Xi Qia or Xi Xia (Hsi Hsia; ; Hepburn: ''Ki Kō''; 1883–1950) was a general in command of the Jilin Provincial Army of 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 ...

, who defected to the Japanese during the Invasion of Manchuria in 1931, and who subsequently served as a cabinet minister in

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...

Biography

Xi Qia was an ethnic

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

( Plain Blue Banner) of the imperial clan of

Aisin Gioro The House of Aisin-Gioro is a Manchu clan that ruled the Later Jin dynasty (1616–1636), the Qing dynasty (1636–1912), and Manchukuo (1932–1945) in the history of China. Under the Ming dynasty, members of the Aisin Gioro clan served as chie ...

as a direct descendant of Murhaci (穆爾哈齊), a younger half-brother of

Nurhaci Nurhaci (14 May 1559 – 30 September 1626), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Qing, was the founding khan of the Jurchen people, Jurchen-led Later Jin (1616–1636), Later Jin dynasty. As the leader of the House of Aisin-Gi ...

and second son of Taksi, thus, making him a member of the collateral bloodline of the Aisin Gioro clan. He contributed to making and a supporter of efforts to create a new Manchu-dominated state in

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

after the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). The revolution was the culmination of a decade ...

overthrew the

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

dynasty in China. As a youth, he studied in Japan at the Tokyo Shimbu Gakko, a military preparatory school for Chinese students, followed by the Imperial Japanese Army Academy. He rose to the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

and

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of the Provincial Army of Jilin Province under the Fengtian clique. On 23 September 1931, after the Mukden Incident, Xi Qia, was invited by the Japanese government to form a government for Jilin Province. The

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

succeeded in achieving a bloodless occupation of the capital, Jilin city. General Xi Qia called a meeting of government organizations and Japanese advisers, and on 30 September 1931 issued a proclamation declaring Jilin Province to be independent of the Republic of China, with himself as head of a provisional government. After the Japanese

Kwantung Army The Kwantung Army (Japanese language, Japanese: 関東軍, ''Kantō-gun'') was a Armies of the Imperial Japanese Army, general army of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1919 to 1945. The Kwantung Army was formed in 1906 as a security force for th ...

completed military control over southern Manchuria in early January 1932, occupying Jinzhou and Shanhaiguan, it turned to the north to secure the remainder of Manchuria. When negotiations with Generals Ma Zhanshan and Ding Chao had come to naught, Japanese Colonel Kenji Doihara in early January 1932 requested that General Xi Qia advance with his forces to take

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

from the last major

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 ...

force in the north led by General Ding Chao. General Xi Qia advanced to Shuangcheng on 25 January, and fighting began on the morning of the 26th. However, Xi Qia's troops soon suffered a serious reverse and Doihara was forced to call upon the Kwantung Army to assist. To justify this, Colonel Doihara created the Harbin Incident. The Japanese 2nd Infantry Division, commanded by Lieutenant General Jiro Tamon, was ordered to go to the rescue of General Xi Qia, and entrained on 28 January. Because of transportation difficulties in the cold winter weather, it took seven days for Japanese columns to struggle north over the frozen countryside in temperatures of 30° below zero. Finally, they closed in on the Harbin from the west and south on 4 February and took the city on 5 February 1932. Within two months, the state of

was established, and Xi Qia was confirmed by the new government as governor of Jilin Province. A couple of months later, on 29 March 1932, Xi Qia's militia suffered another defeat, this time at the hands of the Anti-Japanese Army For The Salvation Of The Country, a

Volunteer Army The Volunteer Army (; ), abbreviated to (), also known as the Southern White Army was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1920. The Volunteer Army fought against Bolsheviks and the Makhnovists on the ...

led by General Li Hai-ching on outside the town of Nong'an, only 35 miles from the Manchukuoan capital of Xinjing. Japanese forces from the east at Yao-men, tried to fight their way through to Nong'an with

close air support Close air support (CAS) is defined as aerial warfare actions—often air-to-ground actions such as strafes or airstrikes—by military aircraft against hostile targets in close proximity to friendly forces. A form of fire support, CAS requires ...

from IJAAF bombers, but the defender's radio ceased broadcasting when Li's forces captured the town. Japanese regular army troops soon drove Li's forces out of Nong'an. Xi Qia was removed from command soon after his defeat and was henceforth given civilian duties. Xi Qia became Minister of Finance of Manchukuo in 1932. He subsequently served as Imperial Household Minister from 1936. At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was captured by the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

and held in a Siberian prison until he was extradited to 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 ...

in 1950, where he later died in captivity at the Fushun War Criminals Management Centre in Fushun,

Liaoning ) , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong , image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg , ...

Province.

External links

IMTFE, Japanese Aggression Against ChinaNewspaperARCHIVE.com - Search Old Newspaper Articles Online
at www.newspaperarchive.com SATURDAY EVENING. FEBRUARY 27. 1032. THE COSHOCTON TRIBUNE
Photo of Manchukuo politicians: Xi Qia third from the left, front row
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xi Qia 1883 births 1950 deaths Politicians from Shenyang Chinese collaborators with Imperial Japan Government ministers of Manchukuo World War II political leaders Manchu politicians Manchurian nationalism Foreign nationals imprisoned in the Soviet Union People extradited from the Soviet Union Chinese people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in Chinese detention Generals from Liaoning Generals of Manchukuo Aisin Gioro Manchu Plain Blue Bannermen

Biography

See also

External links