From War Claims to Reparations: France, Japan and the“Vietnam War”

As this article demonstrates, Vietnam stands out among the beneficiaries ofJapanese war reparations for the huge gap in expectations as to compensation issues(although the Cambodia example offers a counterpoint)．Not only was theTokyo government challenged internationally by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam(DRV) as the sole legal claimant upon these funds, but domestically by themajor left-wing opposition parties (and where the major Japanese reparations-aidproject, a hydro dam, was crippled by the DRV\u27s southern arm, the Viet Cong)．But even prior to the French invention of the State of Vietnam in 1949，it wasFrance which made claims upon Japan for war damages and reparations, as well asfor unpaid loans and debts. A complex diplomatic contest that also engagedWashington, not all issues were resolved even with France\u27s recognition of Japanas an independent state, and the emergence in 1955 of the independent Republic ofVietnam under President Ngo Dinh Diem. Precisely, this article problematizes theinterwoven themes of French war damages claims, Vietnamese reparations, andJapan\u27s postwar business link