SPIS TREŚCI

TABLE OF CONTENTS

WSTĘP

INTRODUCTION

Military operations of the Chinese Empire: their types and characteristics

Wars waged by the Chinese Empire, or civil wars within it, differ significantly from those waged in Europe, owing to differences in the sphere of ideology, predominantly Confucian, and historical realities. There are also cultural differences related to the prevailing attitudes to war, struggle and the use of force. The study presents several of them.

1. Rebellion against a “morally discredited” dynasty, which already lost her “Mandate of Heaven” (to re-establish moral order in China and in the world)
2. Re-establishment of “order in the world” by China as the leading Middle State
3. “Punishment of usurpers” carried out during the division of the Empire (since there could be merely one legitimate Son of Heaven, all other rulers, who pretended to be independent Sons of Heaven, were considered “usurpers”)
4. Civil wars: “legitimate rebellion against discredited power holders” and “re-establishment of order” on the side of the state authorities
5. Invasions by the Empire to conquer new lands or enlarge the sphere of its influence (most often to subdue neighbouring states and reduce their status to a vassal country)

The author briefly outlines the “borderlands”, which the Empire wanted to control when it was strong. He also analyses the social, economic and ideological reasons, why in the Empire prevailed isolationist policy and the expansion was carried out merely on a limited scale, mostly to the neighbouring states and lands.

Problems and mysteries of the World War II in Asia, 1937–1945

There are still many mysteries concerning World War II in Asia, especially its most forgotten chapter: the Sino-Japanese War. We still know very little about secret negotiations between Guomindang (Kuomintang, KMT) and Tokyo, end even less about British-Japanese negotiations 1939–1940, when, after the Nazi-Soviet Pact and during the Finnish (“Winter”) War the possibility of improvement in their relations (and even anti-Soviet cooperation), seemed to be open.
New “revisionist studies” by some authors (as Jay Taylor, Rana Mitter, Peter Worthing) rehabilitate President Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek) as combat commander, diplomat and military administrator. One of the most inexplicable campaigns of the entire war remains Japanese Ichigō off ensive (1944), which ruined KMT’s state and leave the field to the unattacked Communist armies in North China. Origins and real causes of this undertaking are still obscure.
We know very little about relations within triangle Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek) – Mao Zedong – Wang Jingwei (head of pro-Japanese puppet Government in Nanking, previously a close collaborator of Sun Yat-sen), but it is certain, that both Chiang and Mao maintained secret contacts with Wang regime. A fresh look, based on new sources, destroy the myth about immense American wartime support for fighting China. One has also bear in mind that the relations between CCP and Moscow, always complex and delicate, changed several times during the war. In theory CCP recognized hierarchical subordination to Moscow, although practice significantly differed and concrete benefits for Mao (in particular after the Yalta conference) constituted the key elements of concern. The last Chinese peace offer during the war, the so-called Miao Bin Mission in Tokyo (spring 1945) also remains mysterious. There are opinions that Japan and Nationalist China could both have been spared much destruction and victims if this operation had had a better fate. These are the most important problems, which the Author indicates as deserving to be solved.

The Mongols of Northern China in the face of Japanese expansion

The historic turmoils of the first part of the XXth century in Northern China had a great impact on the Mongols in Manchuria and Inner Mongolia. Worth reminding is that the Mongols were both – a subject and an object of the political game of the Chinese (both parties – CCP and GMD), the Japanese and the Russians. As the main power-holders during the Qing period, Han Chinese were able to expand their political culture and governance in the minority regions, which was interrupted with the internal conflicts and expansion of the neighboring empires. The Mongols, as the weaker side, collaborated with all of the main actors, which at the end gave them a strong position in the victorious Communist Party and forgiveness of sins such as creating the Japanese-allied puppet state Mengjiang and the autonomous regions in Manchukuo. Despite that fact, the period of the Japanese influence transmission became an important factor shaping modern national dynamics in the region.

Myanmar’s transformation and development and the China Model

During the times of Western sanctions on the military junta in Myanmar, China – one of the biggest and most dynamic economies in the world – became an attractive political and economic partner. Despite a history of difficult bilateral relations, by the time the regime in Naypyidaw commenced political transformation in 2011 and accelerated economic reforms, China was Myanmar’s main investor and trading partner and thus Beijing exercised extensive influence on the Burmese military regime.
However, there is another equally important but nevertheless implicit and less examined impact, which, perhaps unintentionally, China has had on Myanmar. That is, Myanmar has extensively utilized China’s model of post-socialist economic transformation and development in its own reform trajectory.

Indonesia – the prospects and challenges

Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation on Earth, a major producer of natural gas, coal, copper and other resources, has fertile soil, rich fauna and flora, and many tourist attractions. It is also the most populous nation of the Islamic world and at the same time heir to vigorous pre – Islamic traditions and complex cultural heritages with the diverse but related linguistic and ethnic communities of large archipelago, which make up a modern nation and the present-day Republic of Indonesia.
After over 300 years of being a Dutch colony, on the 17th of August 1945, Indonesia proclaimed independence. On the turn of the 20th century, after a long and difficult process, Indonesia became one of the biggest economies and the third largest democracy in the world. The 2014 presidential election was won by Joko Widodo, who is widely known as Jokowi. He entered politics as a refreshingly honest candidate from a modest circle and finally came to power, promising reforms including a lot of sensible things such as boosting infrastructure, reducing subsidies, starting true maritime policy and attracting foreign investment. Jokowi also promised to return Indonesia to about 7% growth. His record after 2 years in power is rather positive but he faces the powerful forces of old elites and the bad habitude of old protectionism. President Joko Widodo must be attentive for “old demons” of contemporary Indonesia like corruption, Islamic radicalism and terrorism, separatism and also the danger of the ambiguous role and ambitions of the armed forces. His five – year cycle could give us information if Indonesia will become a new power in Asia and even on a global level, or if it will stay as before - the country which is always only promising a bright future.

Muslim separatism in the Philippines – between a Pacific Islamic state and the autonomy

The subject of this article is to present an issue of Muslim separatism in the Philippine archipelago. A uniqueness of the issue is a centuries-old tradition of Muslim political structures in the Philippines connected with ongoing Muslim people’s aspirations for emancipation. The local Muslim separatism, despite unambiguous invoking to the past, is based on dominant trends in global separatist and independence movements – starting from a resistance against aggressor (historical), through the decolonization motivated by Marxist ideology (the Moro National Liberation Front), to the Islamic fundamentalism (the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Abu Sayyaf Group). The author discusses contemporary aspirations of Muslim separatists in the Philippines and invokes their history. He makes a fundamental division basing on Philippine Muslim separatists internal diversity. The division is grounded on the attitude of particular separatist groups to the Republic of the Philippines as a state. The author divides them into these movements which strive for autonomy in the Philippine state and these which strive for a separate state based on Islamic religion and law. In this context, the text contains presentation of separatist organizations like the Moro National Liberation Front, the Islamic Moro Liberation Front and the Abu Sayyaf Group.

The origins of lifetime employment in Japan

This paper explains the origins of the phenomenon known as the lifetime employment system in Japan. For many years, lifetime employment was one of the most characteristic elements of a specific management system in Japanese corporations. During the years of rapid development, this system was praised as one of the essential elements which contributed to Japan’s economic success. Since the 1990’s, when the Japanese economy entered the period of prolonged stagnation, numerous critical voices have blamed lifetime employment as one of the main culprits of their economic problems. Some experts state that it is time to abolish the system, while others say that the system is so deeply rooted in Japanese post-war history, that it could not disappear so quickly. To understand the future of lifetime employment, it is necessary to examine the historical process of its evolution. The author analyses factors that have contributed to the creation of the system and in the conclusion, tries to point to the possible course of its future evolution.