Lian Yu (Chinese:廉隅;pinyin:Lián Yú;Wade–Giles:Lien Yü; 1886 - 13 August 1972),[1][2]art nameLiqing (励清).[3]was a diplomat, politician, judicial officer and lawyer in theRepublic of China. He was an important politician during theReformed Government of the Republic of China andWang Jingwei regime (Republic of China-Nanjing).
He was born inWuxi,Jiangsu Lian went to Japan where he acquiredBachelor of Laws atKyoto Imperial University. Later he returned to China and got a position in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of theBeijing Government.[4]
In 1905, Lian Yu was posted as the assistant amban to Tibet, to work with ambanYou Tai. The following year, You Tai was arrested on charges of corruption, and Lian became the chief amban. He remained in the post until theXinhai revolution when all Chinese officials were expelled from Tibet.[5]
In January 1913 he was appointed Chief of theZhejiang High Court, but he resigned in November.[6] The following March he was appointed Chief of theZhili High Court which post he held until September 1920.[7] He was transferred to acting Chief of theHenan High court soon, but resigned next month.[8] Later he was an established lawyer inTianjin.[4]
In April 1938 Lian Yu was appointed Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs in theReformed Government of the Republic of China, but resigned in June. Next February, the Minister for Foreign AffairsChen Lu (陳籙) was assassinated by secret agents of theNationalist Government, so Lian served 4 months as acting Minister for Foreign Affairs. In same August he was transferred to the position of acting Minister for Business (Xia Qifeng succeeded him as acting Minister for Foreign Affairs).[9]
In March 1940 theReorganized National Government of China was established, Lian Yu was appointed a legislator (Member of theLegislative Yuan).[4] In the end of the same year he was appointed the first Ambassador toManchukuo. In February 1943 he was recalled (Chen Jicheng陳濟成 succeeded him in this position) and became Ambassador standing at the Ministry. In May 1945 he was appointed as the last Ambassador to Japan.[10]
After the Wang Jingwei regime collapsed, the Nationalist government decided to not prosecute him as atraitor as he wasn't viewed as having committed any crime against the country, even though he was ambassador to Japan under the collaborationist administration. He later left for Taiwan along with the Nationalist government. In Taiwan, he lived in difficult circumstances and sometimes helped the monks inTamsui Longshan Temple [zh] inTamsui.[11] He died in Taipei in 13 August 1972 at the age of 87.[2]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Minister of Foreign Affairs (Reformed Government of the Republic of China) April 1939 – August 1939 (acting) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Commerce (Reformed Government of the Republic of China) August 1939 – March 1940 | Succeeded by office abolished |
| Preceded by | Ambassador of theWang Jingwei Government to theEmpire of Japan May 1945 – August 1945 | Succeeded by dissolution of the Wang Jingwei Government |
| International | |
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| National | |
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