Buddhism to a second place and promoted Shinto (the country’s pre-Buddhist native religion based on ancestor worship) as the State religion and gave the Emperor a Divine status since it well suited the nation’s military spirit which really did not fit into Buddhist teachings, though schools like Zen influenced Japanese martial arts.
The U.S. Administration led by General MacArthur completely dismantled the Shinto-based political system and introduced a Western style democratic constitution. The Emperor no longer enjoyed divine status.
This new situation gave various Buddhist sects greater freedom and opportunity to rise to prominence. Among the leading groups was Sokka Gakkai, the political wing (Komeito) of which was able to capture some seats in Parliament. In addition many Westerners were drawn to Buddhist schools like Zen, which is quite different from other Mahayana sects.
August 9th, 2017 at 9:20 am
The good sense thing to do would be to take the best ideas for Communal Harmony from all over the world and implement those ideas in Sri Lanka.
Removal of the 13-A a must for lasting Peace in Lanka.
* The UN, together with Lanka govt., can enforce that LANKA PORTS ARE FOR PEACEFUL PURPOSES ONLY.
* NO SALE or LONG LEASES (exceeding 30 yrs ?), of Sri Lanka LAND, State held or private, to foreigners.
August 9th, 2017 at 2:35 pm
Heres the perfect response to this stupid article by Senaka which is insulting to all asian peoples who suffered under Japanese occupation. It was US president Roosevelt who in return for US help to the British and other European powers who were under seige from Nazi Germany that the British and the Europeans give up their Colonies in Asia. You can argue effectively it was US president Roosevelt who ended British and European Colonialism in Asia. This is what this stupid deeply offensive article fails to address.
Here is the documentary by the History channel which I think is a fairly accurate description of what happened in WW2 in Asia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YitEbNbwOc Documentary
(Very good Documentary dispels the lies of Senakas insulting article
Shame on you Senaka for this article. Victims of Japanese atrocities should sue Senaka Weeraratne a disgraceful article from someone who didnt even live throught WW2 or the horrors of Japanese Occupation. Ask the residents of Shanghai what the occupation by the Asian Japanese was like or how they treated their fellow Asians. This is the fate that would have awaited Sri Lanka and India had Japan invaded South Asia like they did China.
August 9th, 2017 at 4:19 pm
The Japanese Military attack that doomed Japans ambitions for an enslaving asian empire that Senaka Weeraratne thinks in his stupidity and naivete would have benefited asia. Ironically the countries that benefited the most were actually the countries that came most under the US umbrella. American influence enabled Japan, South Korea and Taiwan to become some of the most prosperous asian countries in Asia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnQ_6h3VtRo#t=34.600979
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbNv7njA-Aw
August 9th, 2017 at 5:01 pm
@Samurai
Folk religion or irreligion is the largest in Japan today, not Buddhism. War criminals (e.g. Yusukuni Shrine) are widely worshipped in Japan. Although the emperor’s power has been reduced, he still commands wide indirect power. The influence of Buddhism is minimal in Japan. To put into perspective, Ampara District has a higher Buddhist percentage than Japan. We know Ampara is not known as a Buddhist or Buddhist majority district.
August 9th, 2017 at 5:20 pm
@RohanJay
I agree with you mostly. You are right that US colonialism in Asia has helped these countries prosper enormously. But today it has come to a situation where it is disrupting peace and prosperity in Asia triggering retaliatory responses from other superpowers. A phased US withdrawal from Asia will allow Asians to work out a better security deal peacefully. An eventual war in the Far East will devastate Japan, South Korea, North Korea, etc. more than USA.
Japanese war crimes in Asia were not punished sufficiently due to geopolitics. Worse, Japan glorifies war criminals and refuses to apologize. Imperial Japan was far worse than Nazi Germany. Unfortunately, due to this conduct of Japan, another round of war will result. Not condemning (let alone glorifying) Imperial Japan is an insult to humanity.
August 10th, 2017 at 10:17 am
I am forwarding this point of view by a veteran British journalist Henry Scott Stokes without comment. Readers may draw their own conclusions on his experiences.
He is today the most senior member of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. Based in Tokyo the FCCJ has nearly 200 members.
(Full details in: http://www.sdh-fact.com/essay-article/358/)
The following excerpt is from his introduction to the book titled:
FALSEHOODS OF THE ALLIED NATIONS’ VICTORIOUS VIEWS OF HISTORY
By Henry Scott Stokes
Foreword by Kase Hideaki
INTRODUCTION
It was 1964, the year the Summer Olympics were held in Tokyo, when I first set foot on Japanese soil as the first Tokyo bureau chief for the Financial Times. I have now been in Japan for 50 years and am the oldest member of the FCCJ (Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan).
Growing up in England, I was told time and time again that the Japanese are a barbaric, cruel race. This sort of propaganda is similar to what the Japanese were hearing then: “Death to the kichiku Bei’ei, the American and British monsters!”
World War II ended, but British hostility toward Japan did not diminish. It only grew stronger. After all, Japan was responsible for Great Britain’s losing every one of its Asian colonies. Raised in that environment, I suppose it was only natural that I too should grow up disliking Japan.
When I first arrived in Japan I never doubted for a moment that Japan had committed war crimes, as adjudged by the Tokyo Trials. I was also convinced that the Japanese had perpetrated a massacre in Nanking.
But the longer I stayed in Japan, the more I learned about 20th-century Japanese and Asian history. At some point I found myself analyzing the past century’s events not from an Allied or a Japanese standpoint, but from a third-party perspective. I realized that the opinions I had previously embraced were wrong. My friendship with Mishima Yukio was extremely influential during that process.
In the Greater East Asian War, Japan was fighting for its survival. Gen. Douglas MacArthur said as much in a speech he delivered before the US Congress after the conflict had ended. The Tokyo Trials were a total sham, serving only as a theater for unlawful retribution. And as for the Nanking “massacre,” there is not one shred of evidence attesting to it. However, the Chinese are hell-bent on using foreign journalists and corporations to spread their propaganda throughout the world. There is no point in even debating the comfort-women issue.
I find it very disappointing that so few Japanese attempt to discredit the false accusations and set the record straight. In today’s international community those who maintain that there was no massacre in Nanking are shunned. They are filed in the same pigeonhole as the Holocaust deniers. This is regrettable, but it is the reality we face. Therefore, we must be prudent. But unless the Japanese state their case and restate it, again and again, these false accusations will go down in history as fact. Japanese efforts in this direction have been pitifully inadequate.
There is no need for the Japanese to be overly considerate or adulatory. It is enough for them to state Japan’s position, and let the Americans and the Chinese state their positions. Of course there will be disagreement. There is no way to avoid disagreement; that is the way the world works. If the Japanese adopt an empathetic stance, they will be taken advantage of immediately.
There is one more thing I would like to mention — something that I cannot emphasize enough. That is that most of the instigators are at the root of the thorny issues Japan faces now (Nanking, Yasukuni Shrine, comfort women, etc.) vis-à-vis China and Korea, are Japanese nationals. It is up to the Japanese to decide how to deal with this particular problem.
The Japanese have yet to extricate themselves from the curse of the victor nations’ historical perspective forced on them by the Allies. I will be grateful if this book serves in any way to help them break free.
In closing I would like to convey my heartfelt thanks to Fujita Hiroyuki for his tireless work translating and editing my manuscripts and dictation.
Henry Scott Stokes
November 25, 2013