Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937-1945

by Rana Mitter

On June 6 five major Japanese ministers held a meeting in Wang’s absence, in which they made it clear that a regime run by him would only be one part of a wider patchwork of Japanese client regimes in China; Wang’s dream of reuniting China under his rule was dead before he had arrived. In addition, Japanese demands on China would be harsh, including economic and military dominance across all of China’s territory. The only senior minister who was willing even to make a show of discussing terms was Itagaki Seishirô, the minister of war. Yet Itagaki made it clear that he would not support the dissolution of the rival client governments, particularly the “Reformed” government that had its capital at Beiping and controlled much of north China. Japan had won control of north China in war and was not going to give it up lightly.