When the Sino-Japanese War came to a deadlock, Zhou Fohai was disappointed and frustrated with Chiang Kai-shek's Operations in Japan. Thus, in 1938. he was a founding member of the Peace Movement. After the Sino-Japanese War, he regarded writing a dia...
When the Sino-Japanese War came to a deadlock, Zhou Fohai was disappointed and frustrated with Chiang Kai-shek's Operations in Japan. Thus, in 1938. he was a founding member of the Peace Movement. After the Sino-Japanese War, he regarded writing a diary as significant and commented on politics, economics, military, and international relations during the anti-Japanese war. His diary shows the process of negotiation with the Japanese counterpart and the justification of his action, the hidden aspects of the Wang Jingwei's regime, and also the relations with Chiang Kai-shek and the Japanese as well. Zhou Fohai was the most optimistic person among the leaders of the Wang's regime. He expounded the meaning and method of peace advocacy and collaboration was not just an unworthy attempt, from the viewpoint of nation. Zhou strived to change the military and the economic system under the Japanese control by working as the Minister of Finance. and the Governor of the Central Reserve Bank (中央儲備銀行). The foundation of the Central Reserve Bank and the issue of Chubeiquan (中儲券) were one of the few polices Wang's regime achieved from the Japanese government.
Zhou Fohai was at the center of power under Wang Jingwei's regime, he kept clandestine relationships with powerful people in various fields under the Guomindang government. So, when Japan collapsed, Zhou, as an appointed Commander-in-chief in Shanghai (上海 行動總隊總指揮), successfully fulfilled his role helping the Guomintang regime achieve victory after the long-term resistance to Japan. Zhou‘s transitions symbolize the political upheaval of China caused by the failure of the government to reach a national consensus regarding the foundation of a nation state. Even though Zhou Fohai died of illness in prison after he was tried by the Guomindang for his collaboration after the Japanese defeat, his ideology and actions are not as simple as to be treated as mere collaboration. His pro-Japanese activity was related to a position where he based his ideal, which may be seen as a way of 'modernization' or 'reconstructing the nation'.