ABSTRACT
Japan’s Puppet Régimes in China As early as mid-July 1937 the Foreign Office in London was in possession of information, or rather rumours, to the effect that the Japanese intended to reinstate Henry P’u-yi, the last emperor of the Ch’ing dynasty of China, and now as K’ang Te Emperor of Manchukuo, in Peking as soon as the former capital fell into their hands.1 Just over a week after the outbreak of the Lukouchiao incident such a thought still seemed a little premature. Nevertheless it could by no means be regarded as an absurdity in the light of previous developments in the region, such as the establishment of Manchukuo by the Japanese and the annexation to it of the province of Jehol a short while thereafter. Peking, being situated in the northern part of the province of Hopei, and bordered to the north by Chahar and Jehol, both of which were administered by Japanese-sponsored authorities, could indeed, as the historical capital of China for over five centuries, become a natural rival to Nanking or any other new capital.
