Foo Ping-sheung (; 1895–1965) was a diplomat and politician in the early

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

and later in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. Foo was born to a well off family in

Foshan Foshan (, ; Chinese: 佛山) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the Pearl River Delta m ...

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

. At the age of ten, he was sent to

St. Stephen’s College St. Stephen's College is a constituent college of Delhi University. It awards both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. Established in 1881, it is one of the oldest liberal arts and sciences colleges in India. The college has an acceptance r ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, and then trained as a civil engineer at

Hong Kong University The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

Politics

Foo quickly turned to political service for his uncle by marriage,

Wu Ting-fang Wu Ting-fang (; 30 July 184223 June 1922) was a Chinese calligrapher, diplomat, lawyer, politician, and writer who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and briefly as Acting Premier of the Republic of China, Premier during the early years of ...

, then was an attache for the Canton Delegation of the

Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...

. He became secretary to

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-senUsually known as Sun Zhongshan () in Chinese; also known by Names of Sun Yat-sen, several other names. (; 12 November 186612 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republ ...

, an experience which led to his becoming Vice-

Minister for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

of the

Nationalist Government The Nationalist government, officially the National Government of the Republic of China, refers to the government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China from 1 July 1925 to 20 May 1948, led by the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT ...

1927. As a prominent member of the Prince’s Clique (''Taizi pai''), a political network headed by

Sun Ke Sun Fo (; 21 October 1891 – 13 September 1973), courtesy name Zhesheng (), was a Chinese politician and high-ranking official in the government of the Republic of China. He was the son of Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Republic of China, ...

, the son of Sun Yatsen, Fu held various positions in the Foreign Ministry, then became a member of the Central Executive Committee of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

in 1935. He was

's Ambassador to the U. S. S. R. from 1943 to 1949.

Semi-retirement and later years

Foo retired to Paris and lived there from 1949 to 1956. He then returned to work for Chiang Kai-shek as President of the Anti-Corruption Board and Vice President of the

Judicial Yuan The Judicial Yuan () is the Judiciary, judicial branch of the Republic of China.''See'' Constitution arts. 77-82, ''available at'' ''See'' Additional Articles of the Constitution art. 5, ''available at'' It functions as the Constitutional Cour ...

in Taiwan until his death in 1965. Foo was an avid amateur photographer who took informal photos of leading politicians and their families.

Family

Foo's eldest daughter, Katherine (傅锦培), married

Bin Cheng Bin Cheng (; 1921 – 16 October 2019) was a Chinese-born British legal scholar. An authority on international air and space law, he served as professor and dean of the University College London Faculty of Laws and honorary president of the Londo ...

, a renowned legal scholar who served as Dean of the

University College London Faculty of Laws The UCL Faculty of Laws is the law school of University College London (UCL), a member institution of the federal University of London. It is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties and is based in London, United Kingdom. With a history dating ...

References

Bibliography

*羅香林, 傅秉常与近代中国 (1975) (Luo Xianglin, ''Foo Ping-sheung and modern China'') *傅秉常先生訪問紀錄 (''The Reminiscences of Mr. Foo Ping-sheung'') (中央研究院近代史研究所, Academia Sinica, Institute of Modern History, Oral History Series No. 45, 1993) *蒋介石最后一任驻苏大使傅秉常在苏联的日子 'Foo Ping-sheung: Chiang Kai-shek’s last Ambassador to Soviet Russia', (2007) Republican Archives, Issue 4, pp: 55-60. ISSN 1000-4491. *Yee-Wah Foo (ed.) ''Chiang Kaishek’s Last Ambassador to Moscow, The Wartime Diaries of Fu Bingchang'' (2011) Palgrave Macmillan.,

External links

Fu Bingchang Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fu, Bingchang 1895 births 1965 deaths Politicians from Foshan Republic of China politicians from Guangdong Kuomintang politicians in Taiwan Artists from Guangdong Ambassadors of the Republic of China to the Soviet Union Alumni of the University of Hong Kong Alumni of St. John's Hall, University of Hong Kong Chinese photographers