Chen Bijun (, 5 November 1891 – 17 June 1959) was a Chinese politician. She was the acting head of the Canton (

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

) government for four months in 1944–1945.Lily Xiao Hong Lee:
Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: v. 2: Twentieth Century
'

Life

She was the daughter of the Chinese millionaire Chen Gengji and Wei Yuelang and was raised in

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ms, Tanah Melayu British) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. U ...

. In 1907, she became a member of the

Tongmenghui The Tongmenghui of China (or T'ung-meng Hui, variously translated as Chinese United League, United League, Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, Chinese Alliance, United Allegiance Society, ) was a secret society and underground resistance movement ...

. In 1909, she moved to Japan to study, and became a member of the Tongmenghui revolutionary group which attempted to assassinate Prince Chun in 1910. In 1912, she married

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 ...

. She joined 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 ...

(KMT) with him. In 1924, she was one of only three women delegates of the KMT national congress along with

He Xiangning He Xiangning (; 27 June 1878 – 1 September 1972) was a Chinese revolutionary, feminist, politician, painter, and poet. Together with her husband Liao Zhongkai, she was one of the earliest members of Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary movement Tongme ...

and Tang Yungong, and elected a member of the KMT Central Supervisory Committee. During the 1936 kidnapping of

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 ...

, the

Xi'an Incident The Xi'an Incident, previously romanized as the Sian Incident, was a political crisis that took place in Xi'an, Shaanxi in 1936. Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Nationalist government of China, was detained by his subordinate generals Chang Hs ...

, she unsuccessfully attempted to have her spouse depose Chiang Kai-shek in a coup.

Wartime activities

During 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 ...

, she and her husband regarded the communists as a worse threat than the Japanese, and defected to the Japanese and established a puppet government under Japanese control. Chen Bijun was elected member of the KMT Central Supervisory Committee for their government party. When her spouse died in 1944, he was replaced by Chen Gongbo. Chen Bijun left Nanjing and took control of the Canton government, which she kept for four months.

Post war

After the surrender of the Japanese in August 1945, she was offered but rejected an evacuation by the Japanese. She was arrested by the order of Chiang Kai-shek on 25 August and charged with treason. She refused to admit guilt. In 1949, she was imprisoned in Shanghai when the Communist took over the city. On the request of He Xiangning and

Soong Ching-ling Rosamond Soong Ch'ing-ling (27 January 189329 May 1981) was a Chinese political figure. As the third wife of Sun Yat-sen, then Premier of the Kuomintang and President of the Republic of China, she was often referred to as Madame Sun Yat-sen. ...

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

and

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 J ...

offered her a pardon if she would admit guilty on the charge of treason, but as she refused, she remained in prison until her death.

In popular culture

The 2007 Chinese historical film ''

Road to Dawn ''Road to Dawn'' () is a 2007 Chinese historical film directed by Hong Kong filmmakeDerek Chiu The film depicts an obscure episode in Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary life, when he sought refuge in Penang from July to December 1910. He relocated the S ...

'' features the character "Xu Danrong" based on Chen played by Malaysian-born actress

Angelica Lee Lee Sinje (; born 23 January 1976) is a Malaysian film actress and pop singer. She started her career in singing and later moved on to acting in Taiwan and Hong Kong and Malaysia. Lee starred in '' The Eye'', the hit Asian horror film by the ...

References

{{Authority control 1891 births 1959 deaths Chinese collaborators with Imperial Japan Kuomintang collaborators with Imperial Japan Chinese people of World War II Chinese revolutionaries Expelled members of the Kuomintang People of the Chinese Civil War World War II political leaders Chinese anti-communists Chinese nationalists Tongmenghui members Chinese expatriates in France Malaysian emigrants to China