Reorganized National Government of the Republic 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 puppet state of the Empire of Japan in eastern China called simply the Republic of China. This should not be confused with the contemporaneously existing National Government of the Republic of China under Chiang Kai-shek, which was fighting with the Allies of World War II against Japan during this period. The country was ruled as a dictatorship under Wang Jingwei, a very high-ranking former Kuomintang (KMT) official. The region that it would administer was initially seized by Japan throughout the late 1930s with the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Wang, a rival of Chiang Kai-shek and member of the pro-peace faction of the KMT, defected to the Japanese side and formed a collaborationist rebel government in occupied Nanking (Nanjing) (the traditional capital of China) in 1940. The new state claimed the entirety of China during its existence, portraying itself as the legitimate inheritors of the Xinhai Revolution and Sun Yat-sen's legacy as opposed to Chiang Kai-shek's government in Chunking (Chongqing), but effectively only Japanese-occupied territory was under its direct control. Its international recognition was limited to other members of the Anti-Comintern Pact, of which it was a signatory. The Reorganized National Government existed until the end of World War II and the surrender of Japan in August 1945, at which point the regime was dissolved and many of its leading members were executed for treason.

The state was formed by combining the previous Reformed Government (1938–1940) and Provisional Government (1937–1940) of the Republic of China, puppet regimes which ruled the central and northern regions of China that were under Japanese control, respectively. Unlike Wang Jingwei's government, these regimes were not much more than arms of the Japanese military leadership and received no recognition even from Japan itself or its allies. However, after 1940 the former territory of the Provisional Government remained semi-autonomous from Nanjing's control, under the name " North China Political Council". The region of Mengjiang (puppet government in Inner Mongolia) was under Wang Jingwei's government only nominally. His regime was also hampered by the fact that the powers granted to it by the Japanese were extremely limited, and this was only partly changed with the signing of a new treaty in 1943 which gave it more sovereignty from Japanese control. The Japanese largely viewed it as not an end in itself but the means to an end, a bridge for negotiations with Chiang Kai-shek, which led them to often treat Wang with indifference.

Names

The regime is informally also known as the ''Nanjing Nationalist Government'' (), the ''Nanjing Regime'', or by its leader ''Wang Jingwei Regime'' (). As the government of the Republic of China and subsequently of the People's Republic of China regard the regime as illegal, it is also commonly known as ''Wang's Puppet Regime'' () or ''Puppet Nationalist Government'' () in Greater China. Other names used are the ''Republic of China-Nanjing'', ''China-Nanjing'', or ''New China''.

Background

While Wang Jingwei was widely regarded as a favorite to inherit Sun Yat-sen's position as leader of the Nationalist Party, based upon his faithful service to the party throughout the 1910s and 20s and based on his unique position as the one who accepted and recorded Dr. Sun's last will and testament, he was rapidly overtaken by Chiang Kai-shek. By the 1930s, Wang Jingwei had taken the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Nationalist Government under Chiang Kai-shek. This put him in control over the deteriorating Sino-Japanese relationship. While Chiang Kai-shek focused his primary attentions against the Chinese Communist Party, Wang Jingwei diligently toiled to preserve the peace between China and Japan, repeatedly stressing the need for a period of extended peace in order for China to elevate itself economically and militarily to the levels of its neighbor and the other Great powers of the world. Despite his efforts, Wang was unable to find a peaceful solution to prevent the Japanese from commencing an invasion into Chinese territory.

By April 1938, the national conference of the KMT, held in retreat at the temporary capital of Chongqing, appointed Wang as vice-president of the party, reporting only to Chiang Kai-shek himself. Meanwhile, the Japanese advance into Chinese territory as part of the Second Sino-Japanese War continued unrelentingly. From his new position, Wang urged Chiang Kai-shek to pursue a peace agreement with Japan on the sole condition that the hypothetical deal "did not interfere with the territorial integrity of China". Chiang Kai-shek was adamant, however, that he would countenance no surrender, and that it was his position that, were China to be united completely under his control, the Japanese could readily be repulsed. As a result, Chiang continued to devote his primary attention to eradicating the Communists and ending the Chinese Civil War. On December 18, 1938, Wang Jingwei and several of his closest supporters resigned from their positions and boarded a plane to Hanoi in order to seek alternative means of ending the war.

From this new base, Wang began pursuit of a peaceful resolution to the conflict independent of the Nationalist Party in exile. In June 1939, Wang and his supporters began negotiating with the Japanese for the creation of a new Nationalist Government which could end the war despite Chiang's objections. To this end, Wang sought to discredit the Nationalists in Chongqing on the basis that they represented not the republican government envisioned by Dr. Sun, but rather a "one-party dictatorship", and subsequently call together a Central Political Conference back to the capital of Nanjing in order to formally transfer control over the party away from Chiang Kai-shek. These efforts were stymied by Japanese refusal to offer backing for Wang and his new government. Ultimately, Wang Jingwei and his allies would establish their almost entirely powerless new party and government in Nanjing in 1940, in the hope that Tokyo might eventually be willing to negotiate a deal for peace, which, though painful, might allow China to survive.

Wang and his group were also damaged early on by the defection of the diplomat Gao Zongwu, who played a critical role in arranging Wang's defection after two years of negotiations with the Japanese, in January 1940. He had become disillusioned and believed that Japan did not see China as an equal partner, taking with him the documents of the Basic Treaty that Japan had signed with the Wang Jingwei government. He revealed them to the Kuomintang press, becoming a major propaganda coup for Chiang Kai-shek and discrediting Wang's movement in the eyes of the public as mere puppets of the Japanese.

Political boundaries

In theory, the Reorganized National Government controlled all of China with the exception of Manchukuo, which it recognized as an independent state. In actuality, at the time of its formation, the Reorganized Government controlled only Jiangsu, Anhui, and the north sector of Zhejiang, all being Japanese-controlled territories after 1937.

Thereafter, the Reorganized Government's actual borders waxed and waned as the Japanese gained or lost territory during the course of the war. During the December 1941 Japanese offensive the Reorganized Government extended its control over Hunan, Hubei, and parts of Jiangxi provinces. The port of Shanghai and the cities of Hankou and Wuchang were also placed under control of the Reformed Government after 1940.

The Japanese-controlled provinces of Shandong and Hebei were ''de jure'' part of this political entity, though they were ''de facto'' under military administration of the Japanese Northern China Area Army from its headquarters in Beijing. Likewise, the Japanese-controlled territories in central China were under military administration of the Japanese Sixth Area Army from its headquarters in Hankou (Wuhan). Other Japanese-controlled territories had military administrations directly reporting to the Japanese military headquarters in Nanjing, with the exception of Guangdong and Guangxi which briefly had its headquarters in Canton. The central and southern zones of military occupation were eventually linked together after Operation Ichi-Go in 1944, though the Japanese garrison had no effective control over most of this region apart from a narrow strip around the Guangzhou–Hankou railway.

The Reorganized Government's control was mostly limited to:
* Jiangsu: ; capital: Zhenjiang (also included the national capital of Nanking (Nanjing))
* Anhui: ; capital: Anqing
* Zhejiang: ; capital: Hangzhou

According to other sources, total extension of territory during 1940 period was 1,264,000 km².

In 1940 an agreement was signed between the Inner Mongolian puppet state of Mengjiang and the Nanjing regime, incorporating the former into the latter as an autonomous part.

History

Shanghai as de facto capital, 1939–1941

With Nanjing still rebuilding itself after the devastating assault and occupation by the Japanese Imperial Army, the fledgling Reorganized Nationalist Government turned to Shanghai as its primary focal point. With its key role as both an economic and media center for all China, close affiliation to Western Imperial powers even despite the Japanese invasion, and relatively sheltered position from attacks by KMT and Communist forces alike, Shanghai offered both sanctuary and opportunity for Wang and his allies' ambitions. Once in Shanghai, the new regime quickly moved to take control over those publications already supportive of Wang and his peace platform, while also engaging in violent, gang-style attacks against rival news outlets. By November 1940, the Reorganized Nationalist Party had secured enough local support to begin hostile takeovers of both Chinese courts and banks still under nominal control by the KMT in Chongqing or Western powers. Buoyed by this rapid influx of seized collateral, the Reorganized Government under its recently appoint Finance Minister, Zhou Fohai, was able to issue a new currency for circulation. Ultimately however, the already limited economic influence garnered by the new banknotes was further diminished by Japanese efforts to contain the influence of the new regime, at least for a time, to territories firmly under Japanese control like Shanghai and other isolated regions of the Yangtze Valley.

Foundation of the Reorganized Government in Nanjing

The administrative structure of the Reorganized National Government included a Legislative Yuan and an Executive Yuan. Both were under the president and head of state Wang Jingwei. However, actual political power remained with the commander of the Japanese Central China Area Army and Japanese political entities formed by Japanese political advisors.

After obtaining Japanese approval to establish a national government in the summer of 1940, Wang Jingwei ordered the 6th National Congress of the Kuomintang to establish this government in Nanjing. The dedication occurred in the Conference Hall, and both the "blue-sky white-sun red-earth" national flag and the "blue-sky white-sun" Kuomintang flag were unveiled, flanking a large portrait of Sun Yat-sen.

On the day the new government was formed, and just before the session of the "Central Political Conference" began, Wang visited Sun's tomb in Nanjing's Purple Mountain to establish the legitimacy of his power as Sun's successor. Wang had been a high-level official of the Kuomintang government and, as a confidant to Sun, had transcribed Sun's last will, the Zongli's Testament. To discredit the legitimacy of the Chongqing government, Wang adopted Sun's flag in the hope that it would establish him as the rightful successor to Sun and bring the government back to Nanjing.

A principal goal of the new regime was to portray itself as the legitimate continuation of the former Nationalist government, despite the Japanese occupation. To this end, the Reorganized government frequently sought to revitalize and expand the former policies of the Nationalist government, often to mixed success.

Efforts to expand Japanese recognition

While Wang had been successful in securing from Japan a "basic treaty" recognizing the foundation of his new party in November 1940, the produced document granted the Reorganized Nationalist Government almost no powers whatsoever. This initial treaty precluded any possibility for Wang to act as intermediary with Chiang Kai-shek and his forces in securing a peace agreement in China. Likewise, the regime was afforded no extra administrative powers in occupied China, save those few previously carved out in Shanghai. Indeed, official Japanese correspondence regarded the Nanjing regime as trivially important, and urged any and all token representatives stationed with Wang and his allies to dismiss all diplomatic efforts by the new government which could not directly contribute to a total military victory over Chiang and his forces. Hoping to expand the treaty in such a way as to be useful, Wang formally traveled to Tokyo in June 1941 in order to meet with prime minister Fumimaro Konoe and his cabinet to discuss new terms and agreements. Unfortunately for Wang, his visit coincided with the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, a move which further emboldened officials in Tokyo to pursue total victory in China, rather than accept a peace deal. In the end, Konoe eventually agreed to provide a substantial loan to the Nanjing government as well as increased sovereignty; neither of which came to fruition, and indeed, neither of which were even mentioned to military commanders stationed in China. As a slight conciliation, Wang was successful in persuading the Japanese to secure official recognition for the Nanjing Government from the other Axis Powers.

Breakthrough, 1943

As the Japanese offensive stalled around the Pacific, conditions remained generally consistent under Wang Jingwei's government. The regime continued to represent itself as the legitimate government of China, continued to appeal to Chiang Kai-shek to seek a peace deal, and continued to chafe under the extremely limited sovereignty afforded by the Japanese occupiers. Yet by 1943, Japanese leaders including Hideki Tojo, recognizing that the tide of war was turning against them, sought new ways to reinforce the thinly stretched Japanese forces. To this end, Tokyo finally found it expedient to fully recognize Wang Jingwei's government as a full ally, and a replacement Pact of Alliance was drafted for the basic treaty. This new agreement granted the Nanjing government markedly enhanced administrative control over its own territory, as well as increased ability to make limited self-decisions. Despite this windfall, the deal came far too late for the Reorganized government to have sufficient resources to take advantage of its new powers, and Japan was in no condition to offer aid to its new partner.

War on Opium

As a result of general chaos and wartime various profiteering efforts of the conquering Japanese armies, already considerable illegal opium smuggling operations expanded greatly in the Reorganized Nation Government's territory. Indeed, Japanese forces themselves became arguably the largest and most widespread traffickers within the territory under the auspices of semi-official narcotics monopolies. While initially too politically weak to make inroads into the Japanese operations, as the war began to turn against them, the Japanese government sought to incorporate some collaborationist governments more actively into the war effort. To this end in October 1943 the Japanese government signed a treaty with the Reorganized Nationalist Government of China offering them a greater degree of control over their own territory. As a result, Wang Jingwei and his government were able to gain some increased control over the opium monopolies. Negotiations by Chen Gongbo were successful in reaching an agreement to cut opium imports from Mongolia in half, as well as an official turnover of state-sponsored monopolies from Japan over to the Reorganized Nationalist Government. Yet, perhaps due to financial concerns, the regime sought only limited reductions in the distribution of opium throughout the remainder of the war.

The Nanjing Government and the northern Chinese areas

The Beijing administration (East Yi Anti-Communist Autonomous Administration) was under the commander-in-chief of the Japanese Northern China Area Army until the Yellow River area fell inside the sphere of influence of the Japanese Central China Area Army. During this same period the area from middle Zhejiang to Guangdong was administered by the Japanese North China Area Army. These small, largely independent fiefdoms had local money and local leaders, and frequently squabbled.

Wang Jingwei traveled to Tokyo in 1941 for meetings. In Tokyo the Reorganized National Government Vice President Zhou Fohai commented to the ''Asahi Shimbun'' newspaper that the Japanese establishment was making little progress in the Nanjing area. This quote provoked anger from Kumataro Honda, the Japanese ambassador in Nanjing. Zhou Fohai petitioned for total control of China's central provinces by the Reorganized National Government. In response, Imperial Japanese Army Lt. Gen. Teiichi Suzuki was ordered to provide military guidance to the Reorganized National Government, and so became part of the real power that lay behind Wang's rule.

With the permission of the Japanese Army, a monopolistic economic policy was applied, to the benefit of Japanese zaibatsu and local representatives. Though these companies were supposedly treated the same as local Chinese companies by the government, the president of the Yuan legislature in Nanjing, Chen Gongbo, complained that this was untrue to the ''Kaizō'' Japanese review. The Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China also featured its own embassy in Yokohama, Japan (as did Manchukuo).

Government and politics

International recognition and foreign relations

The Nanjing Nationalist Government received little international recognition as it was seen as a Japanese puppet state, being recognized only by Japan and the rest of the Axis powers. Initially, its main sponsor, Japan, hoped to come to a peace accord with Chiang Kai-shek and held off official diplomatic recognition for the Wang Jingwei regime for eight months after its founding, not establishing formal diplomatic relations with the National Reorganized Government until 30 November 1940. The Sino-Japanese Basic Treaty was signed on 20 November 1940, by which Japan recognised the Nationalist Government, and it also included a Japan–Manchukuo–China joint declaration by which China recognized the Empire of Great Manchuria and the three countries pledged to create a " New Order in East Asia." The United States and Britain immediately denounced the formation of the government, seeing it as a tool of Japanese imperialism. In July 1941, after negotiations by Foreign Minister Chu Minyi, the Nanjing Government was recognized as the government of China by Germany and Italy. Soon after, Spain, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Denmark also recognized and established relations with the Wang Jingwei regime as the government of China. China under the Reorganized National Government also became a signatory of the Anti-Comintern Pact on 25 November 1941.

After Japan established diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 1942, they and their ally Italy pressured Pope Pius XII to recognize the Nanjing regime and allow a Chinese envoy to be appointed to the Vatican, but he refused to give in to these pressures. Instead the Vatican came to an informal agreement with Japan that their apostolic delegate in Beijing would pay visits to Catholics in the Nanjing government's territory. The Pope also ignored the suggestion of the aforementioned apostolic delegate, Mario Zanin, who recommended in October 1941 that the Vatican recognize the Wang Jingwei regime as the legitimate government of China. Zanin would remain in the Wang Jingwei regime's territory as apostolic delegate while another bishop in Chongqing was to represent Catholic interests in Chiang Kai-shek's territory. Vichy France, despite being aligned with the Axis, resisted Japanese pressure and also refused to recognize the Wang Jingwei regime, with French diplomats in China remaining accredited to the government of Chiang Kai-shek.

The Reorganized National Government had its own Foreign Section or Ministry of Foreign Affairs for managing international relations, although it was short on personnel.

On 9 January 1943, the Reorganized National Government signed the "Treaty on Returning Leased Territories and Repealing Extraterritoriality Rights" with Japan, which abolished all foreign concessions within occupied China. Reportedly the date was originally to have been later that month, but was moved to January 9 to be before the United States concluded a similar treaty with Chiang Kai-shek's government. The Nanjing Government then took control of all of the international concessions in Shanghai and its other territories. Later that year Wang Jingwei attended the Greater East Asia Conference as the Chinese representative.

The Wang Jingwei government sent Chinese athletes, including the national football team, to compete in the 1940 East Asian Games, which were held in Tokyo for the 2,600th anniversary of the legendary founding of the Japanese Empire by Emperor Jimmu

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