Wang K'o-min (1873-26 December 1945), sometime minister of finance at Peking and governor of the Bank of China who later became a member of the Hopei-Chahar political council. From December 1937 to March 1940 he headed the Japanese-sponsored government in north China. Little is known about Wang K'o-min's family background or early life except that […]

Wan Fu-lin (1880-July 1951), was a Manchurian military commander who served as military governor of Heilungkiang from 1929-31. He commanded the Fifty-third Army from 1932 to 1938, when he was charged with dereliction of duty. In 1941 he became a member of the Military Affairs Commission. The Nungan district of Kirin province was the native […]

Sun Fo (20 October 1891-), son of Sun Yat-sen. After holding the presidency of the Legislative Yuan from June 1932 to November 1948, he served as president of the Executive Yuan for four months. He then retired from public life and lived abroad in France and the United States before going to Taiwan. A native […]

Soong Mei-ling (c. 1897-), was the wife of Chiang Kai-shek and a leader of Chinese women. A native of the Wench'ang district of Hainan Island, Kwangtung, Soong Mei-ling was born in Shanghai. She was the fourth of six children and the youngest of the girls in her family. Because her father, Charles Jones Soong (q.v.), […]

Sheng Shih-ts'ai (1895-), military adventurer from Manchuria who seized power in Sinkiang in 1933 and ruled that province for nine years with Soviet aid. In 1943 he switched allegiance to the Chinese Nationalists, who, however, dislodged him from his seat of power in 1944. The Kaiyuan district of Liaoning in southern Manchuria was the birthplace […]

Shang Chen (c. 1884-), military subordinate of Yen Hsi-shan who later served as governor of Hopei (1928-29), Shansi (1929-31), and Honan (1936). He headed the Chinese Military Mission to the United States in 1944-45. Little is known about Shang Chen's family background or early life except that he was born in Paoting, Chihli (Hopei) and […]

Ch'in Pang-hsien (1907-8 April 1946), one of the Russian-trained intellectuals known as the 28 Bolsheviks, was the general secretary of the Chinese Communist party (1932-34). From 1936 to 1946 he served as a liaison officer in negotiations with the National Government. He also headed the New China News Agency (1941-45) and edited the official Communist […]

Ch'ien Ta-chün (26 July 1893-), military officer, organized and trained many units of the National Revolutionary Army. He was an official of the Whampoa Military Academy and dean of the Wuhan branch of the Central Military Academy. He was an aide to Chiang Kai-shek and later chief of his bodyguard. In 1942-43 he served as […]

Mo Te-hui (1881-17 April 1968), Manchurian official who served as China's chief representative in the 1930-31 Sino-Soviet negotiations concerning the Chinese Eastern Railway. From 1954 to 1966 he served as president of the Examination Yuan in Taiwan. Born in Sinkiang, Mo Te-hui was the son of a general in the imperial forces who came from […]

Miao Pin (1899-1946), Kuomintang official who served in the Japanese-sponsored government at Nanking in the early 1940's. Although he allegedly served as a Nationalist agent during the Second World War, he was executed by the Nationalists in 1946. Wusih, Kiangsu, was the birthplace of Miao Pin. He was the son of Miao Chien-chang, a Taoist […]