On December 18, 1938, Wang Jingwei quietly left Chongqing with his retinue and strange wife in the name of giving lectures to the students, and after going to Kunming to talk with Long Yun, he rushed directly to Hanoi, Vietnam. Immediately after that, Long Yun called Chiang Kai-shek, who was horrified after listening to it, and wrote in his diary that day: Unexpectedly, Jingwei's confusion and despicableness even this, there is no cure.
Not long after, on December 29, 1938, Wang Jingwei published an article in a Hong Kong newspaper in response to the statement of Japanese Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe, expressing his willingness to negotiate with Japan on the basis of Sino-Japanese friendship, common defense and communism, and economic support. After Konoe Wenmo learned that Wang Jingwei had fled, he immediately issued a statement of abduction:
China abandoned the anti-Japanese policy, recognized Manchukuo, promoted economic cooperation, jointly defended the Communists, and allowed the Japanese army to retain some troops in north China.
What does Wang Jingwei's behavior say? Although in the name of saving the country, a traitor is a traitor, and there is nothing to argue about on this issue, even if there are thousands of reasons, but we can only think: Will the brutal Japanese be at ease on Chinese soil and keep to themselves?
In the face of this fact, all peace talks are hopeless.
At first, Chiang Kai-shek wanted to deal with the matter of Wang Jingwei's departure in a low-key manner, after all, this matter was related to the reputation of the Kuomintang and the Nationalist government. However, on New Year's Day 1939, the Kuomintang held a special meeting, and the Elders of the Kuomintang, Lin Sen, Zhang Ji, Wu Zhihui and others indignantly advocated severely punishing Wang Jingwei. Finally, the congress passed a resolution by a large number of votes to expel Wang Jingwei from various posts, including party membership, vice president of the Kuomintang, and chairman of the Central Political Conference.
As the number two figure of the Kuomintang, once Wang Jingwei fell to the Japanese, it was a heavy blow to both the Victory of the Kuomintang and the Nationalist Government. Therefore, although Wang Jingwei responded to Konoe Fumima's statement, Chiang Kai-shek still contacted him through various means and sent important people close to Wang Jingwei to persuade him, and I hope that he can change his mind and make a final concession: If you do not want to return to Chongqing, you can also go to Europe to investigate.
It was just that it was going to rain and the mother was going to get married, and no one could stop it, and Wang Jingwei directly rejected the kindness of chongqing.
In addition to the differences with Chiang Kai-shek's political views, Wang Jingwei's departure also had a very special reason, that is, to leave Chiang Kai-shek as soon as possible. Because after the death of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, as the elder of the Kuomintang, Wang Jingwei himself had no real power in his hands, and he was defeated by Chiang Kai-shek continuously in the struggle within the party, and this frustration made him have a very complicated psychology towards Chiang Kai-shek.
After Wang Jingwei's exodus became known to the Chinese people, the Chinese side in Yan'an severely criticized Guang's behavior. Those local powerful factions who seem to share Chiang Kai-shek's dreams have also sent telegrams to support the Chongqing government and reprimand Wang Jingwei. For a time, from the domestic public to overseas Chinese, they were all criticizing Wang Jingwei's actions.
Suddenly, Chiang Kai-shek, who persisted in resisting the War of Resistance, achieved an unprecedented increase in prestige, and this result surprised Chiang Kai-shek very much. This result was also something that Wang Jingwei did not expect, and he always believed that as long as he took the lead in raising the banner of peace, the peasants who were estranged from Chiang Kai-shek, Liu Wenhui, and other local powerful factions in the southwest would definitely respond to him. Zhang Fakui and Xue Yue in Guangdong are also likely to be won over by him.
What Wang Jingwei did not understand was that in the face of the great national righteousness, all Chinese with conscience, who dared to cross the thunder pool of the great national righteousness because of factional struggles.
Soon after, the Hanoi assassination incident occurred, and Wang Jingwei also had an iron heart and never looked back. And Chiang Kai-shek's order to assassinate Wang Jingwei also meant that he gave up his efforts to pull Wang Jingwei back.