Wang Jingwei regime

Republic of China
1940–1945
Motto: 和平、反共、建國
Hépíng, Fǎngòng, Jiànguó
"Peace, Anti-Communism, National Construction"
Anthem: 
中華民國國歌,
Zhōnghuá Mínguó Guógē
"National Anthem of the Republic of China"[1]
The Wang Jingwei regime (dark red) and Mengjiang (light red) within the Empire of Japan (pink) at its furthest extent
The Wang Jingwei regime (dark red) and Mengjiang (light red) within the Empire of Japan (pink) at its furthest extent
StatusPuppet state of the Empire of Japan
CapitalNanjing
Largest cityShanghai
Official languagesStandard Chinese
Japanese
GovernmentUnitary presidential republic under a Tridemist one-party fascist dictatorship[2]
President 
• 1940–1944
Wang Jingwei
• 1944–1945
Chen Gongbo
Vice President 
• 1940–1945
Zhou Fohai
Historical eraWorld War II
• Established
30 March 1940
• Recognized by Japan
20 November 1940
• Dissolved
16 August 1945
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Reformed Government of the Republic of China
Provisional Government of the Republic of China
Mengjiang United Autonomous Government
Republic of China
Soviet occupation of Manchuria
Today part ofChina
Reorganised National Government of the Republic of China
Traditional Chinese改組中華民國國民政府
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinGǎizǔ zhōnghuá mínguó guómín zhèngfǔ
Bopomofoㄍㄞˇㄗㄨˇ ㄓㄨㄥㄏㄨㄚˊ ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄍㄨㄛˊㄇㄧㄣˊ ㄓㄥˋㄈㄨˇ
Gwoyeu RomatzyhGaetzuu jonghwa ming gwomin jenqfuu
Wade–GilesKai3-tsu3 chung1-hua2 min2-kuo2 kuo2-min2 cheng4-fu3
Wang Jingwei regime
Traditional Chinese汪精衛政府
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinWāngjīngweì zhèngfǔ
Bopomofoㄨㄤㄐㄧㄥㄨㄟˋ ㄓㄥˋㄈㄨˇ
Gwoyeu RomatzyhUangjingwey jenqfuu
Wade–GilesWang1-ching1-wei4 cheng4-fu3

The Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China,[b] 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 China under Chiang Kai-shek, which was fighting Japan alongside the other Allies of World War II. The country functioned as a dictatorship under Wang Jingwei, formerly a high-ranking official of the Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT). The region it administered was initially seized by Japan during the late 1930s at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Wang, a rival of Chiang Kai-shek and member of the pro-peace faction of the KMT, defected to the Japanese side and formed a collaborationist government in occupied Nanjing in 1940, as well as a concurrent collaborationist Kuomintang that ruled the new government. The new state claimed the entirety of China (outside the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo) during its existence, portraying itself as the legitimate inheritors of the Xinhai Revolution and Sun Yat-sen's legacy as opposed to Chiang's government in Chongqing, but effectively only Japanese-occupied territory was under its direct control. Its international recognition was limited to other members of the Anti-Comintern Pact, of which it was a signatory. The Reorganized National Government existed until the end of World War II and the surrender of Japan in August 1945, at which point the regime was dissolved and many of its leading members were executed for treason.

The state was formed by combining the previous Reformed Government (1938–1940) and Provisional Government (1937–1940) of the Republic of China, puppet regimes which ruled the central and northern regions of China that were under Japanese control, respectively. Unlike Wang Jingwei's government, these regimes were not much more than arms of the Japanese military leadership and received no recognition even from Japan itself or its allies. However, after 1940 the former territory of the Provisional Government remained semi-autonomous from Nanjing's control, under the name "North China Political Council". The region of Mengjiang (puppet government in Inner Mongolia) was under Wang Jingwei's government only nominally. His regime was also hampered by the fact that the powers granted to it by the Japanese were extremely limited, and this was only partly changed with the signing of a new treaty in 1943 which gave it more sovereignty from Japanese control. The Japanese largely viewed it as not an end in itself but the means to an end, a bridge for negotiations with Chiang Kai-shek, which led them to often treat Wang with indifference.

  1. ^ Japanese Newsreel with the national anthem on YouTube
  2. ^ Larsen, Stein Ugelvik (ed.). Fascism Outside of Europe. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-88033-988-8. p. 255.


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