Wu Songgao ( zh, t=吳頌皋, s=吴颂皋, p=Wú Sònggāo, w=Wu Sung-kao, 1898–1953) was a politician, jurist and political scientist in the

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 ...

. He was an important politician during the

Wang Jingwei regime The Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China, commonly described as the Wang Jingwei regime, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in eastern China. It existed coterminous with the Nationalist government of the Republic of ...

. He was born in Wuxian (now, Wuzhong District and Xiangcheng District,

Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

Biography

After graduating the

Fudan University Fudan University (FDU) is a public university, national public university in Yangpu, Shanghai, Yangpu, Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education and is co-funded with the Shanghai Municipal ...

, Wu Songgao went to France and entered to the Division of Law,

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

. After graduating it, he went to United Kingdom, and became a research worker in the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. Later he returned to China, and successively held the positions of President of the Post Graduate Course of Law of the Fudan University, Associate Professor of the Post Graduate Course of Law of the National Central University, and Professor of the Department of Politics of the National Central Political School. In July 1932, Wu Songgao was appointed to the Councilor of the

Executive Yuan The Executive Yuan () is the executive (government), executive branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Under the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China, amended constitution, the head of the Execut ...

of the National Government. Next November, he was transferred to the Councilor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In July 1935, he was appointed to the Chief of the International Affairs Bureau, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the secretary of the Foreign Affairs Group of the Central Political Commission. On that time, he worked as the Chief Editor of the ''Foreign Affairs Review'' Magazine and the Manager of the Political Science Society of China. Later Wu Songgao participated to the

, and was appointed to the Central Executive Member 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 ...

(Wang's clique) and the secretary of the Central Political Committee. In July 1942, he was appointed to the Chief Member of the Advisory Committee for Foreign Affairs and the Vice-Minister for Judicial Administrating. Next Year, he successively held the positions of Member of the committee for requisitioning Japanese settlement in Hankou, Member of the committee for requisitioning French settlement and Member of the committee for requisitioning French settlement in Tianjin. In April 1944, Wu Songgao was appointed to the Chief-Secretary of the Government of the

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

Special City. Next month, he also held the chairman of the committee for Baojia system in Shanghai. In January 1945, he promoted to the Ministry for Judicial Administrating, and also held the vice-chairman of the committee for abolition of extraterritorial right. After the Wang Jingwei regime had collapsed, on August 17, the Leader of the Team of the Taxation Police Bureau () Zhou Gao () who was a subordinate of Zhou Fohai suddenly started captured important members of the Wang Jingwei regime. On that time, Wu Songgao also arrested by Zhou Gao's group. Later the Vice-Chief of the General Staff of the

China Expeditionary Army The was a general army of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1939 to 1945. The China Expeditionary Army was established in September 1939 from the merger of the Central China Expeditionary Army and Japanese Northern China Area Army, and was ...

Takeo Imai () urged Zhou Gao to release arrested people, so Wu also was set a free.Liu Jie, pp.156-157. Many People believed Zhou Fohai wanted to make an appeal his loyalty to Chiang Kai-shek, so ordered Zhou Gao to arrest important people of the Wang Jinwei Regime. But Zhou Fohai denied his responsibility. But on September 8 same year, Wu Songgao was arrested by the Chiang Kai-shek's National Government. Later because of the charge of treason and surrender to enemy (namely

Hanjian In China, the word ''hanjian'' () is a pejorative term for those seen as traitors to the Chinese state and, to a lesser extent, Han Chinese ethnicity. The word ''hanjian'' is distinct from the general word for traitor, which could be used for a ...

), Wu was sentenced to life imprisonment. After the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

had established, his treatment wasn't change. Wu Songgao died in prison in 1953.

Alma mater

References

Footnotes

* * * ''History of Prison in Shanghai'' ()
The Office of Shanghai's History (上海地方志办公室) Website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Songgao Politicians from Suzhou Republic of China politicians from Jiangsu Chinese jurists Chinese collaborators with Imperial Japan Prisoners and detainees of the People's Republic of China 1898 births 1953 deaths Inmates of Tilanqiao Prison