Editing Second Sino-Japanese War (section)

==Names==
In China, the war is most commonly known as the "War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression" ({{lang-zh|t=抗日戰爭|s=抗日战争}}), and shortened to "Resistance against Japanese Aggression" ({{zhi|c=抗日}}) or the "War of Resistance" ({{zhi|s=抗战|t=抗戰}}). It was also called the "Eight Years' War of Resistance" ({{zhi|s=八年抗战|t=八年抗戰}}), but in 2017 the [[Chinese Ministry of Education]] issued a directive stating that textbooks were to refer to the war as the "Fourteen Years' War of Resistance" ({{zhi|s=十四年抗战|t=十四年抗戰}}), reflecting a focus on the broader conflict with Japan going back to the 1931 [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Cain|first=Sian|date=2017-01-13|title=China rewrites history books to extend Sino-Japanese war by six years|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jan/13/china-rewrites-history-books-to-extend-sino-japanese-war-by-six-years|access-date=2021-05-04|website=the Guardian|language=en|archive-date=25 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525000904/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jan/13/china-rewrites-history-books-to-extend-sino-japanese-war-by-six-years|url-status=live}}</ref> According to historian [[Rana Mitter]], historians in China are unhappy with the blanket revision, and (despite sustained tensions) the Republic of China did not consider itself to be in an ongoing war with Japan over these six years.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mitter|first=Rana|title=China's Good War: how World War II is shaping a new nationalism|publisher=Belknap Press|year=2020}}</ref>{{request quotation|date=January 2022|reason=A context is needed, as China was not officially at war until 1941.}} It is also referred to as part of the "Global Anti-Fascist War".

In contemporary Japan, the name "Japan–China War" ({{langx|ja|日中戦争|translit=Nitchū Sensō}}) is most commonly used because of its perceived objectivity. When the invasion of [[China proper]] began in earnest in July 1937 near [[Beijing]], the [[Empire of Japan|government of Japan]] used "The North China Incident" ({{langx|ja|北支事變/華北事變|translit=Hokushi Jihen/Kahoku Jihen|label=none}}), and with the outbreak of the [[Battle of Shanghai]] the following month, it was changed to "The China Incident" ({{langx|ja|支那事變|translit=[[Shina (word)|Shina]] Jihen|label=none}}).

The word "incident" ({{langx|ja|事變|translit=jihen|label=none}}) was used by Japan, as neither country had made a formal [[declaration of war]]. From the Japanese perspective, localizing these conflicts was beneficial in preventing intervention from other countries, particularly the United Kingdom and the United States, which were its primary source of petroleum and steel respectively. A formal expression of these conflicts would potentially lead to an American embargo in accordance with the [[Neutrality Acts of the 1930s]].<ref name=en>Jerald A. Combs. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5215/is_2002/ai_n19132406/pg_7 Embargoes and Sanctions]{{dead link|date=January 2016}}. ''Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy'', 2002</ref> In addition, due to China's fractured political status, Japan often claimed that China was no longer a recognizable political entity on which war could be declared.<ref>Rea, George Bronson. ''The Case for Manchoukuo''. New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1935. Pp 164.</ref>

===Other names===
In [[Propaganda in Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II|Japanese propaganda]], the invasion of China became a crusade ({{langx|ja|聖戦|translit=seisen|label=none}}), the first step of the "eight corners of the world under one roof" slogan ({{langx|ja|八紘一宇|translit=[[Hakkō ichiu]]|label=none}}). In 1940, Japanese prime minister [[Fumimaro Konoe]] launched the [[Taisei Yokusankai]]. When both sides formally declared war in December 1941, the name was replaced by "Greater East Asia War" ({{langx|ja|大東亞戰爭|translit=Daitōa Sensō|label=none}}).

Although the Japanese government still uses the term "China Incident" in formal documents,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Linebarger|first=Paul M. A.|date=May 1941|title=The Status of the China Incident|jstor=1022596|journal=American Academy of Political and Social Science|publisher=Sage |volume=215|pages=36–43|doi=10.1177/000271624121500106|s2cid=144915586}}</ref> the word ''[[Shina (word)|Shina]]'' is considered derogatory by China and therefore the media in Japan often paraphrase with other expressions like "The Japan–China Incident" ({{langx|ja|日華事變／日支事變|translit=Nikka Jiken/Nisshi Jiken|label=none}}), which were used by media as early as the 1930s.

The name "Second Sino-Japanese War" is not commonly used in Japan as the China it fought a war against in 1894 to 1895 was led by the [[Qing dynasty]], and thus is called the Qing-Japanese War ({{langx|ja|日清戦争|translit=Nisshin–Sensō|label=none}}), rather than the [[First Sino-Japanese War]].

Another term for the second war between Japan and China is the "Japanese invasion of China", a term used mainly in foreign and Chinese narratives.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.lermuseum.org/interwar-years-1919-1938/japanese-invasion-of-china-7-july-1937 | title=Japanese Invasion of China: 7 July 1937}}</ref>