美国媒体对甲午战争的多样化报道

Diverse U.S. Media Coverage on the First Sino-Japanese War

美国媒体密切关注和报道1894—1895年中日甲午战争。“文明”话语下的对中日两国的褒贬固然在其中发挥了巨大影响,但其他观点也并不鲜见。不少美国地方报纸将日本界定为侵略者,认为中国在法理上占优,并预计中国将取得胜利。此外,它们也集中报道日军在战争中的暴行,尤其是击沉“高升”号事件和旅顺大屠杀,并将其与印第安战争及同时发生的奥斯曼土耳其政府屠杀亚美尼亚人的行为相类比。最后,美国媒体也意识到日本胜利给美国造成的潜在威胁。

The U.S. media intensely followed and covered the First Sino-Japanese War between 1894 and 1895. Admittedly, the denigration of China and the praise of Japan based on the “civilization” discourse cast significant influence on these coverages. Still, we could see other views featured in the U.S. media too. Many American local newspapers identified Japan as the aggressor, thus giving China the high ground with respect to the international law. They predicted a Chinese victory in war. Besides, they closely covered Japanese atrocities in war, especially the Kowshing incident and the Port Arthur massacre. These newspapers compared the Japanese ferocity to the Indian wars as well as contemporary Armenian massacre by the Ottoman Turks government. Lastly, they realized the potential Japanese threat to American interest following its triumph in war.