US archives back Tibet as part of China
Tokyo Trials
A newly published book on the documents of a late United States diplomat, who was also a scholar on Tibet, has provided conclusive evidence that the envoy in the early 20th century considered Tibet to be an inseparable part of China.
Selected Documents Relating to Tibet from William W. Rockhill Papers, compiled by Cheng Long, a former associate professor at Beijing Language and Culture University, was published recently by China Intercontinental Press.
William Rockhill (18541914), a US diplomat, explorer and scholar on Tibet, was the author of the United States’ Open Door Policy for China and the author of several books on Tibetan studies.
The second season of the documentary series The Tokyo Trials premiered on International Channel Shanghai on Tuesday.
To mark 70 years since the commencement of the postWorld War II tribunal against 28 military and political leaders of Japan, the Shanghai Media Group News Center produced the documentary with the Tokyo Trial Research Center at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Earlier this month, the first season of the documentary, which was produced by the same team and aired last year, was named “Best Documentary Series” at the Asian Television Awards in Singapore.
The second season’s three episodes were made because of stronger research and new discoveries, said Song Jiong-
“Rockhill several times pointed out to the US public that Tibet is an inseparable part of China, and he introduced his position to president Theodore Roosevelt,” Cheng said.
Cheng said he began to pay attention to Rockhill while he was teaching at the University of South Carolina in 2008, after US students kept asking questions about Tibet.
“So I came up with an idea — to tell the history and culture of Tibet by using Western historical documents, which are more convincing to them,” he said.
From 2008 to early this year, Cheng searched for documents at such places as Harvard and Yale universities, the Library of Congress and the US National Archives, and he collected abundant materials The Battle for the Truth, Beyond Victor’s Justice, A History Etched in Memory, highlight new historical discoveries and academic achievements, including video of trial testimony and evidence disclosed for the first time. Newly discovered video footage also shows witnesses speaking in court.
Cheng Zhaoqi, a professor of history at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said new evidence shows that the Japanese defendants repeatedly committed perjury during the trial.
The trials, known as the International Military Tribu- from Rockhill related to Tibet.
According to the US State Department website, Rockhill, who was born in Philadelphia, was appointed as the third assistant secretary of state in April 1894. He was appointed US ambassador to China in 1905 and held the position until 1909.
Rockhill was also a famous scholar of Tibet and visited the region twice. In 1908, he met several times with the 13th Dalai Lama, with whom he kept in touch through letters.
Rockhill was appointed to an unpaid post at the US legation in Beijing in 1883 on his first trip to China. He intended to perfect his spoken Tibetan and Chinese and to travel to Lhasa, according to William Woodville Rockhill: ScholarDiplomat of the Tibetan Highlands, a book by the late Kenneth Wimmel, who was a US foreign affairs officer.
Cheng said that Rockhill had the habit of keeping copies of important files and that these materials are well preserved.
Rockhill several times pointed out to the US public that Tibet is an inseparable part of China.” Cheng Long, a former associate professor at Beijing Language and Culture University