East Hebei Autonomous Council

, or the East Hopei Autonomous Anti-Communist Council, was a short-lived Japanese puppet state in northern China in the late 1930s.

History and development

After the creation of Manchukuo, and subsequent military action by the Imperial Japanese Army, which brought northern China north of the Great Wall under Japanese control, the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China signed the Tanggu Truce which established a demilitarized zone south of the Great Wall, extending from Tianjin to Beijing. Under the terms of the Tanggu Truce, and the subsequent He-Umezu Agreement of 1935, this demilitarized zone was also purged on the political and military influence of the Kuomingtang government of China.

On November 15, 1935 the local Chinese administrator of the 22 counties in Hopei province, Yin Ju-keng, proclaimed the territories under his control to be autonomous, and on November 24, to be independent of the Republic of China with its capital at Tungchow. The new government immediately signed economic and military treaties with Japan. The Demilitarized Zone Peace Preservation Corps that had been created by the Tanggu Truce was disbanded and reorganized as the East Hopei Army with Japanese military support. The Japanese goal was to establish a buffer zone between Manchukuo and China, but the pro-Japanese collaborationist regime was seen as an affront by the Chinese government and a violation of the Tanggu Truce.

The East Hebei government survived the Tungchow Mutiny in late July 1937, but was absorbed into the collaborationist Provisional Government of China in December 1937.

References

* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,757550,00.html Time Magazone article of April 5 1937]
* [http://www.crwflags.com/FOTW/flags/cn_j_nj1.html#hopei On Hopei Flag]