Cai Pei (; Hepburn: Sai Bai; 1884–1960) was a diplomat and politician in the pre-

World War II 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 opposing ...

Republic of China. He held a number of important posts during the collaborationist

Reorganized National Government of China 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 pup ...

, and successively held the positions of Mayor of

Nanjing 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. T ...

Special City and Ambassador to Japan. His

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theob ...

was Ziping ().

Biography

Cai Pei was born in

Wuxi Wuxi (, ) is a city in southern Jiangsu province, eastern China, by car to the northwest of downtown Shanghai, between Changzhou and Suzhou. In 2017 it had a population of 3,542,319, with 6,553,000 living in the entire prefecture-level city ar ...

, Jiangsu Province. He went to study to Japan and graduated from the Department of Law of

Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , established = 21 October 1882 , type = Private , endowment = , president = Aiji Tanaka , city = Shinjuku , state = Tokyo , country = Japan , students = 47,959 , undergrad = 39,382 , postgrad ...

. After his return to China, together with Liu Yazi he helped establish the literary and poetry society ''Nanshe''. He also was elected Member of the Legislative Yuan. In January 1928 Cai was appointed legislative secretary of the Ministry for Transportation under the Nationalist Government. In January 1930 he was promoted to Chief of the Aviation Bureau of the Ministry for Transportation. In 1935 he was transferred to the position of Chief of the Civil Administration Bureau of the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

. In March 1940, when the Reorganized National Government of China led by

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 ...

was established, Cai Pei was appointed Policy Affairs Vice-Minister for Commerce and Industry. In June he accepted the post of Mayor of Nanjing Special City. In December he assumed the office of Chairman of the Rationing Management Commission. Afterwards he served in the Political Affairs Committee of the Executive Yuan. In March 1943 he was appointed Ambassador to the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...

. After his return to Nanjing in May 1945, he was appointed a Member of the National Government. After the surrender of Japan and collapse of the collaborationist Reorganized National Government of China, Cai Pei was arrested as a '' hanjian'' on orders of Chiang Kai-shek's National Government in September 1945. The following July he was charged with promoting "Sino-Japanese friendship" and sentenced to death by 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 ...

High Court. After appealing to the Supreme Court, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in November 1947. Cai Pei served his sentence in Shanghai at the

Tilanqiao Prison The Tilanqiao Prison (), formerly known as the Ward Road Gaol or Shanghai Municipal Gaol, is a former prison in Hongkou District of Shanghai, China. Originally built in the foreign-controlled Shanghai International Settlement, following the Chin ...

. 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 ...

was established, his situation remained unchanged. In August 1956, following deterioration in his health condition, he was allowed to receive medical treatment. Cai Pei died in prison in 1960.

References

* * ''History of Prison in Shanghai'' ()
The Office of Shanghai’s History (上海地方志办公室) Website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cai Pei 1884 births 1960 deaths Waseda University alumni Politicians from Wuxi Republic of China politicians from Jiangsu Mayors of Nanjing Ambassadors of China to Japan Chinese collaborators with Imperial Japan Prisoners and detainees of the People's Republic of China Prisoners who died in Chinese detention