Eighty Years Ago: Asia Pacific, Feb 8 – 14, 1940

Feb 8, 1940: Japan worried that German-Soviet friendship, reflected in joint invasion of Poland the year before, will cause its cooperation with Berlin to fight global spread of communism to come apart

Feb 9, 1940: Japan forms the South China Area Army, headquartered in the city of Guangzhou

Feb 10, 1940: To mark 2600th anniversary of the Japanese Empire, Hirohito reduces punishment for 48,000 prisoners and restores citizenship for 180,000 others who lost it due to previous convictions

Feb 11, 1940: Japanese empire’s 2600th anniversary is marked throughout imperial possessions, including the colony of Taiwan

Feb 12, 1940: As Japanese Empire celebrates 2600th anniversary of its founding, foreign well-wishers include US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Pope Pius XII

Feb 13, 1940: Japanese Foreign Minister Arita Hachiro turns down proposal to recall ethnic Japanese from Hawaii for resettlement in south Chinese island of Hainan, arguing it would hurt relations with the United States

Feb 14, 1940: Japan calls on Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek to give up war, saying it has conquered enough territory in China to sustain a puppet regime

Categories: War

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