Wang Jingwei: Revolutionary Hero to Controversial Collaborator

by Jenny Chan

Although less remembered today than his contemporaries, Mao Zedong or Chiang Kai-shek, Wang Jingwei is one of China’s most polarizing historical figures. This man began his political life as a revolutionary hero during China’s turbulent days and ended it as a collaborator with Japan during the darkest days of World War II. His story, filled with ambition, political strife, and ideological shifts, reflects the complex and tumultuous political landscape of early 20th-century China.

The Early Revolutionary Years
Wang Jingwei (汪精衛) was born in 1883 in Sanshui, Guangdong Province, though his family hailed from Zhejiang. As a young man, he quickly distinguished himself as a passionate revolutionary. While studying in Japan, he joined the Tongmenghui(同盟會), a revolutionary alliance led by Sun Yat-sen, also a native of Guangdong, aimed at overthrowing the Qing Dynasty. Wang was a prolific writer within the Tongmenghui, contributing to Mingbao(明報), a political magazine he later established. His work inspired many readers–including the future leader Chiang Kai-shek.[1] His studies in Japan exposed him to the transformative power of the Meiji Restoration that reshaped Japanese society—a model that deeply influenced Wang’s vision for China’s modernization and independence.
In 1910, Wang Jingwei, determined to advance the revolutionary cause, attempted to assassinate the Qing regent Prince Chun. Wang Jingwei was joined by his lover, Chen Bijun, in this endeavor. Their plan involved placing a timed bomb under Prince Chun's carriage, however, the attempt failed. Wang was arrested and initially sentenced to death but his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. He spent approximately two years in prison before being released following the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. This period of incarceration further intensified his resolve as a revolutionary.[2]
When the 1911 Revolution successfully toppled the Qing Dynasty, Wang became a close associate of Sun Yat-sen, serving as one of his most trusted allies.[3] He was a politician and a skilled writer, using his literary talents to promote revolutionary ideals and inspire his countrymen. His deep devotion to Sun Yat-sen and the vision of a modern Chinese republic shaped his career and defined his identity for decades.
A Leader in the Kuomintang (KMT)
​After Sun Yat-sen’s death in 1925, Wang Jingwei assumed a prominent role within the Kuomintang (KMT) as the party split into factions over the future of China. Wang led the KMT’s left-wing faction, favoring collaboration with the Soviet Union and advocating for a socialist model of governance. Meanwhile, Chiang Kai-shek, another rising leader within the KMT, championed a more conservative approach, aiming for a militarized, nationalist state. The rivalry between Wang and Chiang led to internal struggles that haunted the KMT throughout the ensuing decades.
Despite the growing friction, Wang held various governmental positions throughout the 1920s and 1930s. However, Chiang Kai-shek eventually consolidated power within the KMT and Wang found himself relegated to a secondary role, his ambitions thwarted by his rival’s dominance.[4]

S. J. Woolf (Samuel Johnson Woolf, 1880-1948) TIME Magazine - Time Magazine cover, Mar. 18, 1935. Time magazine archive

In November 1935, he survived an assassination attempt orchestrated by Wang Yaqiao, a notorious Chinese assassin. This attack occurred during a period of intense political rivalry within the KMT as factions vied for control over China's future direction. Wang Jingwei's left-wing alignment and advocacy for collaboration with the Soviet Union made him a controversial figure, attracting hostility from conservative factions and external nationalist forces. The assassination attempt further complicated his position as Chiang Kai-shek continued to consolidate power, sidelining Wang and his supporters. Wang Jingwei was targeted by the assassin Wang Yaqiao due to his perceived betrayal of Chinese nationalist ideals and growing tension within the Kuomintang (KMT). Wang Jingwei’s leftist policies, including his alignment with the Soviet Union and advocacy for a socialist approach within the KMT, placed him at odds with more conservative, nationalist factions. This tension reached a breaking point as many saw Wang Jingwei as compromising traditional nationalist values for his political ideals, which were seen as influenced by foreign powers.
Wang Yaqiao, driven by staunch nationalist beliefs and a strong anti-communist stance, likely saw Wang Jingwei as a symbol of ideological compromise, motivating the assassination attempt as a way to eliminate a perceived threat to China’s national integrity. Some theories suggest that the attempt was also linked to the trauma and anger following the 9/18 Incident, in which Japan invaded and occupied Manchuria, further fueling motives to target Wang Jingwei. While Wang Jingwei was not openly pro-Japanese at the time of the attempt in 1935, his political stance was seen as conciliatory and his left-wing alignment was controversial. These factors made him a target for hardline nationalists like Wang Yaqiao, who may have viewed any perceived softness toward foreign powers as an unacceptable compromise.[5] Multiple explanations surround the assassination attempt, each offering different perspectives on the possible motivations behind it. 

Wang receiving German diplomats while serving as the head of state in 1941

Hideki Tojo and Wang Jingwei meet in 1942

The Sino-Japanese War and Wang’s Path to Collaboration
A few years after the devastating Nanjing Massacre, during which approximately 300,000 civilians perished under Japanese brutality, Wang Jingwei established a puppet regime in Nanjing, akin to the puppet administration of Manchukuo. Wang argued that peace with Japan was the only viable solution to end the brutal conflict that was devastating China, especially after the horrific events like the Rape of Nanking in 1937. He believed that a stable, negotiated peace could prevent further destruction and suffering, even if it meant compromising with the Japanese. By the time his puppet administration was established in 1940, Wang had lost significant power within the Kuomintang (KMT) to Chiang Kai-shek and his left-leaning pro-Soviet positions had left him marginalized within the party. Facing diminishing influence, Wang saw collaboration with Japan as a means to regain relevance and pursue his vision for China, albeit under highly compromised conditions.
Wang believed that collaborating with Japan could stabilize China after years of war and internal division. He argued that a negotiated peace with Japan would end the suffering of the Chinese people more swiftly than prolonged resistance, which he saw as futile given Japan’s military strength. He hoped to create a “New China” that would be modernized, albeit under Japanese guidance, and he viewed himself as a stabilizing leader capable of navigating this challenging situation. Japan promoted a concept of Pan-Asianism, arguing that Asian nations should unite against Western colonial powers. Wang saw this as a potential means of liberating Asia from Western influence, though it was ultimately a justification for Japanese imperial expansion. He believed collaboration with Japan might enable China to retain some autonomy within a Japanese-dominated regional order.[6]
Additionally, Wang’s establishment of the Reorganized National Government in Nanking allowed him to push for social reforms aligned with his political beliefs. However, his decision to collaborate made him widely despised as a traitor in China. Although controversial, many of the survivors who lived during that period recall Wang’s puppet government bringing stability to those who could not escape Nanking at the time.[7] Chiang Kai-shek and the Chinese resistance condemned his government as a puppet state and he became a symbol of betrayal for aligning with the enemy during one of the nation’s most vulnerable periods. Wang’s legacy remains deeply controversial as his vision for China’s future was overshadowed by the perception of collaboration and capitulation to Japan.

Legacy and Complex Reputation
Wang Jingwei died in 1944 due to complications from a wound he had suffered earlier during the assassination attempt in 1935, along with deteriorating health from various ailments. And though he survived, the bullet could not be removed and continued to cause him pain throughout his life. By the 1940s, this injury in combination with other health issues significantly weakened him.
While receiving medical treatment in Japan in 1944, Wang’s condition worsened and he ultimately died on November 10. His death came as Japan was beginning to lose ground in World War II, further weakening the Nanking regime he had established. Wang's collaboration with Japan had already left him a controversial figure but his death marked the end of a complicated and divisive chapter in Chinese history.[8]
Wang Jingwei’s death in 1944 did not end the debate over his legacy. In both mainland China and Taiwan, he remains a symbol of betrayal. His decision to collaborate with Japan during China’s most harrowing years has overshadowed his early revolutionary contributions. However, some historians argue that Wang’s actions, though misdirected, may have been motivated by a desire to reduce suffering and avoid prolonged conflict.[9]
Today, Wang Jingwei’s life serves as a reminder of the complexities and moral ambiguities that defined 20th-century Chinese politics. He was a revolutionary who sacrificed personal safety for his beliefs, a statesman who fought for his nation, and ultimately, a figure whose choices cast a long shadow over his legacy. Wang Jingwei’s story is not a simple tale of hero or villain but a nuanced exploration of loyalty, ideology, and the tragic cost of political compromise.

Sources: 

1. South China Morning Post. “Tragic Lives of National Hero-Turned-Traitor and Wife Who Stayed Loyal.” South China Morning Post, 4 Apr. 2010, www.scmp.com/article/709876/tragic-lives-national-hero-turned-traitor-and-wife-who-stayed-loyal.
2. Parks, C.A., editor. War and Occupation in China: The Letters of an American Missionary from Hangzhou, 1937-1938. University of Michigan Press, 2023. OAPEN Library, p.41 library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/b19fe771-01bd-4e23-a7aa-59676e477ab6/9780472903917.pdf.
3. U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. “Chinese Revolution of 1911 - 1912.” Milestones: 1899–1913, U.S. Department of State, history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/chinese-rev. Accessed 10 Nov. 2024.
4. Wang Ching-Wei.” Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/biography/Wang-Ching-wei. Accessed 10 Nov. 2024.
5. Wakeman, Frederic, 'Assassinations', Spymaster: Dai Li and the Chinese Secret Service (Oakland, CA, 2003; online edn, California Scholarship Online, 22 Mar. 2012), https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520234079.003.0013, accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
6. Yang, Zhiyi. “A Humanist in Wartime France: Wang Jingwei during the First World War.” Poetica, vol. 49, no. 1/2, 2017, pp. 163–92. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26839465. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
7. Hammond, John D. Wang Jingwei Biography. YouTube, uploaded by The China History Podcast, 15 Mar. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=etNe6Tlr_KQ. Accessed 10 Nov. 2024.
8. Taylor, Jeremy E. “FROM TRAITOR TO MARTYR: DRAWING LESSONS FROM THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF WANG JINGWEI, 1944.” Journal of Chinese History 3.1 (2019): 137–158. Web.
9. Stranger Times. Wang Jingwei: The Traitor Who Tried to Save China. YouTube, uploaded by Stranger Times, 29 June 2023, youtu.be/3ptfvEsrCkA. Accessed 10 Nov. 2024.​