Harold John Timperley

Harold John Timperley (1898–1954) was an Australian journalist, known for reporting in China in the 1930s and writing the book What War Means (1938) based on it.

He was close to the Chinese Nationalist Party, led by Chiang Kai-shek; it is a matter of some dispute to what extent that Timperley was supported by it or was engaged in propaganda work on its behalf.

It is not contested that he took a strongly anti-war line and on a personal level was friendly with Japanese including the Shanghai Domei News Agency chief Matsumoto Shigeharu.

[citation needed] He continued to write on topics connected with Japan, including the nationalist thinker Yoshida Shoin, until the end of the Pacific War.

From that fact, Shudo Higashinakano agrees with the view of Minoru Kitamura and Akira Suzuki, that Timperley's book was a propaganda of the Chinese Nationalist Party.

[4] On the other hand, Hisashi Watanabe claims that Timperley had yet no connection with Chinese Nationalist Party at the time and criticizes Minoru Kitamura.

On 16 April 2015, Sankei Shimbun reported the discovery of documents detailing Timperley's activities as the head of the UK Branch of the International Information Division (London), which strongly supports that Timeprley was involved in the propaganda operation.