著者

有澤 雄毅

出版者

一般財団法人 アジア政経学会

雑誌

アジア研究 (ISSN:00449237)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.67, no.4, pp.17-32, 2021-10-31 (Released:2021-11-16)

参考文献数

41

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How did Beijing become the capital of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)? Surprisingly, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has not provided a clear answer to this question. This is because if the “necessity” of Beijing as the capital of the PRC were to collapse, it could contradict the overall historical narrative of the CCP concerning the State formation. Chinese Area Studies scholars argue that the acquisition of political cohesion and legitimacy in the process of selecting a capital has affected the national integration of the PRC. Nevertheless, such arguments do not fully explain how such an event occurred; thus, the logic between the capital selection and national integration remains unclear. Therefore, to clarify these questions, this paper analyzes the perceptions of the political leaders of the Chinese Nationalist Party, the CCP, the Democratic Party (DP), and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) regarding the formation of the State and the selection of the capital. The result of the analysis shows that from the end of World War II to the establishment of the PRC, there was no concrete idea of selecting Beijing as a capital among the people. In the Constituent Assembly held in 1946, Chiang Kai-shek attempted to select Nanjing as the capital. However, the representatives of the Constituent Assembly highlighted various opinions on the selection; in particular, the delegates sought to strike a balance among China’s regions through this process. In response, the CCP delayed the selection and restrained local movements from establishing their own capital. Concerned about the CCP’s authority over the DP, who showed an inactive attitude regarding this, the CPSU demanded that the CCP establish the capital as soon as possible to consolidate their authority. However, on the eve of the establishment of the PRC, the CCP avoided active discussions on the selection of the capital; after the issue attracted public attention, they introduced official procedures to establish Beijing as their capital to consolidate their authority.