Diplomat who led the refusal to sign Versailles at Paris, Nationalist foreign minister in 1928–1931
Born in Fenghua, Zhejiang, in 1882, the son of an Anglican minister, he led the Chinese YMCA in Tokyo, joined the Tongmenghui in 1905 and graduated from Yale in 1910. In 1913 he became vice-president of the Senate as a Kuomintang member. As vice foreign minister of the Guangzhou government he went to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, where he and Wellington Koo pressed for the return of Shandong and led the refusal to sign the treaty. He was briefly acting premier at the end of 1922 and between 1924 and 1928 alternated as Beiyang foreign and finance minister. As Nationalist foreign minister from 1928 to 1931 he pursued tariff autonomy, but resigned after students beat him following the Mukden Incident; he was ambassador to the United States from 1936 to 1938. The first Chinese IOC member, he stayed in Hong Kong in 1949 and died in 1961.
Also known as: Chengting T. Wang · Chengting Thomas Wang · Wang Cheng-t'ing
Activities and affiliations
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1905–1912
Tongmenghui (Chinese United League)
Diplomacy and international organization -
1913–1949
Political and party leadership
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1917–1919
Republic of China state institutionsVice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guangzhou military government
Diplomacy and international organization -
1922–1923
Beiyang government and warlordsActing PremierHeads of state, government and party of China
Political and party leadership -
1922–1928
Beiyang government and warlordsMinister of Foreign Affairs
Diplomacy and international organization -
1928–1931
Republic of China state institutionsMinister of Foreign AffairsMain
Diplomacy and international organization -
1936–1938
Republic of China state institutionsAmbassador to the United States
Diplomacy and international organization
Career Timeline
- 1905Founded the Chinese YMCA branch in Tokyo; joined the Tongmenghui
- 1907–1910Studied at the University of Michigan and Yale
- 1911Head of foreign affairs, Hubei military government
- 1912.01Vice-president of the Nanjing Provisional Senate
- 1913Vice-president of the Senate
- 1917.09Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guangzhou military government
- 1919Chinese delegate to the Paris Peace Conference
- 1922.03Commissioner for the recovery of Jiao'ao (Shandong)
- 1922.11Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1922.12.11–1923.01.04Acting Premier
- 1922Member of the International Olympic Committee
- 1928.06–1931Nationalist Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1936.08–1938.09Ambassador to the United States