一九七八年尖閣漁船事件の研究

抄録

The 1978 Senkaku fishing boat incident occurred in April of that year, when several Chinese fishing fleets, which are said to be operating in the vicinity of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, repeatedly entered the territorial waters of the disputed Islands, despite the leaving orders from Japanese Coast Guard vessels. The Japanese government immediately protested against the Chinese government twice through the diplomatic channel. Although the case developed to be a diplomatic issue between Japan and China, both governments prioritized the conclusion of the Japan-China Treaty of Peace and Friendship. Consequently, the problem was quickly simmered down with the Chinese fishing boats withdrawing from the area and the recommencement of Sino-Japanese negotiations. However, the truth of the incident remained unclear for a long time, and some facts are still blurred. This paper reveals the background and details of the event mainly based on the documents in the Shanghai Municipal Archives.

The Hua Guofeng administration, which had consolidated power after arresting “Gang of four”, pursued a dramatic economic development while touting commitment to Mao Zedong’s “thought of the class struggle”. As a means of promoting strong economic growth, a method of the Mao Zedong era- linking the class struggle with mass mobilization, was adopted, and the criticism towards the Gang of four was regarded as the class struggle in a new era. Government officials also repeatedly maintained that the achievement in the campaigns of the criticism of the Gang of four would be reflected through the improvement of productivity. As a result, Shanghai’s fisheries industry, which was deeply involved in the entire process of the Cultural Revolution, had come under intense pressure to increase productivity.

In 1978, the campaigns of “The industry learns from Daqing, the agriculture learns from Dazhai” had left a strong impact on the fishery industry, and the production target of the fishery industry was set at sky-high. Monetary rewards and financial incentives were introduced to boost motivation in fishery workers. Thus, in the fishery industry, an atmosphere to pursue a dramatic increase in fishery production was evident.

However, in addition to the inertia of the decentralization advanced during the Cultural Revolution period, the command and control system in the fishery industry also was fragmented. As a result, when a large number of fishing vessels from various provinces start to crowd in Senkaku vicinity, an efficient command system was lacking. Therefore, the 1978 Senkaku fishing boat incident was caused by such inadequacies in domestic governance.