Chen Zemin ( zh, t=陳則民, s=陈则民, first=t, w=Ch'ên Tsê-min, p=Chén Zémín; Chin Sokumin; 1881 — 1951) was a lawyer and politician in the pre-war

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

. He held a number of important posts in the collaborationist

Reformed Government of the Republic of China The Reformed Government of the Republic of China was a Chinese puppet state created by Japan that existed from 1938 to 1940 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The regime had little authority or popular support, nor did it receive international ...

, and

Reorganized National Government of China The Wang Jingwei regime or the Wang Ching-wei regime is the common name of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China ( zh , t = 中華民國國民政府 , p = Zhōnghuá Mínguó Guómín Zhèngfǔ ), the government of the pup ...

Biography

Chen Zemin was born in

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

Jiangsu Province Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...

. He went to study to Japan, and graduated from the Department of Law of

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice (Japan), Minister of Justice, in 1889. ...

. After his return to China, he was elected to the

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...

of the new Nationalist Government and rose to become vice chairman of the political discussion committee. He later served as advisor to the president of the

Beiyang government The Beiyang government (), officially the Republic of China (), sometimes spelled Peiyang Government, refers to the government of the Republic of China which sat in its capital Peking (Beijing) between 1912 and 1928. It was internationally r ...

. He then returned to private life, and was chairman of the Suzhou Power Company from 1920-1923. He then opened a legal office in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

, and eventually became chairman of the Shanghai Bar Association and chairman of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce and other posts. Soon after the start of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

, Suzhou came under Japanese occupation. Chen Zemin agreed to serve as chairman of the Suzhou Regional Administration under the Japanese, and from March 1938 joined the

, initially as chief of the Education Bureau until April 1938, and as governor of

from April 1938 to March 1940. In March 1940, when the Reorganized National Government of China led by Wang Jingwei was established, Chen Zemin was re-appointed governor of Jiangsu Province, continuing to hold that post until June 1940. Following the defeat of Japan, he was arrested by

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

's Nationalist government and remained in custody in Suzhou after the city fell to the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

. He died in prison in 1951 at the age of 71.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Zemin 1881 births 1951 deaths Nihon University alumni Politicians from Suzhou Republic of China politicians from Jiangsu Chinese collaborators with Imperial Japan Prisoners and detainees of the People's Republic of China Prisoners who died in Chinese detention