Wei Tao-ming (; October 28, 1899 – May 18, 1978) was a distinguished Chinese diplomat and public servant. He was prominent as the Republic of China's Ambassador to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and foreign minister during the years in which 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 List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, sli ...

sought to oust the ROC from the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

. He was also the first civilian Governor of Taiwan Province (1947–1949), replacing Governor General Chen Yi.

Early life

Wei Tao-ming was born in Kiukiang (Jiujiang), Kiangsi province in 1899. His father, Wei Tiao-yuan, was an affluent educator and active member of Dr.

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 ...

's revolutionary movement. Wei Tao-ming's early schooling was at a missionary school, though he graduated from Kiangsi First Middle School in 1918. He then studied French in Peking for a year before moving to France in 1919. He obtained his doctorate in law from the University of Paris in 1926 and returned to China to pursue a legal career in Shanghai.

Political career

He became involved with 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 ...

. At the age of 29, Wei became the youngest president of the Judicial Yuan. From 1930 to 1931, Wei served as mayor of special municipality of

Nanking Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. ...

, then capital of the Republic of China. As Ambassador to the

from September 1942 to 1946, Wei was instrumental in securing American material and military support for the Republic of China as it resisted Japanese invasion and Communist insurgency. His public declarations were frequently covered by the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, and he accompanied

Madame Chiang Kai-shek Soong Mei-ling (also spelled Soong May-ling, ; March 5, 1898 – October 23, 2003), also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek or Madame Chiang, was a Chinese political figure who was First Lady of the Republic of China, the wife of Generalissimo and ...

during her highly successful visits to Washington, DC and New York. He resigned his post in October 1945, citing personal reasons, and was succeeded by Wellington Koo, then Ambassador to the Court of St. James. Wei Taoming's wife christened the

SS China Victory The ''SS China Victory'' was a Victory ship built during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. She was launched by the California Shipbuilding Company on January 26, 1944, and completed on April 1, 1944. The ship's United States ...

in 1944. The Ceremony had both an ancient Chinese invocation to the sea gods and the traditional American tradition of a bottle of champagne breaking. The matron of honor at the launching was Mrs. T. K. Chang, wife of the Chinese consul at Los Angeles. SS ''China Victory'' was the first of a long line of Victory ships to leave the Calship building. During his tenure as Governor of Taiwan Province, Wei created the Departments of Civil Affairs (民政廳), Finance (財政廳), Construction (建設廳), and Education (教育廳). He also employed thirteen members on the provincial board (省政委員), including those who were Taiwanese-born. He became the

minister of 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 ...

after being the Governor (position succeeded by Chen Tsyr-shiou). After the fall of

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater Chin ...

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

rebels, Wei spent some time 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 Delta i ...

, then made his way back to

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 northe ...

. Wei served as foreign minister of the

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 northea ...

during the 1960s and was very active in maintaining U.S. support for

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

. He also maintained a coalition in the

General Assembly to reject membership for the

. He resigned due to health reason in 1971 as

Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

's campaign to oust the ROC from the

was on the verge of succeeding. He was married to Tcheng Yu-hsiu (鄭毓秀) (aka

Madame Wei Tao-Ming Tcheng Yu-hsiu (, 1891–1959), also Soumay Tcheng and Madame Wei Tao-ming, was the first female lawyer and judge in Chinese history. Tcheng studied at the Faculty of Law of Paris and returned to Shanghai to practice law. She was president of ...

, Soumay Tcheng) (1891-1959). She was the first female lawyer and judge in Chinese history. She earned her doctoral degree in law at the Sorbonne in France and was the first Chinese person, male or female, to practice law at the French extraterritorial courts 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 flowin ...

. Cheng was also one of the revolutionaries involved in the attempted assassination of military official and politician

Yuan Shih-k'ai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 1859 – 6 June 1916) was a Chinese military and government official who rose to power during the late Qing dynasty and eventually ended the Qing dynasty rule of China in 1912, later becoming the Emperor of China. ...

, commonly reviled in Chinese history for taking advantage of both the

Ch'ing 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-speaki ...

imperial court and the Republicans. She advocated women having their own voices and choices in marriage, and wrote it into the Republic of China's law. Her autobiography, ''My Revolutionary Years'' (1944), was published while her husband was Ambassador to the

, and is revered as one of the best first hand accounts of modern Chinese history. He died in

on May 18, 1978 at the age 79.

References

External links

* http://paper.sznews.com/szdaily/20070416/ca2639935.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Wey, Daw-Ming Mayors of Nanjing Republic of China politicians from Jiangxi 1899 births 1978 deaths Ambassadors of the Republic of China to the United States Senior Advisors to President Chiang Kai-shek Senior Advisors to President Chiang Ching-kuo Taiwanese Ministers of Foreign Affairs Politicians from Jiujiang Kuomintang politicians in Taiwan Chairpersons of the Taiwan Provincial Government Chinese expatriates in France