Wang, Ke-wen, “Collaborators and Capitalists: the Politics of "Material Control" in Wartime Shanghai” (1992)

Title : “Collaborators and Capitalists: the Politics of "Material Control" in Wartime Shanghai”

Author(s) : Wang, Ke-wen

Year : 1992

Type : Journal article

Subject : History

Keywords : economy;war

Journal : Chinese Studies in History

Volume : 26

Number : 1

Start page : 42

End page : 62

Language:Name : English

Support : Print

Abstract : The Japanese occupation of Shanghai led many Chinese businessmen to move themselves and their enterprises into the Foreign Settlements. The seizure of these areas in 1941 forced Chinese capitalists to deal with the Japanese or the Wang Jingwei regime in an attempt to survive. Some maintained contact with the Guomindang government in Chongquing, dealing in contraband trade between free China and the Japanese-controlled areas. This activity was backed by Chiang Kai-shek's chief of secret police and Japanese military intelligence in Shanghai. Any cordial links with the Japanese were made impossible by the exigencies of war and the Japanese subordination of economic to military interests.