Shield of collaboration: The Wang Jingwei regime's security service, 1939–1945

Abstract

This article studies the role of the security service in the Wang Jingwei collaborationist regime (1940–45), and argues that it not only contributed to the regime's coercive muscle but that it was also involved with the regime's broader socio-political policies. The central position within the Wang Jingwei government enjoyed by the security service enabled its head, Li Shiqun, to wield enormous influence within the regime. However the Wang Jingwei government had to share control over its security service with the Japanese intelligence agencies. This dual control made the security service a less tractable instrument of regime control than it should have been. This dual authority provided a clear example of the limits on the power of a collaborationist regime like the Wang Jingwei government, even in the crucial area of regime security.