The former leader of Northeast (3)
Here is the translation:
First, let's talk about urban construction. After the puppet government "Manchukuo" was established with the support of the Japanese government, the pseudo-Manchu authorities and the Japanese colonial authorities made detailed plans for the construction of 109 large and small cities in Northeast China. Such comprehensive and systematic planning for Northeast China has not been repeated to this day.
The provincial capital of Jilin, Changchun, was renamed "New Jing" and positioned as the capital of pseudo-Manchu state, making it a city that quickly became more advanced than Tokyo. "New Jing" is the first city in China to be fully planned and designed by foreign experts, and it is also the only city in China built in imitation of a foreign capital (Paris, Canberra). The planning is excellent, with good greenery.
In 1934, the entire city was covered in a sea of green, earning it the nickname "City Forest" or "Forest Capital". By 1942, Changchun had an average of 2272 square meters of green space per person, exceeding Washington by more than double and Japan's major cities by five times. It was once known as the city with the most green space in the world.
In 1934, Changchun built Asia's largest wireless radio station: New Jing Wireless Radio Station. Changchun is also the first city in Asia to fully popularize flush toilets and piped coal gas. It is China's first city to plan a subway system. In 1938, the pseudo-Manchu authorities and Japanese colonial authorities planned a 120-kilometer ring-shaped subway and tramway system for Changchun, including two subway lines and seven light rail lines.
The main streets of Changchun have underground power lines and telephone cables. It is Asia's first city to achieve this. The main roads are wide, ranging from 26 meters to 60 meters, with separate lanes for fast and slow traffic. The pseudo-Manchu authorities also established the "Manchu Vehicle Research Committee" to solve the problem of overloaded carts.
Changchun's sewage system, gas pipes, and telephone cables are all located in specially planned side streets, while the main roads have freely growing trees on both sides, making it a characteristic of Changchun. Later, Changchun became known as a "garden city".
The sewage system also uses a rainwater and wastewater separation model. When it rains, the accumulated water in the urban area flows into artificial lakes in the city's parks through the sewage system, preventing flooding.
By 1940, the area of parks, sports fields, and nurseries in Changchun had reached 10.8 square kilometers, with an average of 31 square meters per person. This made Changchun surpass Tokyo, Nanjing, Shanghai, and Harbin to become Asia's most developed, modernized, and beautiful city.
In 1945, the urban area of Changchun covered 80 square kilometers, with a population of 1.22 million, earning it the title of "Asia's First Metropolis". Even after the end of the war, Changchun was once considered by many scholars as the top choice for the Nationalist government to relocate its capital.
Northeast China had already surpassed the eastern coastal regions of China in terms of urbanization rate during the Zhang family era. During the pseudo-Manchu state period, it continued to advance rapidly. In 1931, on the eve of the September 18th Incident, Northeast China's urbanization rate had reached 11.5%. By 1942, it had increased to 23.8%, while in 1990, China's urbanization rate was only 18.96%. In 2001, Northeast China still ranked first in the country in terms of urbanization rate, reaching 52.1%, while China's urbanization rate was 37%.
During the pseudo-Manchu state period, high-level buildings in Northeast China adopted Japanese or Western styles. For example, the South Manchurian Railway Fushun Train Station used a beautiful "辰野" style from Japan's Meiji Restoration era, while the South Manchurian Railway Changchun Train Station used a "Neoclassical" style, greatly enriching China's architectural art.
Harbin developed into a beautiful city under the inheritance of the Zhang family and the continuation of the Japanese. During the pseudo-Manchu state period, it became an "open-air museum"-style city, with buildings ranging from Byzantine to Art Nouveau styles. The city's architecture was diverse and vibrant, with various styles from around the world.
Japanese scholar Nishizawa Taiji once said that "the number of different artistic styles in Harbin is unique in the world". Unfortunately, most of these buildings were demolished after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
In agriculture, according to the survey report of Manchukuo (1936 data), the arable land area of Manchukuo was 400 million mu, and the cultivated land area that had been put into agricultural production was 250 million mu. The total forest area of Manchukuo was 1.7 billion mu. Manchukuo's annual output included 2.5 million tons of soybeans, 2 million tons of wheat, 700,000 tons of rice, 1 million tons of millet, 8 million tons of sorghum, 5 million tons of corn, 600,000 tons of miscellaneous beans (excluding soybeans), 300,000 tons of cotton, and 160,000 tons of tobacco. The total number of livestock in the "country" included 4 million horses, 3 million cattle, 30 million sheep, and 40 million pigs. Manchukuo's annual grain output was 200 million tons, and the annual food consumption of the people in the Northeast needed 7.5 million tons of grain, while the seed grain needed 400,000 tons. Therefore, the agriculture in the Northeast solved the problem of food for the people in the Northeast, and it could also be exported to Japan and Korea in large quantities. Manchukuo's soybean export volume ranked first in the world at that time, making Changchun known as the "Bean City" internationally. The Japanese also introduced cold-resistant rice varieties from Hokkaido, Japan to the Northeast, which is now the delicious Northeastern rice. However, after the outbreak of the Pacific War, Japan's materials began to be scarce and tense, and a rationing system was implemented in Manchukuo. The Japanese ate rice, the Koreans ate millet, and the people in the Northeast ate sorghum. If it was discovered that the people in the Northeast were eating millet or rice, they would be immediately arrested on charges of "economic crime".
In finance, in 1932, 24 foreign financial enterprises including Deutsche Bank, Banque de Paris, Swiss Bank, Barclays Bank, Citibank, Bank of America and J.P. Morgan set up branches in Northeast China one after another.
In the field of scientific education, the Japanese established institutions such as the Shenyang Medical University, Xinjing Industrial University, Datong Academy, Jianguo University, and Xinjing Medical University in addition to building the Lushun Museum, Manchurian Resources Museum, Manchukuo National Central Museum, Manchukuo Concordance Association of Science and Technology, Manchukuo Investigation Agency, Manchurian Invention Association, Japan-Manchuria Agricultural Research Association, and Manchurian Railway Research Association. The education system of the puppet state of Manchukuo was connected with that of Japan, with high teaching quality. Park Chung-hee, the former President of South Korea, graduated from the Xinjing Military Academy and later led the "Miracle on the Han River" which drove South Korea's economic takeoff. After the founding of New China, Northeast China had the lowest illiteracy rate in the country and also the highest proportion of university students. Additionally, after the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo, many Japanese doctors came to Northeast China, greatly promoting the development of the region's medical industry. Hospitals capable of performing surgery were widespread even in ordinary counties, and these Japanese doctors had high medical ethics, treating both Chinese and Japanese patients equally. The patent system of Manchukuo was also connected with that of Japan, with the Manchurian Continental Academy obtaining 394 patents. After 1949, the Manchurian Continental Academy became the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics and the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The Japanese implemented a policy of "free food and lodging for students" in schools after the Meiji Restoration to strengthen education, and this policy was also adopted in Manchukuo. During the period of the puppet state, Northeast China had over 12,000 primary schools, more than 200 middle schools, over 140 higher educational institutions, and some independent research institutions and military academies. There were also over 1,600 private schools and more than 150 religious schools. The entire puppet state of Manchukuo had a total of over 25,000 professional teachers and over 6 million university students.
Manchukuo was a country with extremely religious freedom. The variety of religions within its borders almost covered all the mainstream religions in the world: Chinese Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Japanese Buddhism, Taoism, Shintoism, Catholicism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam... All of them were freely developed here, and there were almost no cases of religious persecution or conflicts between different religions; Manchukuo was also a region where multiple ethnic groups and cultures gathered. People from Northeast China, Japan, Korea, Russia, Jewish communities, Europe, etc., basically coexisted peacefully here, and intermarriage was also possible.
The Japanese also made great efforts to maintain law and order in Northeast China, cracking down on bandits within the region. This was done to stabilize society and prepare for Japan's long-term rule over the area, as well as to win people's hearts. Within three years after the September 18th Incident, there were no more bandit troubles in Northeast China.
Objectively speaking, the ordinary people of Manchukuo did not live a very poor life. The salary of graduates from universities in China Proper was 60 yuan, while that of graduates from universities in Manchukuo could reach 170 yuan. At that time, three yuan could buy a banquet for ten people that they couldn't finish eating. Ordinary people in Changchun's department stores could buy Kodak cameras and radios made in the United States. In addition, we can learn from the famous revolutionary opera "The Red Lantern" that Li, an ordinary worker on the Northeast Railway, had a salary that could support his whole family and the families of two fellow workers, and he could also drink outside while enjoying free medical care at the railway hospital.
The transportation system of Manchukuo was highly developed. At that time, the railway network in Northeast China was dense and convenient for transportation. The main trunk line was the South Manchurian Railway (Changchun to Dalian). In 1936, Manchukuo purchased the North Manchurian Railway (Changchun to Harbin, Manzhouli, and Suifenhe) from the Soviet Union at a price of 160 million yen, making the railway network in Northeast China completely connected. Other important railways included the Andong-Shenyang line, the Jilin-Changchun line, and the Pingqi line.
The main ports in Northeast China were Dalian Port and Yingkou Port, and inland water transportation was mainly concentrated in the Songhua River area. By 1932, Northeast China had opened up air routes of 15,000 kilometers, while by 1949, all of China's air routes totaled only 11,400 kilometers. In 1943, the total length of highways in Northeast China reached 60,000 kilometers, while by 1949, the total length of highways in all of China, including Northeast China, was only 80,900 kilometers.
By 1939, the total length of railways in Northeast China had exceeded 10,000 kilometers, and by 1945, it had reached 11,500 kilometers. By 1949, all of China, including Northeast China, had a total railway length of only 22,000 kilometers, with Northeast China accounting for 82.3% of the country's total railway length.
All this made Manchukuo one of the most developed regions in Asia in terms of transportation, and it was not inferior to Japan itself. In 1934, the Transportation Department of Manchukuo independently designed and developed the "Asia" steam locomotive, which had a cold and warm air conditioning system, operated on the 701-kilometer railway from Dalian to Changchun, with a maximum speed of 130 kilometers per hour, far surpassing the Japanese National Railways' maximum speed of 95 kilometers per hour.
By the mid-1930s, the railways in Northeast China had begun using mechanical ticket vending machines. In 1940, the Dalian Locomotive Factory manufactured the SL-7 bullet high-speed passenger train, which operated at a speed of up to 130 kilometers per hour and ran regularly between Dalian and Changchun, with an operating speed comparable to today's express trains.
The industrial construction achievements of the puppet Manchukuo are even more astonishing. In 1931, the industrial output value in Northeast China accounted for 26.9% of the total industrial and agricultural output value, which surged to 59.3%. By 2003, the proportion of China's industrial output value to the total industrial and agricultural output value was only 57.5%. According to statistics from the puppet Manchukuo government and the National Government, in 1943, the Northeast region, which accounted for 12% of China's land area and 10% of its population, produced 93% of China's steel, 66% of cement, 69% of chemical products, 95% of machinery, 93.3% of electricity, 49.4% of coal, 87.7% of pig iron, 69% of sulfuric acid, and 60% of soda ash. Moreover, it had formed a large number of world-leading high-tech enterprises in synthetic petroleum, special steel, and other fields. The puppet Manchukuo was the first region in Asia to achieve industrialization. The steel and chemical industries in Northeast China were mainly concentrated in Anshan and Benxi, while the coal industry was mainly concentrated in Fushun, Benxi, and Fuxin. The oil shale and synthetic fuel industries were concentrated in Fushun and Jilin, and the magnesite industry was concentrated in Haicheng and Dashiqiao. The machinery, munitions, and aircraft manufacturing industries were centered in Shenyang, while the textile and food processing industries were concentrated in Dalian, Dandong, Harbin, and Qiqihar. The hydropower generation in Northeast China was mainly concentrated in Jilin and Yalu River. In 1938, the puppet Manchukuo generated a total of 16.3 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, owning the earliest and largest hydropower generation system in Asia. In 1943, the Fengman Hydropower Station in Northeast China began generating electricity, with an annual output of 2.2 billion kilowatt-hours. By 1949, the total power generation in all of China, including Northeast China, was only 4.3 billion kilowatt-hours.
In 1945, the industrial scale and economic aggregate of Northeast China had already surpassed those of mainland Japan, ranking first in Asia. The puppet Manchukuo became the largest economy in Asia, with a GDP of $14.2 billion in 1945, surpassing Japan, France, and Italy, and ranking fourth globally after the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom (Germany was already on the brink of destruction by 1945, so its economic aggregate had also plummeted). From Shenyang to Dalian, the Shenda Line was lined with factories and smokestacks, forming a vast industrial zone known as the "Shen-Da Industrial Zone", with Shenyang's Tiexi District being hailed as the "Oriental Ruhr". The level of industrialization in Northeast China had reached an unprecedented rapid growth. By 1945, Northeast China accounted for 85% of China's total industrial output value, Taiwan accounted for 10%, and the rest of China only accounted for 5%.
The dominant industry in Northeast China was originally the South Manchurian Railway Company, which belonged to Japan. After the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo, other Japanese zaibatsu enterprises and capital poured in rapidly. After 1937, the puppet state of Manchukuo adopted an economic control policy for the industrial sector, abandoning the principle of "one industry, one company". Each industry established a large monopoly company. According to this principle, the South Manchurian Railway Company handed over its industrial department and, after reorganization, formed a massive "Manchuria Heavy Industries Corporation", which monopolized all steel, coal, chemical, and power industries within Northeast China. In addition, the Japanese colonial authorities successively established the Manchurian Telephone and Telegraph Company, Manchurian Machinery Manufacturing Company, Manchurian Mining Company, Manchurian Aviation Company, Manchurian Synthetic Oil Company, Manchurian Textile Company, Manchurian Woolen Company, Manchurian Chemical Industry Company, Manchurian Forestry Company, Manchurian Gold Mining Company, Manchurian Livestock Company, Manchurian Fishery Company, Manchurian Tobacco Company, Manchurian Agricultural Products Company, and the Manchurian Development Corporation, among more than 40 special companies. These companies were jointly invested in by Japanese investors and the puppet government of Manchukuo, with profits divided according to the proportion of shares held by both parties during profitable times, and losses guaranteed by the puppet government of Manchukuo to ensure a 10% profit for Japanese investors. These monopoly companies, controlled by Japanese zaibatsu and the Japanese government, on the one hand "promoted" the development of Northeast China's industry, while on the other hand served as tools for the Japanese government to plunder Northeast China's vast coal, steel, timber, and raw materials, which were continuously taken back to Japan.
