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Zhou Fohai
周佛海
Zhou in 1940
Vice Premier of the Republic of China (Wang Jingwei regime)
In office December 1940 – August 1945
President	Wang Jingwei(1940–1944) Chen Gongbo(1944–1945)
Preceded by	Chu Minyi
Succeeded by	Position Abolished
Minister of Finance (Wang Jingwei regime)
In office March 1940 – August 1945
Preceded by	Position Established
Succeeded by	Position Abolished
Mayor ofShanghai
In office December 1944 – August 1945
Preceded by	Chen Gongbo
Succeeded by	K. C. Wu
Personal details
Born	29 May 1897 Hunan,Qing Empire
Died	28 February 1948(1948-02-28) (aged 50) Nanjing,Republic of China
Nationality	Republic of China
Political party	Chinese Communist Party Kuomintang
Alma mater	Kyoto Imperial University

Zhou Fohai (Chinese:周佛海;pinyin:Zhōu Fóhǎi;Wade–Giles:Chou Fo-hai;Hepburn:Shū Futsukai; May 29, 1897 – February 28, 1948) was a Chinese politician and the second-in-command of theExecutive Yuan inWang Jingwei'scollaborationistReorganized National Government of the Republic of China during theSecond Sino-Japanese War.

Zhou was born inHunan province, China, during theQing dynasty, where his father was an official in the Qing administration. After theXinhai Revolution, he was sent toJapan for studies, attending the Seventh Higher School Zoshikan (the predecessor ofKagoshima University), followed byKyoto Imperial University. During his stay in Japan, he became attracted toMarxism, and on his return to China, became one of the founders of theChinese Communist Party (CCP). He attended theFirst Congress in Shanghai in July 1921,^[1] but quit the CCP in 1924 to join theKuomintang. He was assigned as a secretary to the Public Relations Department of the central government, but maintained strong ties with the party's leftist clique, headed by Wang Jingwei andLiao Zhongkai. He strongly opposedChiang Kai-shek’sNorthern Expedition and Chiang Kai-shek’s conduct of theSecond Sino-Japanese War.

After Wang Jingwei broke ranks with the Kuomintang duringWorld War II and established the collaborationist Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China, Zhou soon followed. Within the new government, Zhou became Vice Premier, Minister of Finance and had control over part of theNanjing regime army. He was also Minister of Police (until 1941) and becameMayor ofShanghai afterChen Gongbo in 1944. He also maintained secret contacts with theNationalists inChongqing.

At the end of World War II, Zhou was captured and taken to Chongqing where he remained in custody for nearly a year. He was then sent toNanjing inJiangsu Province where he stood trial fortreason due to his wartime roles. At his trial, Zhou argued that, "In the first half of the period when I participated in the Nanjing government, I attempted, by keeping in touch with the enemy, to turn things to the advantage of my country; in the latter half, I tried to turn them against the enemy by maintaining contact with my country [the Chongqing government]." Nonetheless, Zhou wassentenced to death but this was commuted tolife imprisonment by Chiang Kai-shek, after his wife had interceded for him. He suffered from heart and stomach problems while in prison and died on February 28, 1948, aged 50.

• Barrett, David P.; Shyu, Lawrence N. (2001).Chinese Collaboration with Japan, 1932–1945: The Limits of Accommodation.Stanford University Press.ISBN 978-0-8047-3768-5.
• Boyle, John H. (1972).China and Japan at War, 1937–1945: The Politics of Collaboration.Harvard University Press.ISBN 978-0-8047-0800-5.
• Burns, Richard D.; Bennett, Edward M. (1974).Diplomats in Crisis: United States-Chinese-Japanese Relations, 1919–1941.Clio Press.ISBN 978-0-8743-6135-3.
• Chi, Hsi-sheng (1982).Nationalist China at War: Military Defeats and Political Collapse, 1937–1945.University of Michigan Press.ISBN 978-0-4721-0018-7.
• Hsiung, James C. (1992).China's Bitter Victory: The War with Japan, 1937–1945.M. E. Sharpe.ISBN 978-0-8733-2708-4.
• Mote, Frederick W. (1954).Japanese-Sponsored Governments in China, 1937–1945.Stanford University Press.

• 1897 births
• 1948 deaths
• 20th-century mayors of places in China
• Chinese anti-communists
• Chinese communists
• Kuomintang collaborators with Imperial Japan
• Chinese people who died in prison custody
• Chinese prisoners sentenced to death
• Delegates to the 1st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party
• Ministers of finance of the Republic of China
• Former Marxists
• Kagoshima University alumni
• Kyoto University alumni
• Mayors of Shanghai
• Members of the Kuomintang
• Politicians from Huaihua
• Prisoners sentenced to death by China
• Prisoners who died in Chinese detention
• Republic of China politicians from Hunan
• Vice presidents of the Republic of China
• World War II political leaders

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