Li Shouxin ( mn, , Буяндэлгэр; ; Hepburn: ''Ri Shyushin''; July 11, 1892 - May 1970) was a pro-Japanese commander in the

Manchukuo Imperial Army The Manchukuo Imperial Army ( zh, s=滿洲國軍, p=Mǎnzhōuguó jūn) was the ground force of the military of the Manchukuo, Empire of Manchukuo, a puppet state established by Imperial Japan in Manchuria, a region of northeastern China. The forc ...

and later the

Mengjiang National Army The Inner Mongolian Army, also sometimes called the Mengjiang National Army, referred to the Inner Mongolian military units in service of Imperial Japan and its puppet state of Mengjiang during the Second Sino-Japanese War, particularly those led ...

Biography

Li was born into a family of minor landlords of Han Chinese descent who assimilated into the Mongol people. His Han Chinese ancestor was part of a group of Han Chinese during the Qing dynasty called "Mongol followers" who worked as servant for Mongols and married Mongol women. Their descendants continued to marry Mongol women and changed their ethnicity to Mongol. They distinguished themselves apart from "true Mongols" 真蒙古.BORJIGIN, BURENSAIN. “The Complex Structure of Ethnic Conflict in the Frontier: Through the Debates around the 'Jindandao Incident' in 1891.” Inner Asia, vol. 6, no. 1, 2004, pp. 41–60. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/23615320. In 1919, he enlisted in the military forces of the

Zhili clique The Zhili clique () was one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang clique during the Republic of China's Warlord Era. This fragmentation followed the death of Yuan Shikai, who was the only person capable of k ...

Rehe Province Rehe (), also romanized as Jehol, was a former Chinese special administrative region and province. Administration Rehe was north of the Great Wall, west of Manchuria, and east of Mongolia. Its capital and largest city was Chengde. The second ...

, rising steadily through the ranks until he reached the position of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

, with an equivalent ranking being granted 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 ...

government. Assigned to

Tongliao Tongliao (; mn, ''Tüŋliyou qota'', Mongolian Cyrillic: Байшинт хот) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China. The area is and as of the 2020 census, its population was 2,873,168 (3,139,153 ...

in what is now

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for ...

, he helped assist in the suppressing the revolt of Gada Meiren in 1929. In 1933, his forces clashed with 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 ...

on the border with Manchukuo, and Li managed to down a Japanese aircraft. However, this opened the door to negotiations, and in exchange for weapons, money and supplies, Li defected to the Japanese side, and was appointed commander of a portion of Inner Mongolia and Rehe. In 1933 commanded the Manchukuo forces defending the fortifications around Duolun against the

Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Army The Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Army (察哈尔民众抗日同盟军) consisted mostly of former Northwestern Army units under Feng Yuxiang, troops from Fang Zhenwu's Resisting Japan and Saving China Army, remnants of the provincial forces from ...

. In late 1935 he commanded Manchukuo forces aiding Prince

Demchugdongrub Demchugdongrub ( mn, , Demchigdonrob, Дэмчигдонров, translit=Demchigdonrov, , Chinese: 德穆楚克棟魯普, 8 February 1902– 23 May 1966), also known as Prince De ( zh, 德王), courtesy name Xixian ( zh, 希賢), was a Qing ...

in seizing control of the six northern districts of Chahar. The following two years he was in command of the Manchukuo detachment of the

Inner Mongolian Army The Inner Mongolian Army, also sometimes called the Mengjiang National Army, referred to the Inner Mongolian military units in service of Imperial Japan and its puppet state of Mengjiang during the Second Sino-Japanese War, particularly those led ...

attempting to capture

Suiyuan Suiyuan () is a ''de jure'' province of the Republic of China according to the ROC law, as the ROC government formally claims to be the legitimate government of China, with its capital located Guisui (now Hohhot). The abbreviation was (pinyin ...

province. By February 1936, Li controlled a large area in Chahar province, and transferred his allegiance to Demchugdongrub and became Chief of Staff of the new Inner Mongol Army. With the establishment

Mengjiang Mengjiang, also known as Mengkiang or the Mongol Border Land, and governed as the Mengjiang United Autonomous Government, was an autonomous area in Inner Mongolia, formed in 1939 as a puppet state of the Empire of Japan, then from 1940 being ...

, Li became the commander of the

. In 1940, Li met in Qingdao with

Zhou Fohai Zhou Fohai (; Hepburn: ''Shū Futsukai''; May 29, 1897 – February 28, 1948), Chinese politician, and second-in-command of the Executive Yuan in Wang Jingwei's collaborationist Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China during t ...

and representatives of the

Wang Jingwei Government 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 ...

with the aim of discussing the integration of Mengjiang into China. This was accomplished in 1941, with Mengjiang becoming the Mongolian Autonomous Federation (蒙古自治邦), albeit with complete autonomy. Demchugdongrub

However, as the situation deteriorated against 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 1947 constitution and subsequent for ...

towards the end of

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Li met in secret with

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 ...

, and defected back to the Kuomintang in exchange for being named general of the Chinese 10th Route Army. After the

victory The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes a ...

of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

in the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on main ...

in 1949, Li fled briefly into exile in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

. However, at the strong request of Demchugdongrub, he returned to

to assume the position of Deputy Director of Defense of the Inner Mongolian autonomous government. However, the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

refused to recognize his position and issued orders for his arrest a few months later. Li then fled to

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 millio ...

. In September 1950, Mongolia acceded to Chinese demands, and extradited Li back to China, where he was charged with anti-Chinese activities and imprisoned. He was pardoned in 1964, and assigned a job at a history museum in

Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the capital of Inner Mongolia in the north of the People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrative, economic and cultural center.''The ...

, Inner Mongolia. He died in Hohhot in Inner Mongolia in May 1970.

References

Sources

*Dryburgh, Marjorie. ''North China and Japanese Expansion 1933-1937: Regional Power and the National Interest''. RoutledgeCurzon (2000). * Jowett, Phillip S., Rays of The Rising Sun, Armed Forces of Japan's Asian Allies 1931–45, Volume I: China & Manchuria, 2004. Helion & Co. Ltd., England. * 中国抗日战争正面战场作战记 (China's Anti-Japanese War Combat Operations) ** Guo Rugui, editor-in-chief Huang Yuzhang ** Jiangsu People's Publishing House ** Date published : 2005-7-1 ** ** Online in Chinese

*** 第二部分：从"九一八"事变到西安事变察哈尔民众抗日同盟军 1 *** Part II : from the "September 18 Incident" to the Xi'an Incident: Anti-Japan military alliance *** https://web.archive.org/web/20070928130306/http://www.wehoo.net/book/wlwh/a30012/04574.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Shouxin 1892 births 1970 deaths Chinese people of Mongolian descent Mengjiang Mongol collaborators with Imperial Japan People from Baotou People of Manchukuo Republic of China warlords from Inner Mongolia Prisoners and detainees of the People's Republic of China Recipients of Chinese pardons Chinese Civil War refugees Members of the Zhili clique