World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseAisin Gioro Xi Qia was born into the Manchurian Aisin Gioro royal clan in Mukden, Liaoning Province, China in 1883. He was a descendant of Surhaci, the brother of Nurhaci who laid the foundation for the rise of the Qing Dynasty in the early 1600s, and he was a member of the Plain Blue Banner in the Manchurian military caste system. Xi Qia studied in Japan in his youth and attended the Japanese Army Academy, graduating as a cavalry officer. During the 1911 revolution, he served on the side of his fellow Manchurians, which were unable to quell the rebel forces, and the Qing Dynasty was overthrown. Admitting defeat, he would soon join the Republic of China, becoming an officer in northeastern China, serving in various field and staff positions, including serving as the commandant of a military academy. He rose to command the Jilin Province army at the rank of lieutenant general by the late 1920s. Deep down, however, he had never shaken his grudge against he republic. In Sep 1931, the Japanese staged the Mukden Incident, and Xi Qia immediately wrote a letter of his distant cousin Puyi, the overthrown Emperor Xuantong of Qing, asking him to lead the Manchurians back to glory. Under the guidance of the Japanese, Xi Qia declared Jilin Province to be independent from the Republic of China (which would soon to be merged into the Japanese-sponsored puppet state of Manchukuo, nominally under the rule of Puyi). In Jan 1932, at the request of the Japanese, he assaulted the forces of Chinese generals Ma Zhanshan and Ding Chao; en route, his forces were unexpectedly attacked by Ma and Ding on 25 Jan, requiring the Japanese to dispatch troops in support, which ultimately led to the completion of the Japanese conquest of northeastern China. In Feb 1932, he was named the governor of Jilin Province of Manchukuo. In Mar 1932, his troops were defeated by General Li Haiching's resistance group Anti-Japanese Army For The Salvation Of the Country at Nong'an, 35 miles from Xinjing, the capital of Manchukuo, again requiring Japanese support in order to secure victory. Shortly after, he was relieved of military duties. In 1935 and 1936, respectively, he became the Imperial Household Minister and Interior Minister. In 1945, he was captured Soviet troops and was imprisoned in Siberia, Russia. Extradited to Communist China in 1950, he died at the Fushun War Criminals Management Center in Liaoning Province, China, where he was held alongside of other former Japanese collaborators.

Photographs

Xi Qia Timeline