TheRepublic of China's declaration of war on Germany was a topic of vigorous debate from April to May 1917 in the firstNational Assembly of theRepublic of China governed by theBeiyang government, involving the question of whether toparticipate inWorld War I bydeclaring war on Germany.

The National Assembly had already ratified thecessation [Wikidata] ofdiplomatic relations with Germany in February and March. The hawkish faction in the assembly was led by PremierDuan Qirui, who had secretly borrowed money from the Japanese government, as the press revealed in May in a scandal called theNishihara Loans. This caused the National Assembly to delay the declaration of war.

After a failed attempt torestore the Manchu Imperial House in July, the dovish faction suffered a setback in the resignation of PresidentLi Yuanhong. The second Duan cabinet then declared war against theGerman Empire andAustria-Hungary on 14 August 1917,denouncing all treaties with them, retrieving theconcessions and leases inTianjin andHankou from them, and supporting theEntente Powers. The controversy over the declaration of war against Germany was part of thepower struggle [zh] between thepresident and thepremier in the nascent Republic of China.^[1]

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