Li Shengwu (, 1899–1985) was a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

politician and diplomat of the Republic of China who later became an important figure of the

Wang Jingwei Government 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 ...

Wang Jingwei Wang Jingwei (4 May 1883 – 10 November 1944), born as Wang Zhaoming and widely known by his pen name Jingwei, was a Chinese politician. He was initially a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang, leading a government in Wuhan in oppositi ...

Biography

He was born in

Tai'an Tai'an () is a prefecture-level city in Western Shandong Province of the People's Republic of China. Centered on Mount Tai, the city borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the north, Zibo to the east, Linyi to the southeast, Liaocheng to ...

, Shandong Province, during the late

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

. Li graduated from the law school at Peking National University and later studied abroad in Japan, at the law school of

Tokyo Imperial University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

, and at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

in the UK. He became a professor at

Fudan University Fudan University () is a national public research university in Shanghai, China. Fudan is a member of the C9 League, Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First Class University identified by the Ministry of Education of China. It is als ...

upon returning to China. In 1932, Li started working for the Nationalist government and in December of that year he served as a member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs chief administrative office. In 1935, he joined the

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 Delta i ...

Institute of International Affairs. It was at that time that Li became acquainted with

. In June 1937 he returned to work in the foreign ministry. In 1940, Li joined the Japanese-sponsored

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 ...

, led by Wang, as a high-ranking official of the judicial department and a member 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 ...

(Wang Jingwei faction) central committee. He was also appointed to various other government committees. In September 1941 he was appointed as the ambassador to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In 1942, he was also made as minister to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

in addition to his role as the ambassador to Germany, but was unable to travel to either country to take up his posts. In April 1945, he was named the Minister of Foreign Affairs and appointed to various other government bodies. Following the defeat of Japan in August 1945, he was arrested by Chiang Kai-shek's government and imprisoned in Nanjing. In 1947 he received a sentence of 15 years in prison. However, Li was later released and retired in Hong Kong, where he taught law and Chinese literature. From 1984, he lived in

Jiamusi Jiamusi (Manchu: ; formerly Kiamusze) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China. Located along the middle and lower reaches of the Songhua River, it faces Russia's Khabarovsk Krai across the Ussuri R ...

, in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, with his eldest daughter. Li died in 1985.

Sources

*Xu Xiang. ''People Dictionary of Korea Revised Edition''. Hebei People's Publishing Company, 2007. . *Yu Zidao (余子道) (etc.) (2006). ''The Complete History of Wang's Fake Regime'' (汪伪政权全史). Shanghai People's Press (Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe; 上海人民出版社). . *Liu Shoulin (刘寿林) (etc.ed.) (1995). ''The Chronological Table of the Republic's Officer'' (民国职官年表).

Zhonghua Book Company Zhonghua Book Company (), formerly spelled Chunghwa or Chung-hua Shu-chü, and sometimes translated as Zhonghua Publishing House, are Chinese publishing houses that focuses on the humanities, especially classical Chinese works. Currently it has ...

. . 1899 births 1985 deaths Ambassadors of China to Germany Ambassadors of China to Denmark Chinese collaborators with Imperial Japan Kuomintang collaborators with Imperial Japan Chinese diplomats Alumni of the University of Oxford Republic of China politicians from Shandong National University of Peking alumni {{China-diplomat-stub