A Chinese Hero’s Betrayal of China
The 1911 Revolution and overthrow of the imperial system led to a chaotic period of warlord rule. A nationalist party, the Koumintang, was formed to restore order. In 1925, it sent what was known as the Great Northern Expedition to bring the warlords to heel and restore the central government’s authority. Jingwei became chairman of the national government. However, Chiang Kai-shek, the successful general who led the campaign against the warlords, formed a rival government in southern China. Jingwei formed a government in northern China in collaboration with the communists, but fell out with and purged them. At that point, his government collapsed and his supporters flocked to Chiang Kai-shek.
Bitter, Jingwei became an extreme right winger. When the Japanese invaded China in 1937, he flew to meet their representatives in Hanoi, and issued a declaration that called for peaceful negotiation with the invaders. In 1939, he flew to Japan for negotiations. While there, he betrayed China and negotiated a deal on his own behalf. In 1940, he defected and was appointed by the Japanese to head a puppet regime, based in Japanese-occupied Nanking. Jingwei’s government nominally “governed” the Japanese-conquered territories in China. He remained Japan’s Chinese puppet ruler until his death in 1944.