Wei Tao-ming (; October 28, 1899 – May 18, 1978) was a distinguished Chinese

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

and public servant. He was prominent as 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 northeast ...

'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 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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 most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

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 international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. 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 Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north into hi ...

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 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 ...

. From 1930 to 1931, Wei served as mayor of special municipality of Nanking, then capital of the

. As Ambassador to the

from September 1942 to 1946, Wei was instrumental in securing American material and military support for the

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 d ...

, 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 __NOTOC__ California Shipbuilding Corporation built 467 Liberty and Victory ships during World War II, including ''Haskell''-class attack transports. California Shipbuilding Corporation was often referred to as Calship. The ''Dictionary of Ame ...

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 cou ...

after being the Governor (position succeeded by

Chen Tsyr-shiou Chen Cheng (; ; January 4, 1898 – March 5, 1965) was a Chinese political and military leader, and one of the main commanders of the National Revolutionary Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. After moving ...

). 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 China. ...

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 s ...

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 Delt ...

, 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 nort ...

. Wei served as foreign minister of the

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 n ...

. He also maintained a coalition in the

General Assembly to reject membership for the

. He resigned due to health reason in 1971 as Peking'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, 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 flow ...

. Cheng was also one of the revolutionaries involved in the attempted assassination of military official and politician Yuan Shih-k'ai, 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

'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