Wu Songgao (, 1898–1953) was a politician, jurist and political scientist in the Republic of China. He was an important politician during the

Wang Jingwei regime 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 pu ...

. He was born in Wuxian (now,

Wuzhong District Wuzhong District () is one of five urban districts of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, 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, ...

and Xiangcheng District, Suzhou),

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...

Biography

After graduating the

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 ...

, Wu Songgao went to France and entered to the Division of Law,

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. After graduating it, he went to United Kingdom, and became a research worker in the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. Later he returned to China, and successively held the positions of President of the Post Graduate Course of Law of the Fudan University, Associate Professor of the Post Graduate Course of Law of the National Central University, and Professor of the Department of Politics of the National Central Political School. In July 1932, Wu Songgao was appointed to the Councilor of the Executive Yuan of the National Government. Next November, he was transferred to the Councilor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In July 1935, he was appointed to the Chief of the International Affairs Bureau, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the secretary of the Foreign Affairs Group of the Central Political Commission. On that time, he worked as the Chief Editor of the ''Foreign Affairs Review'' Magazine and the Manager of the Political Science Society of China. Later Wu Songgao participated to the

, and was appointed to the Central Executive 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's clique) and the secretary of the Central Political Committee. In July 1942, he was appointed to the Chief Member of the Advisory Committee for Foreign Affairs and the Vice-Minister for Judicial Administrating. Next Year, he successively held the positions of Member of the Committee for requisitioning Japanese settlement in Hankou, Member of the Committee for requisitioning French settlement and Member of the Committee for requisitioning French settlement in Tianjin. In April 1944, Wu Songgao was appointed to the Chief-Secretary of the Government of the

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 ...

Special City. Next month, he also held the Chairman of the Committee for

Baojia system The baojia system () was an invention of Wang Anshi of the Northern Song dynasty, who created this community-based system of law enforcement and civil control that was included in his large reform of Chinese government ("the New Policies") from 106 ...

in Shanghai. In January 1945, he promoted to the Ministry for Judicial Administrating, and also held the Vice-Chairman of the Committee for abolition of extraterritorial right. After the Wang Jingwei regime had collapsed, on August 17, the Leader of the Team of the Taxation Police Bureau () Zhou Gao () who was a subordinate of

Zhou Fohai Zhou Fohai (; Hepburn: ''Shū Futsukai''; May 29, 1897 – February 28, 1948), Chinese politician, and second-in-command of the Executive Yuan in Wang Jingwei's collaborationist Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China during th ...

suddenly started captured important members of the Wang Jingwei regime. On that time, Wu Songgao also arrested by Zhou Gao's group. Later the Vice-Chief of the General Staff of the

China Expeditionary Army The was a general army of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1939 to 1945. The China Expeditionary Army was established in September 1939 from the merger of the Central China Expeditionary Army and Japanese Northern China Area Army, and was headq ...

Takeo Imai Takeo Imai (23 February 1898 - 12 June 1982) was a Japanese Major General of the China Expeditionary Army who was born in the Nagano Prefecture. He played a notable role during the Sino-Japanese war and the Japanese invasion of the Philippines dur ...

() urged Zhou Gao to release arrested people, so Wu also was set a free.Liu Jie, pp.156-157. Many People believed Zhou Fohai wanted to make an appeal his loyalty to Chiang Kai-shek, so ordered Zhou Gao to arrest important people of the Wang Jinwei Regime. But Zhou Fohai denied his responsibility. But on September 8 same year, Wu Songgao was arrested by the Chiang Kai-shek's National Government. Later because of the charge of treason and surrender to enemy (namely Hanjian), Wu was sentenced to life imprisonment. After 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 ...

had established, his treatment wasn't change. Wu Songgao died in prison in 1953.

Alma mater

References

Footnotes

* * * ''History of Prison in Shanghai'' ()
The Office of Shanghai’s History (上海地方志办公室) Website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Songgao Politicians from Suzhou Republic of China politicians from Jiangsu Chinese jurists Chinese collaborators with Imperial Japan Prisoners and detainees of the People's Republic of China 1898 births 1953 deaths