Ricerc@Sapienza

The so-called “21 demands” of 1915 marked a milestone in the development of the Chinese perception of Japan and represent a controversial topic in historiography. Three streams of research have roughly speaking touched upon its international significance, by emphasizing its role as an anticipation of the Japanese aggression of China in the 1930s or by interpreting it as a chapter of classical “diplomacy of imperialism”. This paper discusses some recent views on the same issue.