In the course of its aggression against China, Japan supported many puppet regimes in the occupied areas; after launching the Pacific War, it also supported a number of puppets in Southeast Asia in a vain attempt to use the tricks of "autonomy" and "independence" to cover up its crimes of aggression and reduce its military pressure. So how many puppet regimes did Japan support in the course of the war?
According to the regions in which the puppet regimes belong, I divide these puppet regimes into two categories, the first is in China, and the second is in Southeast Asia. Let's first talk about the first category, in the course of japan's war of aggression against China, it has supported many puppet regimes in China, and there are five of them on a relatively large scale. The first was puppet Manchukuo, located in the northeastern region.
After the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo, Japan supported the German king to form a pseudo-"Mongolian-Xinjiang United Autonomous Government". In 1937, after occupying the Pingjin area, the Japanese army collected the remnants of some Beiyang warlords and established a pseudo-"Provisional Government of the Republic of China". After occupying Shanghai and Nanjing, Japan supported Liang Hongzhi in this area to establish a pseudo-"Republic of China Restoration Government".
Later, Wang Jingwei fled Chongqing in response to japan's abduction statement. So in 1940, the Wang puppet regime was formed. At the same time, the Wang puppet regime nominally merged the original pseudo-"Republic of China Restoration Government", the pseudo-"Provisional Government of the Republic of China" and the "Mongolian-Xinjiang United Autonomous Government".
After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Japanese army marched into Southeast Asia and soon occupied many areas. At the same time, under the banner of "liberating Asians from the rule of western white imperialism," Japan tried its best to win over the leaders of national liberation movements in Southeast Asia and South Asia, and supported four puppet regimes.
For example, when Japan ruled Indonesia, it released Sukarno, the leader of the Indonesian Nationalist Party who was imprisoned by the Dutch, and formed the "Indonesian National Central Committee", with Sukarno as the leader. At the same time, Japan also formed a "volunteer national army" in Indonesia, and the officers and soldiers were all Indonesians.
In May 1942, after japan occupied Burma, a Burmese puppet regime headed by Bamot was established. The current Burmese State Counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi, whose father, General Aung San, was the minister of defense of the puppet regime, organized the Burmese Independent Volunteer Army to cooperate with the Japanese army and fight against the Chinese Expeditionary Force. It was not until 1944 that support for the Allies began.
In addition to Myanmar, there is also the "Second Republic of the Philippines". In October 1943, Japan supported Lauwell to form this puppet regime, with Lauwell as president. After Japan's defeat, the "Second Philippine Republic" was dissolved, but Lauwell was not punished after the war and was elected to the Philippine Senate. Finally, there is the "Provisional Government of Free India", a puppet regime formed by Japan to support chandra Bose, the head of the Indian Congress Party.
References: 1. "Pacific War"; 2. "History of World War II"