Foo Ping-sheung (; 1895–1965) was a diplomat and politician in the early

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 ...

and later in

Taiwan 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 nort ...

. Foo was born to a well off family in

Foshan Foshan (, ), alternately romanized as Fatshan, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

. At the age of ten, he was sent to St. Stephen’s College in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, and then trained as a civil engineer at

Hong Kong University The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fir ...

Politics

Foo quickly turned to political service for his uncle by marriage,

Wu Ting-fang Wu Ting-fang (; 30 July 184223 June 1922) was a diplomat and politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and briefly as Acting Premier during the early years of the Republic of China. He was also known as Ng Choy or Ng Achoy (). Ed ...

, then was an attache for the Canton Delegation of the Paris Peace Conference. He became secretary to

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...

, an experience which led to his becoming Vice-

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between coun ...

of the Nationalist Government 1927. As a prominent member of the Prince’s Clique (''Taizi pai''), a political network headed by Sun Ke, the son of Sun Yatsen, Fu held various positions in the Foreign Ministry, then became a member of the Central Executive Committee of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

in 1935. He was

's Ambassador to the U. S. S. R. from 1943 to 1949.

Semi-retirement and later years

Foo retired to Paris and lived there from 1949 to 1956. He then returned to work for

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 ...

as President of the Anti-Corruption Board and Vice President of the

Judicial Yuan The Judicial Yuan () is the judicial branch of the government of the Republic of China on Taiwan.''See'' Constitution arts. 77-82, ''available at'' ''See'' Additional Articles of the Constitution art. 5, ''available at'' It runs a Constitution ...

in Taiwan until his death in 1965. Foo was an avid amateur photographer who took informal photos of leading politicians and their families.

Family

Foo's eldest daughter, Katherine (傅锦培), married

Bin Cheng Bin Cheng (; 1921 – 16 October 2019) was a Chinese-born British legal scholar. An authority on international air and space law, he served as professor and dean of the University College London Faculty of Laws and honorary president of the Londo ...

, a renowned legal scholar who served as Dean of the

University College London Faculty of Laws The UCL Faculty of Laws is the law school of University College London (UCL), itself part of the federal University of London. It is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties and is based in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the world's leading ...

References

Bibliography

*羅香林, 傅秉常与近代中国 (1975) (Luo Xianglin, ''Foo Ping-sheung and modern China'') *傅秉常先生訪問紀錄 (''The Reminiscences of Mr. Foo Ping-sheung'') (中央研究院近代史研究所, Academia Sinica, Institute of Modern History, Oral History Series No. 45, 1993) *蒋介石最后一任驻苏大使傅秉常在苏联的日子 'Foo Ping-sheung: Chiang Kai-shek’s last Ambassador to Soviet Russia', (2007) Republican Archives, Issue 4, pp: 55-60. ISSN 1000-4491. *Yee-Wah Foo (ed.) ''Chiang Kaishek’s Last Ambassador to Moscow, The Wartime Diaries of Fu Bingchang'' (2011) Palgrave Macmillan.,

External links

Fu Bingchang Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fu, Bingchang 1895 births 1965 deaths Politicians from Foshan Republic of China politicians from Guangdong Kuomintang politicians in Taiwan Artists from Guangdong Ambassadors of the Republic of China to the Soviet Union Alumni of the University of Hong Kong Alumni of St. John's Hall, University of Hong Kong Chinese photographers