提要

The Role of the United States in the Sino-Japanese War before the Pearl Harbour Attack

北京科技大學張北根博士

Dr Zhang Beigen, University of Science and Technology, Beijing

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從“七七”事變到珍珠港事變發生前，在日本侵華問題上，美國扮演了複雜的角色：一方面，姑息綏靖日本，向日本提供市場、資金和大量戰略物資，支撐日本侵華的戰爭經濟；另一方面，隨著日本獨霸遠東和世界野心的暴露，美日矛盾激化，美國逐步援華制日，讓中國充當遏制日本的橋頭堡。本文依據國際關係理論，深刻剖析了美國扮演這種複雜角色的原因，并得出了美國扮演這種角色的實質是以美國的國家利益為中心的結論。

Abstract：The United States（US）played a complicated role in Japan's invasion of China from the Lugouqiao （Marco Polo Bridge） Incident of 7 July l937 to the Pearl Harbour attack. On the one hand, the US appeased Japan by providing her with markets, capital and a great deal of strategic goods and giving support to Japan's war economy. On the other hand, with Japan's ambition to dominate the Far East and the world becoming apparent, the contradiction between the US and Japan intensified. The US began assisting China step by step so as to make China a bridgehead to contain Japan. Based on international relations theories, this essay gives an in-depth analysis of why the US played such a complicated role and concludes that the pursuit of national interests was of prime importance in the US'S strategy.