1 2 8 3 4 5 The Wang Jing-wei Regime and the 6 7 German-Japanese Alliance 8 9 10 CHOU WHEI-MING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 Introduction 20 2 Establishing Puppet Regimes 1 3 The German-Japanese Negotiation on Manzhouguo 2 4 The Establishment and Function of the Wang Jing-wei Regime 5 Negotiations between Japan and Germany on the Recognition of the 3 Nanjing Regime 4 5 6 1 INTRODUCTION 7 fter the Mukden, or Manchurian, Incident in 1931,1 Japan intensified 8 Aits aggression against China. For a more effective control over the newly 9 acquired territories, Japan started setting up governing boards. As the pow- 30 ers manifested their opposition to the Japanese operations in Manchuria, 1 Japan hired Chinese to form local governments and carry out its policies, 2 so as to avoid international interference. The Japanese Government then 3 pushed for international recognition of these regimes. ‘Man-Zhou Guo’ 4 (hereafter Manzhouguo, also called Manchukuo)2 under Pu Yi3 was the first 5 of the puppet regimes established under such models. On 1 September 36 1939, the predominantly Han Chinese puppet governments of South 37 Chahar Autonomous Government and North Shanxi Autonomous 38 Government were merged with the Mongol Autonomous Government, 39 creating the new Mengjiang United Autonomous Government. The 40 ‘Reformed Government of the Republic of China’ in Nanjing (Nanking) 41 under Wang Jing-wei4 of 1940 was the final one of this type. 42 Manzhouguo was not recognized by the League of Nations or the 43 international community as a political entity due to the fact that it was 44 the outcome of the Japanese invasion, which the League of Nations con- 45 demned. The Republic under Wang met a similar fate. The long-standing 46 Republic led by Jiang Jie-shi (Chiang Kai-shek), moved to Chongqing 47R 324 Japan and Germany

1 (Chungking), and still kept on good terms with the major powers. After 2 the outbreak of war in Europe, the United States and the United 3x Kingdom realized that a partner in Far East would be helpful to balance 4 power in this region and to serve their national interests. Under such cir- 5 cumstances, Japan hesitated to promote the recognition of the new 6 regime in Nanjing. Only after all the negotiation with Jiang Jie-shi had 7 failed did Japan turn to Nanjing. Efforts to acquire international recog- 8 nition of its puppet regime were made, without noticeable results. 9 This chapter examines the dilemma of the Japanese government 10 during the establishment of the Wang regime. To put the problem in per- 1 spective, a contrast will first be made between the Japanese diplomatic 2 efforts in gaining support from the powers for Manzhouguo and for the 3 Wang regime. 4 5 2 ESTABLISHING PUPPET REGIMES 6 7 Soon after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Japanese forces 8 took northern China and pushed southwards. By the end of 1937, Jiang Jie- 9 shi gave up his capital and moved westwards along the Yangtze River, first 20 to Wuhan, then to Sichuan, in order to gain a foothold for prolonged war. 1 On occupying the northern provinces of China, the Japanese army set up 2 some ‘committees for the maintenance of public order’, which followed the 3 model in Manchuria and served as a ruling board. The first such board was 4 the ‘United Committee for the Maintenance of Public Order for Beijing 5 (Peking) and Tienjin (Tientsin)’. A ‘Provisional Government of the Republic 6 of China’ under the leadership of Wang Ke-min5 was then organized to con- 7 trol Shangdong, Shangxi and Hebei provinces as well as Beijing and Tienjin. 8 After taking Nanjing, the ‘Reformed Government of the Republic of China’ 9 headed by Liang Hong-zhi6 was established at the end of March 1938. By 30 mid-1938, four puppet regimes existed in China. Yet the powers still recog- 1 nized only the government in Chongqing, under Jiang Jie-shi. 2 The puppet-regimes created with To–kyo–’s support met with quite dif- 3 ferent reactions from the powers. Japanese attitudes towards each regime 4 varied. For those regimes in northern China, it was not necessary to win 5 recognition from the powers. For Manzhouguo under Pu Yi, it was quite 36 different. ‘The Provisional Government of the Republic of China’ and 37 ‘the Reformed Government of the Republic of China’ both existed at the 38 same time and claimed to be ‘heirs’ of the Republic of China. Which 39 should represent China? How should China be ‘divided’ between them? 40 Was there an issue of mutual ‘recognition’? In fact, these issues were not 41 discussed seriously, for the Japanese intention was merely to put these 42 ‘governments’ under Japanese rule so that it could effectively control the 43 vast area it had occupied. Manzhouguo was clearly another issue. 44 Recognition by the powers was always the goal of the Japanese officials 45 in Xinjing,7 where Manzhouguo’s government was located. 46 To solve the functional and territorial overlap of both of the 47R ‘Governments of the Republic of China’, a ‘Joint Committee of the