Veteran Beiyang diplomat who headed five cabinets and acted as president
Born in 1877 to an Episcopal clergyman in Shanghai, he graduated from the University of Virginia, taught English, compiled an English–Chinese dictionary at the Commercial Press and entered the Qing service in 1906. Under the Republic he was minister to Germany and foreign minister from 1920 to 1922, and between 1921 and 1926 he led cabinets five times as premier or acting premier, in 1926 exercising the presidency as head of a regency cabinet. Under the Nationalists he denounced Japan's invasion of Manchuria as chief delegate to the League of Nations and in 1933 became the first ambassador to the Soviet Union. In 1949 he met Mao Zedong as Li Zongren's peace envoy; he sat in the CPPCC of the People's Republic and died in Shanghai in 1950.
Also known as: W. W. Yen · Weiching Williams Yen · Yen Hui-ch'ing
Activities and affiliations
-
1920–1922
Beiyang government and warlordsMinister of Foreign Affairs
Diplomacy and international organization -
1921–1922
Beiyang government and warlordsPremierHeads of state, government and party of ChinaMain
Political and party leadership -
1924
Beiyang government and warlordsPremierHeads of state, government and party of China
Political and party leadership -
1926
Beiyang government and warlordsActing PremierHeads of state, government and party of China
Political and party leadership -
1933–1936
Republic of China state institutionsAmbassador to the Soviet Union
Diplomacy and international organization -
1949–1950
People’s Republic of China state institutionsVice-chairman, East China Military and Political Committee
Government and administration
Career Timeline
- 1897–1900Studied at the University of Virginia
- 1906Passed the examination for returned students and entered the Qing service
- 1913Minister to Germany, Sweden and Denmark
- 1920.08–1922.08Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1921.12.18–24Acting Premier
- 1922.01.25–04.08Acting Premier
- 1922.06.12–08.05Premier
- 1924.09.14–10.31Premier
- 1926.05.13–06.22Acting Premier; exercised the presidency as head of the regency cabinet
- 1932Chief delegate to the League of Nations
- 1933.01.31–1936Ambassador to the Soviet Union
- 1949.02Peace envoy of Li Zongren to Xibaipo
- 1949–1950Member of the CPPCC; vice-chairman of the East China Military and Political Committee