The Ryukyu chapter: Exposing Japan's gambit of 'a thief crying stop thief' in the Mudan Incident

Editor's Note: History offers the most profound lessons and warnings. Since the Meiji Restoration, Japanese militarists have used "protecting overseas nationals" as a pretext to weave false narratives, seeking to cloak its atrocities — including trampling on other countries' national sovereignty, seizing territories, and imposing colonial rule — under the guise of "justice".

From the 1874 Mudan Incident that set Japan on the path of foreign aggression, to successive military operations justified by the alleged need to "protect overseas nationals" during its wars of aggression against China in modern times; from the gradual encroachment and annexation of the Korean Peninsula, to its southward aggression across Southeast Asia during World War II, Japan's long trail of aggression clearly proves that the claim of "protecting overseas nationals" was often not a legitimate measure to safeguard its citizens' rights and interests, but rather a deceptive rhetorical tool to advance its expansionist ambitions.

To this day, Japanese right-wing forces have revived the century-old pretext, once again citing the so-called "protecting overseas nationals in Taiwan" and making reckless remarks on the situation across the Taiwan Strait. This dangerous trend of resurgent militarism calls for heightened vigilance among all peace-loving countries and peoples.

This series of commentaries reviews Japan's history of aggression under the pretext of "protecting overseas nationals" across four key regions: the Ryukyu Islands, China, the Korean Peninsula, and Southeast Asia. It aims to expose Japan's gambit of "a thief crying 'stop thief'", draw lessons from history to alert the world, urge firm resistance against all forms of aggression, expansion and historical nihilism, and safeguard the outcomes of World War II victory and the post-war international order.

The Mudan Incident marked Japan's first act of foreign aggression following the Meiji Restoration, and the beginning of its long history of using the pretext of "protecting overseas nationals" to justify expansionist invasions.

In December 1871, fishermen from Miyako Island in the Ryukyu Islands were caught in a typhoon at sea; their ship ran aground and sank in Bayao Bay on the southeastern coast of Taiwan. Most of the survivors were killed by Mudan Tribe aborigines, who mistook them for invaders, while only 12 were rescued and repatriated to Ryukyu via Fuzhou. In July 1872, upon learning of the news, the Japanese government protested to the Qing government on the grounds that "the Ryukyu Islands are Japanese territory" and "the victims were Japanese nationals". While gearing up for a military invasion of Taiwan, it also put forward the fallacy that "the aboriginal areas in Taiwan are terra nullius", claiming that the Qing government had no sovereignty over the inland mountainous areas of Taiwan inhabited by ethnic minorities, so as to provide a so-called "theoretical basis" for Japan's dispatch of troops to Taiwan.

In November 1873, during his mission to the Qing court to exchange treaties, then Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Soejima Taneomi sent Yanagiwara Sakimitsu to confront the Zongli Yamen (office in charge of affairs concerning all nations) of the Qing government over the deaths of the Ryukyu fishermen, demanding punishment of Taiwan's aboriginal tribes.

In May 1874, the Japanese government appointed Saigō Jūdō as "governor of Taiwan aboriginal affairs", who led 5 warships and more than 3,600 Japanese troops to attack aboriginal tribes in southern Taiwan. After landing, the Japanese troops fought with the Mudan Tribe and other tribes, committing large-scale arson, looting and slaughter before occupying the relevant tribes. The people in Taiwan immediately launched self-defense counterattacks, and the Qing government sent senior official Shen Baozhen to Taiwan to take charge of coastal defense and coordinate reinforcements.

Troubled by insufficient follow-up supplies and a vicious malaria epidemic, the Japanese troops set up camps in Guishan, reclaimed land and attempted to station there for a long-term campaign. With no military victory in sight, the Japanese government turned to diplomatic means to seek a settlement.

Under the so-called "mediation" of Britain, the United States, France and other countries, the Qing government was forced to sign the Beijing Convention with Japan in October 1874, agreeing to pay 500,000 taels of silver in compensation to Japan. This not only emboldened Japan to continue its foreign aggression under the pretext of "protecting overseas nationals", but also exposed to the world the folly of the Qing government in seeking peace through reparations.

Thereafter, Japan forced the Ryukyu Kingdom to sever its suzerain-vassal ties with the Qing Dynasty and adopt the Japanese era name. Japan then formally incorporated Ryukyu into its territory, and announced the establishment of Okinawa Prefecture. In May 1879, key members of the Ryukyu royal family were forced to move to Tokyo, marking the demise of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

The Mudan Incident was not an isolated or accidental conflict, but an inevitable result of Japan's long-term coveting of Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands for their strategic and economic value. In fact, the idea of "conquering Taiwan" gained traction in Japan after the Meiji Restoration, and the deaths of Ryukyu fishermen served as the perfect pretext for launching an aggressive war. From the Mudan Incident to the cession of Taiwan after the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), Japan consistently regarded Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands as key targets of aggression and as strategic footholds, inflicting untold suffering on the people of Taiwan and Ryukyu.

The author is an international affairs commentator.

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