Wang Kemin (; Wade-Giles: Wang K'o-min, May 4, 1879 – December 25, 1945) was a leading official in the Chinese republican movement and early Beiyang government, later noted for his role as in the

collaborationist Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime, and in the words of historian Gerhard Hirschfeld, "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to ...

Provisional Government of the Republic of China and

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 ...

during World War II.

Biography

Wang was a native of

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whic ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

province. In 1901, he was dispatched by the government of

Qing Dynasty 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-spea ...

China to Japan, where he studied western economics and accounting from his nominal position as attaché at the Chinese embassy in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. After his return to China in 1907, he was appointed to a post under the

Viceroy of Zhili The Viceroy of Zhili, fully referred to in Chinese as the Governor-General of Zhili and Surrounding Areas Overseeing Military Affairs and Food Production, Manager of Waterways, Director of Civil Affairs, was one of eight regional Viceroys during ...

to manage foreign affairs. After the Republic of China had been established, he was sent to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in 1913. On his return, by orders of

Duan Qirui Duan Qirui (; ) (March 6, 1865 – November 2, 1936) was a Chinese warlord and politician, a commander of the Beiyang Army and the acting Chief Executive of the Republic of China (in Beijing) from 1924 to 1926. He was also the Premier of the R ...

he helped establish the Bank of China, and became its president from July 1917. He served as minister of finance under the

Beiyang Government The Beiyang government (), officially the Republic of China (), sometimes spelled Peiyang Government, refers to the government of the Republic of China which sat in its capital Peking ( Beijing) between 1912 and 1928. It was internationally ...

from December 1917 to March 1918. In December 1918, he was the only representative of the Beiyang Government to attend a meeting with the Nanjing Government in an attempt to reunify China. He served as Minister of Finance again from July–August 1923 under the premiership of

Gao Lingwei Gao Lingwei (; Hepburn: Kō Ryōi); (1870–1940) was a Chinese politician during the late Qing dynasty and the early Republic of China. A Tianjin native, he was appointed to Hubei where he held many offices relating to finance and education i ...

. However, Wang was strongly opposed by the

Fengtian clique The Fengtian clique () was one of several opposing military factions that constituted the early Republic of China during its Warlord Era. It was named after Fengtian Province (now Liaoning), and operated from a territorial base comprising the th ...

led by

Zhang Zuolin Zhang Zuolin (; March 19, 1875 June 4, 1928), courtesy name Yuting (雨亭), nicknamed Zhang Laogang (張老疙瘩), was an influential Chinese bandit, soldier, and warlord during the Warlord Era in China. The warlord of Manchuria from 1916 to ...

, and forced to resign his post after only a week. He returned as Minister of Finance with the support of

Cao Kun General Cao Kun (; courtesy name: Zhongshan () (December 12, 1862 – May 15, 1938) was a Chinese warlord and politician, who served the President of the Republic of China from 1923 to 1924, as well as the military leader of the Zhili clique ...

of the Zhili clique from November 1923-October 1924. During this time, he also oversaw the operations of a number of other banks, including the Bank of Tianjin. After the success of Chiang Kai-shek's

Northern Expedition The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The ...

a warrant for Wang's arrest was issued by 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 ...

and he fled to Dalian in the Kwantung Leased Territory under Japanese jurisdiction. In 1931, Wang Kemin returned to Beijing when

Zhang Xueliang Chang Hsüeh-liang (, June 3, 1901 – October 15, 2001), also romanized as Zhang Xueliang, nicknamed the "Young Marshal" (少帥), known in his later life as Peter H. L. Chang, was the effective ruler of Northeast China and much of northern ...

took control of

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...

Province, and took a post in the Peking Finance committee. He became mayor of Tianjin in 1932. In 1935 Wang was in the

Hebei Government and had a post in the Northeast Government Affairs Committee, and the Peking Government Affairs Committee and other important posts. However, he retired to Shanghai in 1935. After the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

broke out in 1937, the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

quickly overran North China, and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters authorized the creation of a collaborationist regime as part of its overall strategy to establish an autonomous buffer zone between China and Japanese-controlled Manchukuo. This government was based in Beijing, and proclaimed Wang Kemin accepted the post of President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China, with its capital in Beijing on December 14, 1937. The government nominally controlled the provinces of

, Shandong, Shanxi,

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

and

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 ...

. But its activities were carefully prescribed and overseen by advisors provided by the Japanese Northern China Area Army. The failure of the Japanese to give any real authority to the Provisional Government discredited it in the eyes of the local inhabitants, and made its existence of only limited propaganda utility to the Japanese authorities.Black, ''World War Two: A Military History'', page 34 The Provisional Government was, along with the Reformed Government of the Republic of China, merged into

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 ...

's Nanjing Nationalist Government on March 30, 1940, but in practical terms actually remained virtually independent under the name of the " North China Political Council" () until the end of the war. Wang Kemin retained power as Chairman of the North China Political Council, as well as becoming Internal Affairs Minister in the Nanjing Nationalist Government. Wang was arrested by the government of the Republic of China after the surrender of Japan and tried for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

. He committed suicide before the conclusion of his trial on December 25, 1945.

References

Bibliography

* David P. Barrett and Larry N. Shyu, eds.; ''Chinese Collaboration with Japan, 1932-1945: The Limits of Accommodation'' Stanford University Press 2001 * John H. Boyle, ''China and Japan at War, 1937–1945: The Politics of Collaboration'' (Harvard University Press, 1972). * James C. Hsiung and Steven I. Levine, eds., ''China's Bitter Victory: The War with Japan, 1937–1945'' (Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe, 1992) * Ch'i Hsi-sheng, ''Nationalist China at War: Military Defeats and Political Collapse, 1937–1945'' (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1982). * Frederick W. Mote, ''Japanese-Sponsored Governments in China, 1937–1945'' (Stanford University Press, 1954). * Howard L Boorman and Richard C. Howard, eds.; ''Biographical Dictionary of Republican China, Volume I: AI - CH'U'', Columbia University Press, 1967.

External links

王克敏
biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Kemin 1879 births 1945 suicides Republic of China politicians from Zhejiang Chinese collaborators with Imperial Japan World War II political leaders Fascist rulers Chinese politicians who committed suicide Prisoners who died in Chinese detention People who committed suicide in prison custody Politicians from Hangzhou Qing dynasty politicians from Zhejiang