| Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek (October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975), Head of Nationalist (Kuomintang) China meets with Japanese Ambassador to China Shigero Kawagoye (January 14, 1881 – December 10, 1969). They are flanked by their secretaries. In December 1935, Chiang Kai Shek took over Wang Jingwei’s (May 4, 1883 – November 10, 1944) post as President of the Executive Yuan, and Zhang Qun (May 9, 1889 – December 14, 1990) replaced Wang as foreign minister. In assuming his new position, Zhang changed Wang’s policy of no direct negotiations to 1 of dealing with Japan in the hope of resolving outstanding cases of disputes and of readjusting relations between the 2 countries. “So far as China was concerned,” Zhang stated, “outstanding problems could be adjusted, not merely as a means of easing the situation in north China,” but “with the objective of ensuring peaceful co-existence of the two peoples for generations to come.” Zhang finally consented to hold formal negotiations at Nanking in the autumn of 1936, though he stipulated that the discussions were to be merely exploratory. In 7 sessions with Shigeru Kawagoe, the Japanese ambassador, he shrewdly employed delaying tactics which led neither to specific agreement nor to total disagreement. When the Nationalist Chinese Army scored a surprise victory over Japanese-supported insurgents in Inner Mongolia, Zhang took advantage of that development. He declined, but did not reject, numerous Japanese demands on the grounds that both anti-Japanese and anti-Communist activities were domestic Chinese problems not subject to intervention, certainly not by a Japanese government that professed to seek friendship with China. The long negotiations thus ended with no result other than the settlement of 2 inconsequential local incidents. This diplomatic episode was soon overshadowed by the Sian Incident of December 1936, when Kuomintang Generals held Chiang Kai Shek captive demanding a truce with the Communists to fight the Japanese and the national unification of China. In the ensuing reorganization of the cabinet at Nanking, Zhang resigned from his post as foreign minister. However, his policy toward Japan continued to be followed for several months, until the 2nd Sino-Japanese War broke out in July 1937. Zhang Qun’s negotiating attitude was certainly authorized by Chiang Kai-shek, who wrote in his diary on December 6, 1936, “The Japanese ambassador Kawagoe presented his one-sided autonomy of the Japanese proposals, forced Zhang Qun to accept, although Zhang Qun face to face refused, and Kawagoe put his papers on the table, and then left. Kawagoe placed it on his desk and left! The proposal was later returned to his embassy by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This kind of despicable trick is rare in world diplomacy, and the Japanese dared to do it shamelessly! Like this, how can the country not perish?” | |
| Image Filename | wwii1746.jpg |
| Image Size | 138.79 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1160 x 781 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | November 5, 1936 |
| Location | |
| City | Nanking |
| State or Province | Jiangsu |
| Country | China |
| Archive | Världskulturmuseerna |
| Record Number | 0964.a.1966 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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