Japan's Control And Plundering Of The Minnan Ironfield (1912-1945)

South Anhui ironminingarea is distributed in the three counties of Anhui Province, Dangtu, Fanchang, Tongling mainly, which is the most reserving iron mining area of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze Rive. The quality of the iron mining area is superior to others, easy to mine, convenient for transportation. Japanese has casted greedy eyes on the area for a long time. Since the Republic of China, the area has become the raw material origin of japan during the long-term. According to the different ways of Japan’s control and plunder, which is divided into three stages:market control period, military occupation, central China Central China mining companyDuring the first World War, the Yufan, Baoxing, Zhenye and the rest five commercial office commercial business enterprises sprang up which stimulated by the soaring of international price of iron. However, after the first world war, the iron price fell back quickly. Because of the lack of funds, weak technology and market saturation brought about by the backward of the domestic steel industry, each enterprise got into hot water. At the same time, in order to protect its domestic ore demand, Japanese loan out funds in exchange for iron enterprises of Anhui Province signing the strict sand sale contracts. As a result, Yufan company signed with the Japanese at the earliest, which caused strong dissatisfaction by the society in the south of Anhui Province. However it ultimately came to terms under the Japanese diplomatic and military pressure. Thereafter, other enterprises also signed similar contracts, which led Japanese got command of the iron market through economic means in Anhui Province before the outbreak of the all-out war of aggression against China.Accordingly, the enterprise fell into a vicious circleof borrowing Japan Government Bonds to maintain the operation. In 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out.the South Anhui iron mining area soon fell in the military management of the Japanese Central China Area Army. During the military administration, the Japanese not only shipped prewar storaged ore back to Japan directly, but also conducted a large-scale survey on the mining area, preparing for the Iron Ore Company of Central China which engaged in mineral development. In November 1938, the Iron Ore Company of Central China set up on the basis of the covin between the government of the Republic of China and Japan. Thus, the South Anhui iron mining area entered a stage of "sino-japanese joint" company. As soon as the economic policy of the occupid middle of China went into maturity, Japan’s "national policy agency"-central China revitalization company began to control the economy of the central soccupied areas. With the enlargement of the scope of business,Iron Ore Company of Central China reorganized into Central China mining company.Thenceforth, Japanese bought a share of the South Anhui iron mining area in the form of non-currency property contributionm, setting up Taochong, Maanshan, Taiping three mining areas.However,the charter of Central China mining companyhas been amended several times, the mining right and the modifiction of mining method became a key issue of puppet government representations, a precondition of forming wangs government by Japanese as well. Although mining rights issues were not satisfied, but Japanese ore plunder proceeded rapidly, the output of 1941 was more than three times than the highest period before the war.In a word, the South Anhui iron mining area were controlled by Japan for more than 30 years from world war I to the Anti-Japanese War ended in 1945, become the hardest hit area by the Japanese predatory policy with the large amount of plunder for a long time.In the process of resource plundering, Japan’s economic aggression combined closely with the military.Under the deceit ofso-called "Sino-japanese joint" company,the iron ore mining in the south of Anhui, in fact,was a typical colonial plunder.Not only do serious damage to the deposit mining area, but also take a heavy toll of lives, causing"one for mine "human tragedy.