Biography in English

Wang Cheng-t'ing (25 July 1882-21 May 1961), known as C. T. Wang, minister of foreign affairs and one-time acting premier of the Peking government in the early 1920's. He served as minister of foreign affairs in the National Government in 1928-31. In 1937-38 he was ambassador to the United States. Fenghua, Chekiang, was the birthplace of C. T. Wang. His father had become a Methodist minister in suburban Shanghai shortly before his birth. The young Wang received his early education at local Fenghua schools and then at missionary schools in Shanghai. In 1895, at the age of 13, he entered Anglo-Chinese College at Tientsin, and the following year he matriculated at the preparatory school of Peiyang University. At the time of the Boxer Uprising in 1900 he left his studies to teach at Anglo- Chinese College and then went to Hunan, where he taught in the Provincial High School at Changsha until 1905. He then went to Japan to study, and while in Tokyo he served as secretary of the Chinese YMCA.

In July 1907 C. T. Wang went to the United States, where he enrolled at the University of Michigan. The following year, he transferred to Yale University. He served as president of the Chinese Students' Alliance and as traveling secretary in charge of religious work among Chinese students in the United States. At the time of his graduation from Yale in 1910, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After a year of graduate study, he returned to China in June 1911.

Upon arrival at Shanghai, Wang accepted a position as secretary of the local YMCA. One of his chief functions was to help students returning from abroad to find employment. Soon, however, his life was changed by the revolution of 1911. After the Wuchang revolt of JO October, a republican regime was established at Wuchang with Li Yuan-hung (q.v.) at its head. The revolutionary Hu Ying was appointed chief of the regime's department of diplomatic affairs. Because Hu lacked knowledge in this field and spoke no foreign language, he sent an agent to Shanghai to obtain the services of an interpreter-assistant. Li Tenghui (T. H. Lee), a Yale alumnus who was serving as principal of Futan College in Shanghai, recommended C. T. Wang, who accepted the appointment. Wang arrived at Wuhan in late November, when the imperial forces recaptured Hanyang and threatened Wuchang. Because of the fluctuating political situation, Wang's appointment was changed, and he became a representative of Hupeh to the conference held at Hankow to organize a provisional national government. On 2 December, he was elected to a committee charged with drafting an organizational outline for the government. He was one of the signers of the resulting Organizational Law when it was adopted on 3 December. Soon afterwards, he and Hu Ying were designated representatives of the Wuchang regime to accompany T'ang Shao-yi (q.v.), then serving as head of an imperial delegation, to Shanghai for negotiations with Wu T'ing-fang (q.v.), representing the southern revolutionaries.

After Yuan Shih-k'ai succeeded Sun Yat-sen as provisional president of the republican government, C. T. Wang served at Peking as vice chairman of the Senate, under Lin Sen (q.v.). On 29 March 1912 Wang was appointed vice minister of industry and commerce by T'ang Shao-yi, the premier. Because Ch'en Ch'i-mei (q.v.) remained in Shanghai and did not assume the ministership, Wang was appointed acting minister of industry and commerce in May. He outlined his policies on 13 May to the cabinet, but before he could put any programs into effect, T'ang Shao-yi resigned the premiership in June. In mid-July Wang also resigned and went to Shanghai. He returned to Peking in April 1913 to serve as vice speaker of the Senate, under Chang Chi (q.v.), and as chairman of the committee for review of the constitutional convention. He also became the Kuomintang's representative at Peking and director of the Peking headquarters of the national railway development administration, Ktf* then headed by Sun Yat-sen. Wang remained in Peking until the Kuomintang was outlawed after the so-called second revolution of 1913 (see Li Lieh-chun). He then went to Shanghai, where he became general secretary of the national committee of the YMCA and governor of the Eighty-first District (China and Hong Kong) of the Rotary International.

With the death of Yuan Shih-k'ai in June 1916 and the accession of Li Yuan-hung (q.v.) to the presidency, the Parliament was reconvened at Peking. Wang again served as vice speaker of the Senate, holding that post until June 1917, when the Parliament was dissolved. He then went to Canton, where he served as vice speaker of the rump parliament which established a military government at Canton, with Sun Yat-sen at its head. After that government's reorganization in April 1918 and Sun Yat-sen's withdrawal to Shanghai, Wang and two other representatives of the Canton regime were sent to the United States to seek diplomatic recognition and financial aid. While in the United States, Wang was designated to represent the Canton government on China's delegation, headed by Lu Cheng-hsiang (q.v.), to the Paris Peace Conference. C. T. Wang and V. K. Wellington Koo (Ku Wei-chim, q.v.) played prominent roles in the presentation of the case for the return of Shantung to China and in the decision not to sign the Treaty of Versailles because it provided for the transfer to Japan of Germany's treaty rights in Shantung. Upon his return to China in February 1920, C. T. Wang established residence in Shanghai. In 1920-21 he established a brokerage house, an import-export company, and the Hua Feng Cotton Mill at Woosung. He was appointed president of China College at Peking in 1921, and he retained that chiefly honorary post until the 1940's. About this time, he become an ardent advocate of the sinification of the various Christian clerical hierarchies in China. In 1921 he reentered political life as a member of the Chinese delegation to the Washington Conference. The Nine-Power treaty of February 1922 and the settlement of the Shantung issue were measures of the success of the Chinese delegation, which was headed by Sao-ke Alfred Sze (Shih Chao-chi, q.v.) and which also included Wellington Koo. Wang returned to China in March 1922 to become head of the Shantung Rehabilitation Commission. In June, he was made China's chief representative on a Sino-Japanese commission charged with handling problems in connection with the transfer of political authority in Shantung. He also served as commissioner for takeover of the Kiaochow- Tsinan railway and as commissioner of the Tsingtao commercial port.

At the end of November 1922 C. T. Wang succeeded Wellington Koo as minister of foreign affairs at Peking. Early in December, he went briefly to Tsingtao to complete arrangements for the creation of a Chinese administration there. From mid-December .1922 to mid- January 1923 Wang served as acting premier at Peking. He relinquished that post to Chang Shao-tseng and refused Chang's offer of the justice portfolio in the new cabinet. In March 1923 the Peking government gave him responsibility for handling Sino-Soviet relations. After extensive negotiations with Soviet envoy Leo M. Karakhan beginning in September 1923, two agreements were signed in March 1 924. Among the provisions were the immediate establishment of Sino-Soviet diplomatic relations and the setting up of a provisional administration for the Chinese Eastern Railway. Because the agreements contained no provisions for the cancellation of Soviet-Mongol treaties or the withdrawal of Red Army forces from Outer Mongolia, the Chinese cabinet refused to ratify the agreements. Wellington Koo, then foreign minister, repudiated Wang's signature and dismissed him. Ironically enough, Koo signed an agreement with similar provisions on 31 May.

Wang left Peking in March 1924 to become managing director of the Liuhokou Mining Company in Honan. He was recalled to Peking by Feng Yü-hsiang (q.v.) at the time of Feng's October 1924 coup. Wang served in the interim cabinet of Huang Fu (q.v.) as minister of foreign affairs and minister of finance, resigning on 24 November after Tuan Ch'i-jui (q.v.) assumed office as provisional chief executive. Wang was politically inactive until the spring of 1925, when he again was given responsibility for Sino-Soviet diplomatic relations. He also was appointed a delegate to the special tariff conference which ended in March 1926 with a preliminary agreement guaranteeing China tariff autonomy by 1 January 1929. In the Peking cabinet reorganization of 31 December 1925 Wang again became minister of foreign affairs, and he held that post until 4 March 1926. That September, having also shed his Sino-Soviet responsibilities, he returned to private life in Shanghai.

In Shanghai, Wang became chairman of the board of directors of the Liuhokou Mining Company, chairman of the Chinese Ratepayers Association of Shanghai, president of the National Highways Association, and chairman of the Far Eastern Olympics. In August 1927, on Feng Yü-hsiang's recommendation, he was made managing director of the Lunghai railway administration. It was also through Feng that Wang established ties with Chiang Kai-shek and the National Government at Nanking. In 1928 Wang became a member and then chairman of the Central Political Council's foreign affairs committee. He succeeded Huang Fu as minister of foreign affairs in June. By March 1929 he had reached a settlement of the May Third Incident at Tsinan (see Ho Yao-tsu) in 1928; and in June 1929 Japan formally recognized the National Government at Nanking. Also in June 1929 a crisis arose as a result of Nationalist moves against Soviet interests in Manchuria. A Chinese search of Soviet consular premises at Harbin and arrests of consular personnel at the end of May were followed by Soviet diplomatic protests. On 1 1 June, Wang offered to have an investigation made. On 10 July, however, the Nationalists seized the Chinese Eastern Railway and Soviet shipping interests on the Sungari River. Wang issued a statement asserting that the National Government did not intend to solve the problem of the Chinese Eastern Railway by force, that it had assumed temporary administrative control of the railway because the Soviet administrators had abandoned their duties, and that it hoped to maintain friendly relations with the Soviet Union. Soviet military pressure eventually forced the National Government to sign the Khabarovsk Protocol of 22 December 1929, restoring the status quo ante with regard to Soviet rights and interests in the Chinese Eastern Railway and in navigation of the Sungari River.

C. T. Wang was foreign minister from June 1928 until September 1931, during which time he effected more than 40 important treaties and agreements. By mid- 1930 he had negotiated the restitution of Weihaiwei by Great Britain, an agreement with France regarding Tonkin, tariff agreements with Japan and 12 other countries, and commercial treaties with Greece, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. His aims were tariff autonomy and the elimination of other inequities in China's position with reference to other nations. Despite these achievements, popular opinion turned against him after the Japanese invasion of Mukden in September 1931. Student opinion in particular blamed him for the National Government's policy of nonresistance and for its failure to persuade the League of Nations to take forceful action. On 28 September, a large group of students invaded Wang's office, demanded an immediate declaration of war against Japan, assaulted Wang, and wrecked the premises. Foreign office personnel intervened, removed Wang to a gunboat, and took him to Shanghai for hospitalization. On 30 September, the National Government announced his resignation. After his recovery, C. T. Wang did not take an active part in politics for a time, although he retained his membership in the State Council, the Central Political Council, and the Central Committee of the Kuomintang. In August 1936 he was appointed ambassador to the United States. He did not reach Washington until May 1937, by which time the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war had put a new complexion on his mission. He retained that post until September 1938, when he was succeeded by Hu Shih. Wang then went to Hong Kong, where he helped the Bank of Communications shift some of its capital and property to Manila. About six months later, he moved to Chungking, where he spent the rest of the war in virtual retirement. In late 1944 he was appointed chairman of the Executive Yuan's war crimes investigation commission, and after the Japanese surrendered he served at Shanghai in that capacity. He also became a member of the Shanghai Municipal Council and the Legislative Yuan.

C. T. Wang's wife died in 1944, and in 1946 he married a daughter of Sir Shouson Chow (Chou Ch'ang-ling, q.v.). When the Chinese Communists won control of the mainland in 1949, Wang did not follow the National Government to Taiwan. In 1952 he established residence in Hong Kong, where he served as chairman of the board of directors of the Pacific Insurance Company. He died at Hong Kong on 21 May 1961.

Biography in Chinese

王正廷
字:儒堂
王正廷(1882.7.25—1961.5.21),二十年代中北京政府外交总长,一度代内阁总理。1928—31年任国民政府外交部长,1937—38年任驻美大使。
王正廷浙江奉化人,出生前不久,其父亲当上了上海郊区美以美教会(卫理公会)教士。王幼年在奉化本地上学,后去上海进教会学校。1895年十三岁时,进天津英华学院,翌年又进了北洋大学预备班,1900年义和团起事时,他辍学到英华学院教书,后去湖南长沙省立高等学堂教书,1905年去日本留学,在东京时任中华基督教青年会干事。
1907年7月,王去美国进密执安大学,第二年转耶鲁大学,任中国留学生会主席及留美学生教会巡回秘书。1910年在耶鲁大学毕业时被选入美国大学生联合会,接着做了一年研究工作,于1911年6月回国。
王回上海后,任当地青年会干事,其主要的一项任务是为回国留学生找寻职业。1911年的革命,使他的生活大起变化。10月10日武昌起义,国民政府以黎元洪为首在武昌成立,革命者胡瑛任外交部长,因他缺少外事知识又不会讲外语,派人到上海物色译员。王的耶鲁大学同学复旦大学校长李登辉推荐了王正廷。王于11月底到武汉,当时清军重占汉阳,威胁武昌。因政局动荡,他的任命有了变动,当了湖北代表出席在汉口召开的组织临时国民政府的会议。12月2日,被选入负责起草政府组织条例的委员会。组织条例于12月3日通过时,他是在这个文件上签字的一人。不久,他和胡瑛以武昌政府代表身份和清政府代表唐绍仪到上海和南方革命党代表伍廷芳谈判。
袁世凯继孙逸仙为民国临时大总统,林森、王正廷任参议院正副议长。1912年3月29日,王由内阁总理唐绍仪任命为工商部次长。因为陈其美在上海没有接任部长之职,由王于5月间任代理总长,5月13日他向内阁提出工作方针,但未能付诸实施,因唐绍仪内阁于6月下台。7月中王也辞职去上海。1913年4月回北京,在张继手下任参议院副议长、临时约法修订委员会主席。他又是国民党驻北京代表,以孙逸仙为首的全国铁路开发局北京分局局长。1913年二次革命,国民党被宣布为非法。王去上海任全国青年会总干事及八十一区(包括香港)国际扶轮社社长。
1916年6月袁世凯死后,黎元洪继任大总统,重开国会,王再次出任参议院副议长,1917年6月,国会又遭到解散,王去广州,任残缺不全议会副议长,这个议会建立了以孙逸仙为首的军政府。1918年4月,军政府改组,孙逸仙去上海,王和另两个代表去美国争取外交承认和经济援助。在美国时他还作为广州政府代表参加陆征祥率领的中国代表团,出席巴黎和会。和会期间,在提出将山东归还中国的提案时,在因和会将山东权利转交日本而拒绝于凡尔赛和约上签字之举中,他和顾维钧都起了重要作用。
1920年2月,王回国后住在上海,1920—21年在上海开交易所、进出口公司,及吴淞的华丰纱厂。1921年任北京中国大学校长。他担任这个荣誉性职务一直到四十年代。约在此时,他积极鼓吹使在华的各基督教教会组织中国化。1921年重入政界,任华盛顿会议中国代表。1922年2月九国公约的签订和山东问题的解决,标志着以施肇基为首、有顾维钧参加的中国代表团的成就。1922年3月,王回国任山东善后事宜督办,6月任中日委员会中国首席代表,处理将山东主权移交中国,又任接收胶济路和青岛商港的督办。
1922年11月底,王继顾维钧在北京任外交总长,12月初一度去青岛筹办中国的办事机构。1922年12月中至1923年1月,在北京代理内阁总理,不久将这个职务让给张绍曾,并拒不担任张提出的司法总长之职。1923年3月,北京政府派他处理中苏关系,9月起与苏联代表加拉军进行多次谈判,1924年3月签订协定两项,其中规定立即恢复中苏外交关系及建立中东路临时管理机构。由于这些协定没有规定取消苏蒙条约及红军撤出外蒙的条款,内阁不予批准,外交总长顾维钧谴责王在协定上签了字,并将他免职。但很可笑的是,5月31日,顾维钧却又签署了同样内容的协定。
1924年3月,王离北京去河南六河沟任煤矿公司经理,1924年10月,冯玉祥在北京实行兵变后,又请王回北京,在黄郛内阁先后任外交总长、财政总长。段祺瑞任临来主时执政后,王于11月24日辞职,此后在政治上无所作为。1925年春又主持恢复中苏外交关系的事宜。其间,又任特别关税会议中国代表,会议于1926年3月结束,达成初步协定,规定1929年1月1日起中国可以实行关税自立。1925年12月31日北京内阁改组,王再任外交总长至1926年3月4日。9月,他又卸去中苏谈判之责去上海居住。
王正廷在上海时,任六河沟煤矿公司董事长,纳税华人会主席,全国公路总会会长,远东奥运会主席。1927年8月,王由冯玉祥推荐任陇海铁路督办,又由冯的沟通与蒋介石、南京国民政府建立了关系。1928年王任中央政治会议外交委员会委员,后为主任。6月,继黄郛任外交部长。1929年3月,他主持达成关于1928年5月3日济南事件的处理办法;6月,日本正式承认南京国民政府。同月,国民党在东北反苏的危机发生:中国方面于5月间搜查了哈尔滨苏联领事馆,逮捕领馆人员,苏方随即提出外交抗议。6月11日,王答应进行调查。7月10日,国民党夺取中东路及松花江上苏方船只。王发表声明声称国民政府不愿以武力解决中东路问题,中东路事件系因苏方放弃职责乃由华方临时接管,并表示希望保持对苏友好关系。苏方以军事压力终于迫使国民政府于1929年12月22日签订伯力条约,确定中东路及松花江上苏方的权益恢复原状。
1928年6月到1931年9月王任外交部长期间,处理了四十多项重要条约和协定。1930年中,他谈判成功从英国手中收回威海卫,与法国签订关于东京湾的协定,与日本及其他十二个国家签订了关税协定,与希腊、波兰、捷克签订了商务协定。他的目的是要取得关税自主和废除各国对华不平等条约。王正廷虽然有这些成就,但自1931年9月日本侵占沈阳后,公众舆论却转而反对他,尤其是学生界把国民政府的不抵抗政策以及未能说明国联对日采取有力行动归罪于他。9月28日,大群学生涌进他的办公室,要他立即宣布对日作战,殴打了他,破坏了他的住宅。外交部人员出面干涉,把他转移到一只炮艇上,送到上海住院疗养。9月30日,国民政府宣布王正廷辞职。
王正廷身体复元后,一度不再从事政治活动,但他是国府会议、中央政治会议、国民党中央执行委员会委员。1936年8月,出任驻美大使,但到1937年5月才上任,那时中日战争即将爆发,他的使命面临新的情况。1938年9月,胡适继王任驻美大使,王乃去香港,协助交通银行将部分资财转移到马尼拉。六个月后,他到了重庆,战争期间,他实际上过着退休生活。1944年底,任行政院战犯调查委员会主任,日本投降后,他在上海仍任此职。他又是上海市政府委员和立法院委员。
王正廷的妻子在1944年死去,1946年,他又和周长龄的女儿结婚。1949年共产党接管大陆时,他未随国民政府迁往台湾。1952年他在香港定居,任太平洋保险公司董事长。1961年5月21日死在香港。

 

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