Sergey Kuznetsov, Irkutsk State University, Irkutsk, Russia. E-mail: s.kuznetsov@mail.ru.
Kirill Kuzmin, Irkutsk State University, Irkutsk, Russia. E-mail: kirillkuzmin97@yandex.ru.
Northeast Asia is a region where leadership belongs to two major actors — China and Japan. The relations between the two countries affect the situation in Northeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. The development of modern Sino-Japanese relations takes place in various areas, primarily in the political, economic and cultural spheres. In the relations between China and Japan, in addition to the obvious economic results and successes in cultural interaction, there are a number of problems in the field of politics and security. One of them is the problem of historical memory about the events of 1931—1945, that is, about the tragedies of the Sino-Japanese War — an important part of the Second World War. The memory of the two states about this difficult period in the history of bilateral relations is currently one of the determining factors in the development of Sino-Japanese cooperation. The problem is two-sided: Japan pursues a contradictory policy on the issue of its attitude to the events of the above-mentioned period, which provokes the protest of the PRC and a number of other states in the region, but China also actively uses the memory of this period in its policy towards Japan. The paper analyzes the use of historical memory by the Chinese side in relations with Japan and the problem of memory of the past in bilateral cooperation in general through the prism of the quantitative content analysis of the Chinese media publications “People’s Daily” in Russian and English. The analysis is carried out on the use of topics concerning the period 1931—1945 in publications related to Japan in 2015—2020. The obtained data correlate with the general overview of the development of Sino-Japanese relations in 2015—2020, resulting in a link between the periods of deterioration and improvement of bilateral relations as well as peaks and recessions in the number of publications devoted to the topic of historical memory.
Keywords: historical memory, memory studies, Sino-Japanese War, Yasukuni Shrine, Sino-Japanese relations, “People’s Daily” media.

Vladimir Timofeev, Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia. E-mail: timofeev.vv@dvfu.ru.
Olga Shevchuk, Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia. E-mail: shevchuk.om@dvfu.ru.
The paper analyzes the foreign policy of Japan in Northeast Asia during the period of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s activity (2012—2020). The uniqueness of this period is the attempt to introduce a new mechanism into the system of foreign policy implementation — personal diplomacy, which was guided by S. Abe. The direct agency of the country — the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan was relegated to the background in the development and implementation of the country’s foreign policy. The term personal diplomacy is found in studies devoted to the study of the foreign policy of states but has no definition. Therefore, the authors offer their own interpretation. The purpose of this study is to determine how this approach of S. Abe influenced the implementation of the state’s foreign policy on the example of Japan’s relations with the countries of Northeast Asia: Russia, China, North Korea, the Republic of Korea and the United States. The paper defines the main political characteristics of S. Abe’s activities before and during his leadership in Japan, which influenced the country’s foreign policy and reflected in the phenomenon of personal diplomacy, highlights the main problems of relations between Japan and the countries of Northeast Asia, traces the evolution of international relations in this region, summarizes the main results of S. Abe’s foreign policy activities as prime minister and notes the persisting problems which have not been resolved during the years of his leadership of the country.
Keywords: Japan, foreign policy, personal diplomacy, Abe Shinzo, Northeast Asia.

Oleg Timofeev, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Moscow, Russia. E-mail: timooa@mail.ru.
Kirill Aleksandrov, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Moscow, Russia. E-mail: pu4u@bk.ru.
Brexit has become a milestone for the United Kingdom’s relations with the European Union and for its foreign policy strategy in general. Under these circumstances, London has its sight on new regions where many of its new partners reside in order to fully develop the concept of “Global Britain”, as well as to at least partially neutralize the decline in its influence in world politics and global economic system after leaving the EU. Japan, alongside with traditional strategic allies and partners, the United States and the member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, is becoming one of Great Britain’s key natural partners in the Indo-Pacific. The first bilateral alliance treaty between the two countries was signed more than a hundred years ago. The new bilateral agreement on trade and economic cooperation, albeit in many respects duplicates a similar document previously signed between Japan and the EU, nevertheless can become the basis for increasing trade and maintaining mutual preferences in economic cooperation. Both countries actively support multilateral diplomacy mechanisms in the Indo-Pacific region. China’s rise also fosters further British-Japanese strategic rapprochement, which is gradually building on joint efforts to contain Beijing’s increasingly assertive global ambitions. In their Indo-Pacific strategy, the two parties intend to rely on both a bilateral pattern and a system of multilateral regional institutions, in which the United Kingdom and Japan are actively participating.
Keywords: UK, Japan, Brexit, British-Japanese relations, Anglo-Japanese Alliance, Global Britain, UK’s Indo-Pacific tilt, Asia-Pacific region (APR), Shinzo Abe, Boris Johnson, Theresa May.

Pavel Lapin, Russian Embassy in China, Beijing, PRC. E-mail: waijiao2000@mail.ru.
Sovereign China set intercultural exchanges taking into consideration the traditional foreign-policy doctrine which divided the world into two unequal parts: the civilization (China) and the barbarian periphery. The nations which didn’t recognize the supremacy of the Qing Emperor, China’s laws and rules as well as declared their political independence (for example, Europeans including Russians) were considered uneducated, and the Chinese Emperor couldn’t study their national heritage including languages because he possessed the utmost virtue de. The national border territories which became a part of the Empire where Chinese government was introduced, Manchurian-Chinese troops were located, Chinese legislation was used, were regarded by the Qing court ideologists as nations that joined the civilization, “the united family” which national languages were worthy of the Chinese Emperor’s attention. The paper analyses the practices of Chinese emperors of studying cultural heritage and the languages of the nations which were a part of the Empire as well as the languages of foreign countries taking into account the traditional foreign-policy doctrine. The paper examines the reasons why Qing emperors successfully studied the languages of the conquered nations: Mongolian, Tibetan, Uigur but refused to study, for example, Latin as a language of European medieval science or Russian, Japanese or any other languages of independent states despite possibilities and practical necessity in Beijing. It is concluded that such attitude of the Qing court towards the study of foreign social experience lasted until the end of the 19th century despite Beijing’s gradual moving away from Chinese foreign-policy model, implementation of reforms supported by emperors, regular foreign travels of Chinese students and diplomatic delegations which visited leading educational institutions and modern industries. Although there were complex changes in the world and in China, the sacral status of the Chinese monarch and his position in the system of traditional power were invariable.
Keywords: Qing Empire, Chinese monarchy, foreign languages in China, foreign-policy doctrine “Sino-Barbarian Dichotomy”, humanitarian ties.

Olga Senyutkina, Nizhny Novgorod State Linguistic University of N.A. Dobrolyubov, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. E-mail: senutkina@mail.ru.
Ran Ling, Nizhny Novgorod State Linguistic University of N.A. Dobrolyubov, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. E-mail: ranling_2006@qq.com.
The paper describes historical context and circumstances which contributed to distribution of Soviet revolutionary songs in China in 1920s. The authors analyze what Soviet songs resonated with the Chinese people during this period of time and the reasons for translating the songs from Russian into Chinese. Hence, a revolutionary song is studied as cultural interaction. The interdisciplinary approach is required for understating this historical phenomenon. This is due to the fact that the development of a methodological scheme of analysis in this context required not only the methods of historical science but also the use of musicology. Thus, the authors demonstrated their acceptance of the anthropological understanding of historical reality (“common people” as objects and subjects of history) and the rejection of the monism of historical science in the methodological sense. The tandem of two scientists (RF, PRC) personifies the possibilities of combining efforts in understanding certain historical phenomena that unite cultures. In fact, the authors combine the manifestations of the folk culture of neighboring societies through a revolutionary song and look for the reasons of such possible alignment. The revolutionary songs were popular in the USSR in the 1920s and were widespread in China for 75 years. The reasons for such phenomenon are analyzed through the events in the social life of both countries, song material and historiography.
Keywords: revolution, song, revolutionary motives in songwriting, China, Soviet Russia.

Yang Yiting, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia. E-mail: jan.itmsu311@yandex.ru.
The paper is devoted to the study of the preconditions of the Second World War in Asia. The paper examines one of the most difficult historical periods of Soviet-Chinese relations — 1931—1937 — when militaristic Japan unleashed a war against China, that is, from the “Manchurian Incident” on September 18, 1931 to the start of the full-scale Sino-Japanese War on July 7, 1937. The relevance of the research topic is confirmed by the important role of China in the system of international relations in the Far East and the importance of the “Chinese vector” in Russian foreign policy at all historical stages. The author draws attention to the poorly studied aspects of the problem in Russian historiography and tries to consider the process of the development of Soviet-Chinese relations during this period from the position of China. This allows us to present a new point of view on the steady complication of the international situation in the Far East in the 1930s which became the prologue of World War II. The paper highlights the main characteristic features of the Soviet direction of China’s foreign policy of the described period, shows the dual essence of the diplomatic maneuvers of the Kuomintang government of Chiang Kai-shek between the USSR and Japan during the pre-war years, analyzes the causes and consequences of important decisions made by the Chinese leadership in relation to the USSR. The purpose of the paper is to reveal the internal and external factors that contributed to or hindered mutual understanding between the Soviet Union and China during the most critical years when the focus of a new world war was forming in the East.
Keywords: Soviet-Chinese relations, Japanese-Chinese relations, Chinese foreign policy, Far Eastern policy of the USSR, militaristic Japan, Kuomintang, Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Soviet-Chinese non-aggression pact of 1937.

Andrey Druzyaka, Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia. E-mail: druzyaka12@mail.ru.
The paper analyzes the political and legal grounds of certain Manchurian territories (the Kwantung region and the CER’s right-of-way) to come under the Russian influence at the end of the 19th century as well as the dynamics of changes inherent in both the territorial governance and generally the Russian colonial policy in Northeast Asia at the end of the 19th century, in 1901, 1905 and 1918. In various historical conditions this policy experienced economic, military and political influence from other major colonial powers, but, at the same time, Russian colonialism in Asia developed according to the same patterns as in other foreign colonies in China. A particular feature of this policy is a relatively soft and even “friendly” character, which developed largely due to the experience during the period of Russian colonization of other Asian territories. The paper briefly describes the key features of the Russian governance in Manchuria and provides examples of their compliance with the key criteria that characterize colonial governance as a whole. The author also provides judgements on Russian colonialism in Manchuria from Russian literature of various periods and from works of foreign authors. Based on the analysis of such concepts as “colonies”, “colonial possessions”, and “leased territories”, conclusions about their applicability to the territories of the Russian Kwantung region and the CER’s right-of-way in different historical periods associated with the Russian presence were drawn.
Keywords: Russia, China, the Russian Kwantung region, the CER’s right-of-way, leased territories, colonization, colony, colonial possessions, colonial policy.

Elena Rudnikova, Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnology of the Peoples of the Far East, FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia. E-mail: elena.rudnikova@mail.ru.
The paper is dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the first visit of Russians to New Zealand — the members of the Russian Antarctic expedition of 1819—1821 under the leadership of captain 2nd rank F.F. Bellingshausen (1778—1852) and lieutenant M.P. Lazarev (1788—1851). The expedition lasted 741 days, and only one week the participants spent in New Zealand. The days of their stay were filled with direct contacts with the Maori — the pre-European population of this country, and Russian sailors left positive memories on them. Trade and exchange operations and the mutual exchange of cultural values were the basis of the relations. During a week’s stay the members of the expedition made at least nine visits to New Zealand including the Maori settlements. The stay of the expedition in 1820 is regarded as the beginning of the history of the Russian presence in this country as a whole. After the departure of the Antarctic expedition, six more Russian warships visited New Zealand until the end of the century. The study creates a general picture of the visits of Russian warships to this country from 1820 to 1899. The historical background of the stay of Russians in this part of the Globe and the reasons for the entry of Russian warships into New Zealand’s waters are examined, direct contacts of the crew members with local residents are described, the significance of these visits for mutual acquaintance of the two countries is appraised. The study is based on the results of the previous scientific research, published memoirs of the participants of the Antarctic expedition and materials from New Zealand historical periodicals.
Keywords: Bellingshausen, the Maori, Russian warships in New Zealand, Russia-New Zealand relations.

Kristina Voda, Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations RAS, Moscow, Russia. E-mail: vodakris@gmail.com.
The relevance of the research of Russian parliamentary diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific region is determined by the importance of the Asia-Pacific region as one of the priority areas of Russian foreign policy in the twenty-first century, the growing participation of the Parliament in international relations, and the increasing role of inter-parliamentary institutions for the integration processes, regional economic and political development. Parliamentary diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific region plays an important role for Russia as it serves as an additional channel of communication with elites of the Asia-Pacific countries supplementing the foreign policy course implemented by the executives. In addition, participating in inter-parliamentary institutions, parliamentarians have the opportunity to form a legal framework and develop principles of global governance, jointly propose solutions to the most pending issues of regional development. Russian participation in international parliamentary organizations in the Asia-Pacific region including the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum is aimed at increasing Russian presence and regional political influence and presenting Russia’s approaches to urgent problems of regional development, economic, political, humanitarian and security issues.
Keywords: Russia, parliamentary diplomacy, international parliamentary institution, APPF, Asia-Pacific region.

Sergey Savchenko, Government of the Khabarovsk Territory, Khabarovsk, Russia. E-mail: swcos@mail.ru.
Timofey Sivakov, Khabarovsk, Russia. E-mail: tim-sivok@mail.ru.
Aleksey Shestakov, Khabarovsk Regional Museum Named after N.I. Grodekov, Khabarovsk, Russia. E-mail: a_shes@mail.ru.
For the first time, the paper summarizes information about conferred military regalia and insignia to the Ussuri Cossack Army and its combat units from the late 19th century until the early 20th century: banners, maces, the highest diplomas, single white buttonholes on the collars and cuffs of the sleeves of the uniforms of the lower ranks as well as signs on headdresses with the inscription “For distinguished conduct during the War with Japan in 1904 and 1905”. Also, their descriptions are given. The formation of combat units of the army and their participation in military conflicts is examined. The new documents have been introduced into the scientific discourse revealing the circumstances of the award in 1914 and the presentation in 1916 of a regalia previously almost unknown to researchers — the banner of the Ussuri Cossack division — a combat unit of the army newly formed during the First World War. The fate of a number of regalia is traced. The information about the banner and the standard that belonged to the army and is stored in the funds of the State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia (Moscow) is published. The authors define them as the banner of the Ussuri Cossack Army, granted in 1907, and the banner of the Ussuri Cossack division of 1914. These banners were brought to China by the Ussuri Cossacks during the Civil War and handed over to Soviet representatives after the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945.
Keywords: Ussuri Cossack Army, Ussuri Cossack regiment, Ussuri Cossack division, regalia, insignia, banners, mace, highest diploma.

Irina Strel’tsova, Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnology of the Peoples of the Far East, FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia. E-mail: i-strel@mail.ru.
The paper reviews the problems of transformations of traditional costume of Ukrainian migrants in the context of adaptation processes in the Primorye Region from the end of the 19th century to the first third of the 20th century. Basing on museum ethnographic collections as well as archival and field sources, the author identifies the main trends in the development of the traditional costume of migrants. It is shown that natural geographical, socio-economic and ethno-cultural factors led to the changes in traditional clothing. At the beginning, traditional costume of Ukrainian migrants was presented by local variants of clothing including shirts, waist and chest clothing, overcoats, headgear. Later, new types of urban clothes appeared such as a blouse and a skirt in women’s clothing, jacket and trousers in men’s clothing. The changes in material, cut, ornamentation as well as the way of wearing the traditional clothes are shown. The author analyses the features of functioning of traditional clothing of migrants during their adaptation to the new natural and ethno-cultural environment, including borrowing the elements of hunting clothes from the indigenous peoples of the Primorye Region. The author examines the correlation between statics and dynamics of different types of traditional clothing that concerns the problems of preservation and transformation of traditional culture in the region of later development. The data of Siberian researchers on the traditional clothing of Ukrainian settlers in Siberia are used as a comparative study material.
Keywords: Primorye region, Ukrainians, traditional costume, transformation, adaptation.

Galina Andriets, Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnology of the Peoples of the Far East, FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia. E-mail: andriets2005@list.ru.
The paper examines the main traditional holidays as spiritual and value orientations in the leisure culture of the Far Eastern region from the second half of the 19th century until the early 20th century. It is noted that cultural values arise in the forms of everyday and festive leisure. The main component of the festive culture is a holiday or a set of holidays and related rituals, traditions, symbols accumulated by mankind and passed on from generation to generation. It is determined that the festive culture easily assimilates social and cultural innovations, demonstrates the level of development of traditional leisure culture, gives an idea of the nature of its development, which is reflected in a particular celebration. It is emphasized that the Christmas-New Year cycle of customs and rituals called Christmastide, in addition to the religious function, also performs the entertaining function. The obligatory ritual includes organizing and conducting Christmas carols and New Year’s parties for charitable purposes. The custom of fortune telling was especially popular in the period from New Year to Epiphany, which over time lost its ritual significance and was a cheerful youth entertainment for the majority of the population. It was revealed that during Christmastide and Shrovetide week the festive leisure of the population was filled with balls, masquerades and dancing parties. The participation and, moreover, winning in a costume contest were considered very prestigious. At Easter, street booths, swings, carousels, various attractions were arranged, cakes were baked at home, eggs were painted. Leisure consisted of a festive church service, an obligatory Easter feast or breaking the fast, visits with congratulations and, of course, folk festivals. The author comes to the conclusion that new forms of festive leisure appeared with the growth of social activity and self-awareness of the population along with the preservation of traditional rituals. And folk festivals, as something unified and integral, became more organized and spectacular.
Keywords: Far East, traditional holidays, leisure culture, spiritual values, rituals, traditions.

Olga Dyakova, Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnology of the Peoples of the Far East, FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia. E-mail: еmelianova49@mail.ru.
For the first time ever, the paper reveals the principle of operation of the “fire telegraph” in the Dzhigitovka basin of the Primorye Region in the Middle Ages. The paper analyzes the stone fortress Klyuchi-II located in the mountain-taiga zone of the Terneisky district of the Primorye Region, 2—2.5 km west of the mouth of the Dzhigitovka River, which flows into the bay of the same name in the Sea of Japan. The Klyuchi-II fortress is a tower built on a rock outcrop, which length is about 19 m. On the north-north-west and south-east sides, the tower is surrounded by a stone arched shaft. For its construction, stones were broken out of the stone outlier and laid “in bulk”. The ascent to the outlier tower was carried out by steps cut from the north-western side in the rock face. On the outside of the northern part of the rampart, three stone rifle nests can be traced. From the fortress-tower Klyuchi-II you can see the Dzhigit Bay, the valley of the Dzhigitovka River and the settlements located here: the Klyuchi Fortress, Red Lake, Kunaleyskoye, Podnebesnoye, i.e. all approaches to the bay from the sea and the entire land highway from the Podnebesny Pass to the mouth of the Dzhigitovka. According to its purpose, the Klyuchi-II fortress was a signal-guard object capable of transmitting information by the “fire telegraph” method.
Keywords: Primorye, Dzhigitovka, fortresses, Klyuchi-II, cities, fire telegraph, fortifications.

Nikolai Kluyev, Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnology of the Peoples of the Far East, FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia. E-mail: kluyev2006@yandex.ru.
Elena Sidorenko, Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnology of the Peoples of the Far East, FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia. E-mail: sidoriha3@yandex.ru.
Viktor Tatarnikov, local historian, Dalnegorsk, Russia. E-mail: tva-48@list.ru.
The paper considers problems of production of stone ornaments (beads and pendants) in Primorye during the Paleometal epoch. The study is based on archaeological materials of four sites: Vetroduy, Maksimov Cape, Shekliayevo-21 and Peschanyi-1 settlements and also on data obtained during the research of mining raw materials sites near the Amgu village. The authors pay main attention to the study of technology of the ornaments’ production. Conventionally, two kinds of technologies have been distinguished: “the first technology” and “the second technology”. The use of the former or latter technology depended upon the quality of the raw materials. Both technologies based on the certain sequence of working operations: extraction or selection of raw materials, making billets of ornaments by chipping and sawing, perfection of beads and pendants by grinding and, finally, drilling holes. The first technology is marked for the sites of the Lidovskaya culture — Vetroduy, Maximov Cape. For the manufacture of jewelry, raw materials were used, which were extracted by ancient people in the mines near the Amgu village. The second technology is described basing on the sites Shekliayevo-21 and Peschanyi-1 where softer rocks of stone were used for the production of beads and pendants. The authors conclude that during the Paleometal epoch the first technology of the stone ornaments’ production was common for East Primorye where ancient people used deposits of semi-precious stones — agate, opal, chalcedony, etc. In South and Central Primorye the second technology was used as the most effective for the processing of slates. It is noted that this technology had a wide range covering the northern, southern and western coast of the Sea of Japan.
Keywords: Primorye, Paleometal epoch, production of stone ornaments, beads, pendants, manufacturing technology.