The North China Political Council or North China Political Affairs Commission (; Japanese: 華北政務委員会), sometimes known as the Beijing regime, was an autonomous region under the Wang Jingwei regime that existed during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Formed on 30 March 1940, it succeeded the Provisional Government of the Republic of China when that regime was merged into the newly established Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China led by Wang Jingwei in Nanjing. The council was a puppet administration of Japan, operating under the direct supervision of the Japanese North China Area Army.: "Mention should also be made of local security forces recruited by the Japanese Army in cooperation with the Temporary Government in Peiping; this government was later renamed the North China Political Commission and enjoyed some autonomy under the Nanking government."
Background and Formation Following the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in July 1937, the Japanese military established regional puppet administrations in occupied territories. The Japanese North China Area Army sponsored the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China in Beijing on 14 December 1937. This government was dominated by the executive committee chaired by Wang Kemin.
In January 1940, a conference was held at Tsingtao to draft a unified collaborationist central government under Wang Jingwei in Nanjing, agreeing that while Nanjing would serve as the capital of the Reorganized National Government, the Beijing regime would retain its autonomy. On 30 March 1940, the Nanjing government was officially established, and the former Provisional Government was restructured into the North China Political Council.
Provincial Administration The Council exercised administrative oversight over five provincial administrations in occupied northern China. The provinces were governed by regional collaborators.
Hebei was led by Wu Zanzhou and controlled Beijing and Tianjin.: "The Hopei provincial governmet under Wu Tsan-chou controlled Peiping, Tientsin and 129 towns. In March, 1940, the provincial office moved from Tientsin to Paoting. It had trained a 20,000-man police force and a 2,500-man security force." Shanxi was led by Su Tiren, who was selected due to his connections to the regional warlord Yan Xishan, and controlled Taiyuan.: "The Shansi provincial government under Su T'i-jen, who received the appointment because of his connection with Yen Hsi-shan, controlled Taiyuan and 92 towns." Shandong was under Tang Yangdu, and administered all but four of the province's 105 counties.: "The Shantung provincial government under T'ang Yang-tu, controlled all but four of its 105 towns." Henan was led by Chen Jingzhi and operated out of Kaifeng, controlling the area east of the New Yellow River.: "The Honan provincial government under Chen Ching-chi had its office in K'aifeng and was expanding to the western bank of the New Yellow River." Additionally, the Xuzhou Special District Commissioner's Office supervised 18 counties in northern Jiangsu and 10 counties in northern Anhui.: "In addition, a special district commissioner's office was established in Hsüchow and supervised 18 in north Kiangsu and, from 1940 on, 10 in north Anhwei."
Currency Established under the Provisional Government in March 1938, the United Reserve Bank issued its own United Reserve Bank notes (lianyin-quan). The Japanese forced the local population to exchange the fabi for these notes to undermine the Nationalist government's monetary control. Even after the Wang Jingwei regime created the Central Reserve Bank in 1941, the United Reserve Bank kept operating and issuing currency in the North until the end of the war.
Military The military forces of the North China Political Council, though part of the Collaborationist Chinese Army, operated under the command of the Council and its Japanese advisors, not Nanjing.
The Provisional Government's military force, the (), was initially established in October 1939. The force completed its initial phase in September 1940, consisting of 8 regiments organized into three group commands and two independent regiments. These units were deployed in Hebei and Shandong provinces to assist the Japanese military in securing local transport routes and strongpoints. Under the new administration, this force was renamed to the North China Pacification Army ().
The regular forces grew in phases, expanding from the initial 8 regiments to 22 regiments during the Hundred Regiments Offensive in late 1940, 29 regiments in late 1941, and 34 regiments plus 1 training group totaling 37,000 men in 1942. The Japanese China Expeditionary Army sought to maintain a force strength of 100,000 regular troops under the Council (compared to 110,000 under Nanjing and 10,000 under Mengjiang). However, the total collaborationist army strength in the north was only 118,000 men.: "As for regular armies, the China Expeditionary Forces sought to maintain a 110,000-man force directly under the Nanking government, a 100,000-man force under the North China Political Commission, and 10,000 Mongol troops. Actual size of the native regular force in north China, according to Japanese estimate, was 118,000."
Security Forces
In addition to the regular army, the Council maintained extensive local police and security detachments. For example, the Hebei Provincial Government trained and deployed a 20,000-man police force and a 2,500-man security force distributed across rural townships. To secure the countryside, the Japanese North China Area Army set a target of maintaining 300 police or security troops in each county. In early 1940, the police forces of Shanxi, Shandong, Hunan, and Hebei totaled approximately 72,500 men.: "It was the goal of the North China Area Army to have 300 police or security troops in each. At the rate of 200 men per, a putative total police force in early 1940 in Shansi, Shantung, and Honan Provinces would be roughly 50,000. With the addition of Hopei's, there were 72,500 men."
Japanese Army Minister Hideki Tojo and Chief of Staff Sugiyama Gen held a meeting in December 1940 and agreed to expand local police for the pacification of North China, reaching 69,000 county-level armed police under the direct supervision of Japanese military police by late 1941.
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