Description
Chan Cheong-choo (1904-1994), brother-in-law Wang Jingwei, joined the Chinese Nationalist government in 1931. The collection
is composed of an unpublished memoir of Chan Choeng-Choo, written by Chan himself, in English, "Memoirs of a Citizen of Early
XX Century China"; a Nationalist Chinese Government verdict which convicted Chan as a national traitor; a confession letter
written by Chan; and a piece of personal correspondence.
Background
Chan Cheong-choo (1904-1994), brother-in-law Wang Jingwei, joined the Chinese Nationalist government in 1931. Between 1932
and 1936, Chan held multiple positions, including the head of the Engineering Department of the Aviation Bureau, Nationalist
Chinese Air Force, and managing director of the Sino-German Aircraft Factory. In 1938, when Wang Jingwei decided to leave
the Chiang Kai-shek group and collaborate with the Japanese, Chan joined his brother-in-law. In March 1940, a separate Chinese
Nationalist government under the leadership of Wang Jingwei was inaugurated in Nanjing, under the auspice of the Japanese.
Chan was assigned the task of expanding the new collaborationist regime's air force. After 1942, he continued to serve multiple
official positions, including Member of the Military Affairs Commission and a military advisor to Wang Jingwei. After the
Japanese surrender in August 1945, Chan, together with numerous collaborators during World War II, was placed under trial
and then convicted as "national traitor." He was released from prison in late 1948, and then became a refugee in Hong Kong,
Thailand, and Malaya, eventually settling himself down in Canada. He died in Toronto in 1994.
Availability
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.