2008/06/01 by Margherita Zanasi · 3 citations
Social Sciences · #Chinese history and philosophy #Japanese History and Culture #Vietnamese History and Culture Studies #Nationalism #China #Government (linguistics) #Newspaper #Politics #Negotiation #United front #Political science #World War II #Adversary #Economic history #Spanish Civil War #Law #History #Communism
paper · doi:10.1086/ahr.113.3.731
openalex publication_date 2008/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
On April 6, 1946, the Shanghai-based newspaperShenbaodevoted most of its front page to the trial of Chen Gongbo, China's most prominent hanjian (literally “traitor of the Chinese people,” generally translated into English as “collaborator”), which was taking place at the Jiangsu Higher Court in the nearby city of Suzhou.1 Chen Gongbo was a well-known political personality in China, having been a longtime leader of the ruling Nationalist Party (Guomindang, or GMD) and the minister of industry from 1932 to 1936. In 1940, together with Wang Jingwei—also a prominent longtime leader of the GMD and chairman of the Executive Yuan, the executive branch of the Nationalist Government, from 1932 to 1936—he had established a government in Nanjing in collaboration with the Japanese: the Reorganized Nationalist Government, or RNG (1940–1945). Chen had held important positions within this collaborationist organization, and after Wang's death in November 1944, he had succeeded him as its acting chairman.2 Chen was accused primarily of “plotting with the enemy” and “opposing the central government.” In his defense, he described his work with the RNG as negotiating with the Japanese in an attempt to preserve China's resources, protect its people, and slowly erode Japan's control over China. Although he admitted that he had not ultimately been successful in achieving his goals, he portrayed himself not as a collaborator but as a nationalist. On April 12, the court pronounced its verdict, sentencing Chen to death, thus refuting his explanation of his collaboration and his claim to patriotism. The sentence was swiftly carried out on June 3, 1946.3 The theme of “collaborationist nationalism” that emerged at the Suzhou trial inevitably evokes the theme that characterized the trial of Marshal Philippe Pétain, the leader of the French collaborationist government in Vichy, held in Paris in late July 1945.4 Pétain and his lawyers based his defense on the theory of “shield and sword.” Pétain was the “shield” that, from within France, protected the population from the Nazi invaders, while the leader of the French Provisional Government, Charles de Gaulle—who had joined the Allies' war effort and had returned to Paris at the head of the postwar government—was the “sword” that attacked the invaders from outside. In spite of Pétain's claims that his actions had been inspired by nationalist goals, the jury found him guilty of “intelligence with the enemy” and thus decreed the illegitimacy of his narrative of war and nationalism.5 The fact that two geographically and historically different countries had developed a similar discourse of collaboration was to some extent the result of a shared wartime experience. Both China and France had labored for years under foreign occupation and witnessed the establishment of collaborationist regimes. The globalizing effect of the discourse on nationhood also influenced the way foreign occupation and the World War II experience came to be understood, the way the ideologies of resistance and collaboration were constructed, and the way the postwar French and Chinese governments approached collaboration trials. Foreign occupation had created deep political divisions in both countries, raising questions about national defense, the meaning of political legitimacy, nationhood, and patriotism, and had led to the formation of two governments presenting competing narratives of war and nation. In this context, the collaboration trial of Chen Gongbo, like that of Pétain, became a political ritual, an integral part of a process begun by the postwar regime of Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek). The prewar leader of China's Nationalist Government, who, like de Gaulle, had chosen resistance from outside the occupied territories, Jiang was aiming to eliminate all questions and uncertainties generated by the occupation, establish the unchallenged legitimacy of his leadership during the war, and reaffirm a unified and linear national narrative. France and China were not the only two countries to experience collaboration during World War II. Collaboration is an inevitable phenomenon of any occupation, developing “precisely at the intersection between the occupier's intent and the occupied's perception about the range of the options at developed in occupied political that, in spite of also came to be in postwar collaboration the of the discourse on collaboration in its and been to some the of this important political discourse out In spite of the fact that the shared of occupation and collaboration and generated an of postwar in countries the generally to the and war and the part in and political The discourse that the trial of Chen Gongbo and its with the on that collaboration an important of the process of political about by World War II. In China, in the Pétain came to the of and for the trial of who, as the most important leader of the was as Pétain's Chinese over important in the two and the Chinese discourse on collaboration and from the French into that the of the shared and for Chinese collaboration and its process of not only the of World War II on the process of in the of political but also the by two important a shared experience of war and occupation and the of of this shared experience into that The discourse on emerged from the between and of not only political but also the of the The Chinese of Pétain had a globalizing as his as a of collaboration and him outside of the of Nazi occupation and the French the Chinese hanjian In this to the of an that the experience under Japanese and Nazi occupation and the of World War II as China was not to this globalizing having in the the of the Chinese political and had to China as part of a and to its in of Chinese political while having in the of Chinese had also in the of the as by the of political as as by China's with the of The of the war into World War II after and the that China had in a war, the that had characterized Chinese the of the The Chinese political discourse became with as on and which to some extent also influenced the Chinese political in the postwar The Chinese on Pétain, trial in China any of the similar taking place in countries, is not French were well-known in China, together with of the foreign governments that had a in occupied China after The Chinese in Pétain was by the fact that Paris was the collaborationist trial to be on the and became of the phenomenon of as by a June in the trial of Pétain a that of any of not the of war The of this the not on or of or to but on of national which he is as Pétain thus came to collaboration as the of a the nationalist of was a that the phenomenon of its with Pétain, also the and of the French collaborationist narrative in the Paris trial which a of regime in had a of The trial thus came to an important in the of the French while resistance and as the only of and also an of its as a phenomenon of and narrative and its became prominent in the postwar by of its for Pétain to a the of the French The of the Pétain and its the of Chinese and to the of In and 1946, the years of as the and China's shared experience of occupation and and the in the political the of the two the of Pétain as a in China. The Japanese of China in led Jiang Jieshi to to the he established his wartime in he war the Japanese which occupied a of China's from to to the two collaborationist governments were established in occupied the prewar of the Chinese the and the RNG the war, France similar the occupied Paris on June 1940, the French government into two different the to the that the government in France and work an The and Pétain became minister of the On June 1940, the French government Pétain with the of negotiating with the ultimately a with the that France into two The in the under The came under the government led by Both France and China had thus and the formation of governments presenting competing narratives of and national In both countries, collaborationist ideologies were by a “shield” or “collaborationist nationalism” narrative. The of the that had a with and in Nanjing in an attempt to preserve the and its people, which had Although the political in some important from that of the Government, shared with the a similar discourse on Wang also that was his to protect the by Jiang by negotiating with the became central to the of defense by Chen Gongbo and the RNG were in Suzhou after Chen of the Executive and foreign and chairman of the Executive of defense was by the Chen of the Chinese were by the Nationalist to the was the that Wang to to the important of the of Chinese on the that and were the of the and that national defense by with and theme had also been central to the of collaboration by Pétain the of and in the defense at the Paris On June 1940, Pétain his in not French and not place outside of he a the of resistance from the by de Pétain the a to a of France that was only from the and its that the Pétain not between the French and Chinese ideologies of collaboration to which was also to a central theme at the trials. Pétain, Wang and Chen Gongbo based to on Philippe as the between of and national In 1940, all had to that the war were was Pétain, not a occupation, and his was not collaboration but to an to in to a process of a process that he as the only to a national that the generated by the during the of the war, to the occupation of a of the in fact to French to a deep national to a on to the nation. to Pétain, this in the of and as as in a by the of both and The he in had the French the for in to this he had an for at the of the Pétain that of the over control of French and within its to and the national national to be of any in the of In the Chen Gongbo in Suzhou that he and Wang had that the war was and that or the to China's this Wang had to an with the Japanese that the of a similar to Pétain's In he had is to preserve a for the as the for Chen on to that he had to Wang in Nanjing he also that the war was and that the only for China was to attempt to control over the of the which he as its Chen that only by and into the of an and national China its and Pétain, Wang and Chen were with with the of and were in a national as the most way to foreign in France, the on national in China the war and to an national at the of the by and from foreign generated a on in the by the from Japanese French and Chinese collaborationist ideologies and were influenced by a globalizing discourse on the which to a for of war and led the two countries to on and national the of the that to be the as a was to be Although national in with and to its political and on the of an based on a and Wang and Chen on the of an and national on its resources, be or and people, a shared and of nationhood in to de and Jiang and Jiang war from outside the occupied territories, a that a on and were the of the that were accused of having at the of also based ideologies of resistance on and of and national from in de that the of had been the war had not The war was not a between and France, but a in which the French and were also Gaulle, a nationalist that the war a meaning its on and and in an the he a between the and the national the a central in national to Pétain's to the French to on a de also the of the the and The fact that the resistance within France also the of national in its that de of this theme was a result of his positions his political the not to Pétain's the French resistance within a different political similar and of national be found in Jiang war and Although Jiang on Chinese he an of national defense with his of for by which he to the and of Chinese to the Japanese in to and the the to to China's and and the at the of national Jiang also an to national defense, he was in a de in this de Pétain's he on the of in his the RNG was established in 1940, China had been in its for two and was that the war into a or Jiang an defense to the for the formation of he was a to in and was in of as described in of the of the and the China, he was not protect and national but to protect established by after World War In his attempt to the war into a Jiang thus the political and of developed after World War his for in that he with The Japanese on on war the joined the war in the and the of the became a Jiang his and his for an national defense between the two narratives of were a result of similar war but also of the of a globalizing of nationhood that influenced the and by the collaborationist to the in the In this context, in both France and China, the of the of the collaborationist governments were the of a that had different of and national defense the years of The became at the collaborationist narrative and from while the political legitimacy of and de leadership during the to he been and and was at the during which the that was years to be from In the Jiang that any trial the of defense by the for of uncertainties and about the meaning of and national the on of political The of both the of the collaborationist in that and and political to the competing narratives of and national defense at of as and the legitimacy of both and the The collaborationist narrative was also government succeeded in the population and in the and Pétain, and Chen to after this had In in both and the RNG had a of in which any of and national was and both were or In both France and China, and been to on the on and legitimacy, an of Pétain's and Chen and and any into a in both countries, a emerged between the political and the of collaboration based on and the in war and of in the two wartime and in ideologies of collaboration and resistance were in China in the of Pétain as a of between the in China and France were by the that shared a similar and that had the and were was by an in April France had a of out of China in to in The Nationalist that had the to on trial any in China. French in Nanjing with the of between China and In a the the two Chinese were to this narrative of a that was to the Nationalist Party and had Jiang to during the war, that the of on France in the and on China in two occupied had been the front of resistance shared war experience the of in the postwar Although the French about the two only his political the by attempt to the and China's in an of experience that with the Chinese and was by the The generated by this the of the of Jiang and the Allies' wartime the into the this the Allies' the that the was part of a political of and thus to the political for the narrative of war as a between and while to the and of the governments of the the fact that were and was the fact that the shared political with the and that regime was unified narrative of war to to the that had been for to to was not a that the trial was at the that the on to war and was within the wartime political and in were in the Allies' into the postwar in both and the and that and were of the political the two the of the narrative of war and to the of the narrative of collaboration as a Chinese were in this and of collaboration by China's hanjian to both the war at and and the collaboration in Although the was primarily on the of a war between the GMD and the Chinese Party Chinese and the and and with in at the of the for by the of war and by the with which the Chinese government was to that about of of the and of Chinese under a shared or as part of the the on the Paris trial Pétain as a of The of his of of by thus the of the by Chinese an that at the was to the Nationalist Government, accused Pétain of and of and Pétain, had not to the of the nation. had France into the of the and to Nazi was not a French political a of political that also Chinese that as Pétain, Wang and Chen Gongbo of a out the nation. be and in the the of and and be in the to Pétain and a phenomenon of the be of by for for all and the French in of its to be in the this France to and all with out the to the and to the the by characterized French and Chinese as part of the that the French was the of the Chinese for French or were the of not or the of the as a and to a this he that hanjian be the of France, which after the war had at a In to China was in Although in French and Chinese and in the way with the French of the with he most Chinese he that the Chinese The were by Chen his to at had with Chen the of In the France to death or Pétain, as a not a death the on to that was to in by de not to on The was in was the French in the most and way Pétain was swiftly to death The also and the that the Chinese government had been in and for China to the French a of and population and a of also occupation for a is that Chinese as part of a Wang with Pétain, that both had on the of with the in to the the of Pétain by the and the that Pétain's had been to that of de but that was in to be the had been with or the of the wartime of the that the in had in and that he be after his The of the had that was and that his actions were of under for the of the in the occupied for the not to of national for the not to from and not to from the different to collaboration and postwar in some in different on the Pétain the discourse that had at the Paris narrative of the war and the in of The by in the for and for the “shield” for as were by Chinese and to the which was swiftly taking on a to into a with the to the Nationalist hanjian The of the discourse on collaboration was not its as by the to the trial of Chen the most and of the Chinese “shield” was by the outside the was for that was on the of of also that in spite of its generally unified political with and about the to to the that hanjian be with swiftly hanjian The that with the resistance only to in the and at Chinese in with for an to the of of the to the collaborationist had been The collaborationist were to by in the which had been under Nationalist of the for for and collaboration in of Chinese thus a in the of the of collaboration by the narrative of the French into a and from legitimacy for China's in spite of the fact that the Chen trial with this globalizing the between the Paris and Suzhou were The that emerged at the of Pétain and Chen Gongbo the in political and and of political legitimacy as as the political and of the trials. In the its attempt to the political illegitimacy of on the that Pétain's with the had to an of Pétain not the legitimacy to for the government at the was ultimately to and generated a but Pétain had been by and an effort had been to in the of the of Pétain was to death for “intelligence with the enemy” in with of the a in The fact that that this the establishment of Vichy, together with the effort at a be as an attempt to the trial within an and The Paris like most French collaboration to a between and political The Suzhou trial the trial in and its political were The Suzhou that had been created by the Jiang government in and and by the Nationalist to a prewar that was not to any political In China had for a its political was based on of the Both regime and the RNG had been established by and not by or any of with of to any a of Wang's establishment of a competing Nationalist in of in the of the Nationalist The different political of the two countries the war thus came to the of political legitimacy at In Suzhou was by the of any to prewar and a a of the legitimacy of that the in China were a political were by the fact that under The Pétain had similar the and jury were all of de and of resistance The was pronounced in China. The were both by the of but in this by the fact that the from by the of the Nationalist In in the of a the was by the was was to and of his political in the Chen Gongbo trial he under also from the fact that the political of the RNG and that of the Nationalist in had in the political GMD) and shared similar as as an In France, the political between and and the of the postwar discourse had an important political to the Paris trial and de postwar The Suzhou on the was characterized by an of political the war, Jiang had with the Chinese he had for years the his after the war he with Chen and collaboration out that the RNG had was the of out the had been an of the RNG with and the RNG had In the of the led to the and of and in the as the most of the not this RNG at the trial of his and similar of the The trial thus on the which in the of On the the RNG on trial were to not be that Jiang had that the the most to the Chinese nation. The French be only in Nationalist China, on the narrative of but its political the political theme that characterized French was to an important in the discourse on The in was intent on a of its both and the GMD to from the war as the of resistance and as not with the also the political of in the of and 1946, the Nationalist to outside the of China that had under control after the to and Suzhou also from the Paris trial was characterized by between and and at the of the in was a In in was jury to be the was by the The Paris trial to but Chen on the of April 1946, only two in the the by Chen to this the Chen the of Chen was to had to be by a and the court had to him he to the he had while in were to and jury was the trial with a and of questions and between the and Chen that was all the the that the be on April The trial was and its were in spite of the fact that to be and Chinese portrayed as in with that had emerged at the of World War for the of the Nationalist on hanjian to the but that decreed that war were to be not for In an longtime that had been over by the but which with the on most after Japan's the Suzhou trial to the that and The with on the of political presenting as an in this had been at the of a on to the Nazi and thus to by of with had ultimately not been in the of the which to the to for The of political most collaboration which in the of In this the French collaboration a by a on the of The Chinese of the of as established legitimacy to the Nationalist for with and for 6, decreed that all collaborationist were The of to be had held a in a collaborationist only were all to but were of the of and and and of and political as as had on the of the collaborationist government to or control the The into as a but that only to a not to of in for of the collaborationist government had to protect the Chinese from Japanese the war of or the of Japan's were as into of be guilty of with collaborationist after were to be of all for and were thus from the postwar Chinese that of the RNG trial in Suzhou was found were to death, with the of Chen in Jiang on all the and in only of his sentence from death to in The that Jiang to which was by the war, inevitably that Jiang was to eliminate Chen Gongbo not he was a but also he had joined with Wang in political to Jiang in the prewar of the Paris trial was in fact not a for the in a narrative of the of and the of Pétain the Chinese to political and between Paris and Suzhou and to Paris as a this narrative of and Pétain, the of French collaboration and of the Pétain trial as of and a of the of and came to for and of political context, most of its Chen Gongbo and the of the RNG trial in Suzhou after him with after the of the Japanese the of France and Although to be on the hanjian of the occupation inevitably led to in China, the legitimacy of trial on the of Japanese war the with and the the Suzhou and Paris were both political that had different for different and thus work at different the of a of national defense that Jiang and de to from the the of the of the of a for nationalist in countries that had is that Jiang Jieshi that work in his he also In his wartime to the for he the of War both he had to in and was an way to his to the In Chinese on trial in Suzhou as had a to that was by both and The that the Nationalist narrative of collaboration also a of China's wartime to some were at the to Nationalist and thus The fact that the which was not to also to establish a narrative of collaboration in Nationalist China that the of a discourse on collaboration that Jiang and China's at The at the of political is by a of and in the process of is a of the of the of political In a the and of of legitimacy for In is by this process of process thus both the Chinese political and the discourse on Pétain, which in the process of as a became and from its Chen Gongbo the in his defense on his for Wang collaborationist government in Nanjing as Pétain had in the In 1940, the war to be and collaboration as a for negotiating with the Japanese in Pétain's the in The had the war, and collaboration had to be an of national the of that defense thus in the postwar political The war had the political not only of Japan's and but also the Allies' war the discourse on war and and the discourse had the political discourse in China.