Sun Qichang (; Hepburn: ''Son Kishō''; 1885–1954), was a 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 ...

who subsequently served as a cabinet minister in the Empire of

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...

Biography

A native of

Liaoyang Liaoyang () is a prefecture-level city of east-central Liaoning province, China, situated on the Taizi River. It is approximately one hour south of Shenyang, the provincial capital, by car. Liaoyang is home to Liaoning University's College of Fo ...

Liaoning Province Liaoning () is a coastal provinces of China, province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and i ...

, Sun studied at the Tokyo University of Education in Tokyo, Japan. After his return to China, he served as principal to the Mukden Commercial Higher School in

Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a major China, Chinese sub-provincial city and the List of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Lia ...

, and was subsequently secretary to the Provincial Army of

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...

. In July 1920, he was appointed chairman of the Education Board of Heilongjiang Province. From July 1921, he received an appointment from 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 ...

as a diplomat to negotiate with foreign powers in Kirin Province. Following Manchurian

warlord A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...

Zhang Xueliang Chang Hsüeh-liang (, June 3, 1901 – October 15, 2001), also romanized as Zhang Xueliang, nicknamed the "Young Marshal" (少帥), known in his later life as Peter H. L. Chang, was the effective ruler of Northeast China and much of northern ...

’s

rapprochement In international relations, a rapprochement, which comes from the French word ''rapprocher'' ("to bring together"), is a re-establishment of cordial relations between two countries. This may be done due to a mutual enemy, as was the case with Germ ...

with the central government in late 1928, Sun was appointed a member of the Kirin Provincial Assembly, and was promoted to become director of the Construction Ministry of the same province the following year. Following the

Mukden Incident The Mukden Incident, or Manchurian Incident, known in Chinese as the 9.18 Incident (九・一八), was a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria. On September 18, 1931, L ...

in 1931, Sun allied himself with

Xi Qia Aisin-Gioro Xiqia (Aisin-Gioro Hsi-hsia; ; 1883–1950), commonly known as Xi Qia or Xi Xia (Hsi Hsia; ; Hepburn: ''Ki Kō''), was a general in command of the Kirin Provincial Army of the Republic of China, who defected to the Japanese during t ...

and his efforts to form a new government for Kirin Province independent of the Republic of China. This was effected from 30 September 1931 and he accepted a position in the Finance Ministry of Kirin Province as Director of the Spirits and Tobacco State Monopoly. In April 1932, under the new State of Manchukuo, Sun continued to serve in the Finance Ministry, but in June 1933 was appointed governor of Heilongjiang Province. The following year, with the creation of the new province of Longjiang, he was transferred to become governor of that province. In January 1935, Sun was appointed to the cabinet-level post of Minister of Finance of the Empire of Manchukuo, which he held only to May 1935. From May 1935 to May 1940, he served as Minister of Civil Affairs. Afterwards he was appointed to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

, but was relieved of his duties in September 1942 over disagreements with the government on economic policy. Following the

Soviet invasion of Manchuria The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, formally known as the Manchurian strategic offensive operation (russian: Манчжурская стратегическая наступательная операция, Manchzhurskaya Strategicheskaya Nastu ...

, he went into hiding in Shenyang, and later in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, but was discovered after the establishment of 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 ...

in February 1951. He was executed in Beijing in 1954.

References

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External links

Officials of Manchukuo (Japanese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sun, Qichang 1885 births 1954 deaths Government ministers of Manchukuo Politicians from Liaoyang Executed Chinese collaborators with Imperial Japan Republic of China politicians from Liaoning Executed people from Liaoning Executed People's Republic of China people