Xi Qia

Xi Qia; Simplified Chinese: (熙洽) or Wade-Giles: Hsi Hsia, also Xi Xia (1883 - 1950), was a general in command of the Kirin Provincial Army of the Republic of China, who defected to the Japanese during the Invasion of Manchuria in 1931, and who subsequently played a role in the formation of Manchukuo.

Biography

Xi Qia was an ethnic Manchu and a supporter of efforts to create a new Manchu-dominated state after the Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty. He rose to the rank of lieutenant general and commanding officer of the Provincial Army of Kirin Province under the Fengtian clique.

On 23 September 1931, Xi Qia, was invited by the Japanese to form a provisional government for the Kirin Province. The Japanese succeeded in achieving a bloodless occupation of the capital, Kirin city. General Xi Qia called a meeting of government organizations and Japanese advisors, and on 30 September issued a proclamation declaring Kirin Province to be independent of the Republic of China and establishing a provisional government.

After Japanese forces completed their military control over South Manchuria in early January 1932, occupying Jinzhou and Shanhaiguan they turned to the north to complete their campaign to secure Manchuria. When negotiations with Generals Ma Zhanshan and Ting Chao had come to naught, Japanese Colonel Kenji Doihara in early January requested General Xi Qia to advance with his forces and take Harbin from the last major Kuomintang force in the north lead by General Ting Chao. General Xi Qia advanced to Shuangcheng on 25 January, and fighting began on the morning of the 26th. However, Xi Qia's troops soon suffered a serious reverse and Doihara was forced to call upon the Kwantung Army to assist. To justify this, Colonel Doihara created the Harbin Incident.

The Japanese 2nd Infantry Division, commanded by Lieutenant General Jiro Tamon, was ordered to go to the rescue of General Xi Qia, and entrained on 28 January. Because of transportation difficulties in the cold winter weather it took seven days for Japanese columns to struggle north over the frozen countryside in temperatures of 30° below zero. Finally they closed in on the Harbin from the west and south on 4 February and took the city on 5 January 1932. Within two months the puppet state of Manchukuo was established and Xi Qia was confirmed by the Japanese as governor of Kirin.

Shortly after Manchukuo was established, Xi Qia's forces suffered another defeat, this time at the hands of the Anti-Japanese Army For The Salvation Of The Country of General Li Hai-ching on 29 March 1932 outside the town of Nungan, only 35 miles from the Manchukuoan capital of Hsinking. Japanese forces from the east at Yao-men, tried to fight their way through to Nungan with close air support from IJAAF bombers but the defender's radio ceased broadcasting when Li's Anti-Japanese Army captured the town.

Japanese regular forces soon drove the Chinese out of Nungan, but this and similar incidents of defeats and desertions by former Northeastern Army officers and soldiers hastened the process of replacing them with Chinese and Manchurians trained by the Japanese. Xi Qia was removed soon after his defeat and was given a desk job in 1932. He became Minister of Finance of Manchukuo, in 1934, and Imperial Household and Interior Minister in 1936. At the end of World War II, he was captured by the Soviet Red Army and held in a Siberian prison until he was extradited to the People's Republic of China in 1950, where he later died in captivity at the Fushun War Criminals Management Centre.

External links

* [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/PTO/IMTFE/IMTFE-5.html IMTFE, Japanese Aggression Against China]
* [http://www.newspaperarchive.com/?gclid=CNuojqiy3okCFQRDYwod-WLUKA NewspaperARCHIVE.com - Search Old Newspaper Articles Online ] at www.newspaperarchive.com SATURDAY EVENING. FEBRUARY 27. 1032. THE COSHOCTON TRIBUNE
* [http://ww2db.com/image.php?image_id=5051 Photo of Manchukuo politicians: Xi Qia third from the left, front row]