Wang Yaqiao (; 2 September 1887 – 20 September 1936) was a Chinese gangster and assassin leader.

Biography

Wang was born

Hefei Hefei (; ) is the capital and largest city of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census and its built-up ( ...

, Anhui Province, to a country doctor. He was involved in socialist activism in his youth, which eventually brought him into trouble with regional warlords and forced him to leave Anhui and settle in Shanghai in 1913. Here, Wang became a labor organizer, but also founded the Anhui Gang, a criminal organization involved in drug trafficking and assassination. The Anhui Gang was often employed by the warlord Lu Yongxiang. For a time, Wang mentored

Dai Li Lieutenant General Dai Li (Tai Li; ; May 28, 1897 – March 17, 1946) was a Chinese spymaster. His courtesy name was Yunong (雨農). Born Dai Chunfeng (Tai Chun-feng; 戴春風) in Bao'an, Jiangshan, Zhejiang province, he studied at the Wha ...

, who would later become

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 ...

's secret police chief, but Dai became disillusioned after 1923 when Wang arranged the assassination of police chief Xu Guoliang, who was attempting to suppress his drug trafficking operations. In 1924, Lu Yongxiang's forces were defeated by

Qi Xieyuan Qi Xieyuan (; April 28, 1885 - December 18, 1946), born Qi Ying, with a courtesy name of Qi Fuwan and the art name of Yaoshan, was a general of the military of the Republic of China and a warlord of the Zhili clique. He defected to the Japanese a ...

and from then on Wang's Anhui Gang was often employed by the New Guangxi clique. During the 1930s, Wang became notorious as "the king of assassins" for masterminding the killing of numerous Japanese servicemen and figures associated with China's puppet Nationalist government during Japanese occupation. He was linked to assassination attempts on

T. V. Soong Soong Tse-vung, more commonly romanized as Soong Tse-ven or Soong Tzu-wen (; 4 December 1894 – 25 April 1971), was a prominent businessman and politician in the early 20th-century Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China, who served a ...

in 1931 and

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 ...

in 1935. Wang eventually became one of China's most wanted criminals. For a time, he evaded the police in Hong Kong, but later escaped to Wuzhou. On November 21, 1936, he was assassinated in Wuzhou, though it remains unclear whether his killers were agents of the Nationalist government or members of the New Guangxi clique who wanted to cut ties with him.

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Yaqiao 1880s births 1936 deaths Chinese assassins Chinese gangsters Chinese crime bosses Deaths by firearm in China Assassinated Chinese people