Chapter 46 Section Four: Nine Chinese Diplomats Killed

The Pacific War broke out, and Nanyang fell under the iron heel of the Japanese invading army.During the three years and eight months of Japanese occupation, the Japanese aggressors' persecution of overseas Chinese was inhumane.The frenzied Japanese militarists disregarded public international law and went so far as to kill nine Chinese diplomats including Yang Guangsheng [Shengsheng] (Consul General in Manila) and Zhuo Huanlai (Consul General in Sandakan, North Borneo). Yang Guangshang (AD 1900-1942) and Zhuo Huanlai (AD 1912-1945) graduated from Tsinghua University and St. John's University respectively, and also received Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University in the United States and the University of Paris in France.Yang Guangsheng has served as a professor at Washington University, Georgetown University, and Tsinghua University, and has edited newspapers and periodicals, so he has a lot of experience. In 1938, Yang Guangzheng was appointed Consul General in Manila, and Zhuo Huanlai served as Consul General in Sandakan in 1940.At this time, the land of the motherland is raging with flames of war, the people are fighting bloody wars, and Southeast Asia is also covered with clouds of war. Japan's "Southern Advance" strategy is being implemented.

Before and after Yang Guangshen went to the Philippines, the overseas Chinese had launched anti-Japanese and national salvation movements locally, and established anti-Japanese and national salvation groups such as the "Overseas Chinese Aid and Anti-Enemy Committee" (Anti-Enemy Association). There were more than a hundred similar groups at one time. , donated money and efforts to donate planes, and organized the "Philippine Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Team" to return to China to participate in the war. The overseas Chinese leader Li Qingquan is also one of the two vice-chairmen of the Nanqiao Association, the highest leadership organization for overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia headquartered in Singapore. For overseas Chinese The Anti-Japanese National Salvation Movement was hated by the Japanese, and they sent spies to collect intelligence long before the invasion of the South. In the middle and late December of 1941, the Japanese army landed on Luzon Island and attacked Manila from the north and the south. Once the Japanese army occupied Manila, they first persecuted the patriotic overseas Chinese. Their lives and properties are bound to be threatened. At the critical juncture, the Chinese Consulate General in Manila took various preventive measures. They once considered evacuating the overseas Chinese, but there are too many overseas Chinese in Manila, and it is necessary to evacuate them in a very short time. It was obviously impossible to complete the task of collective evacuation here, so a decision was made to "hope the overseas Chinese, especially the anti-Japanese activists, to try to save themselves". Documents and records, so as not to fall into the hands of the enemy. On the eve of the Pearl Harbor incident, the Chinese government printed a batch of currency in the United States. On the way back home, the war broke out, and this batch of currency was stranded at the Manila customs. If this huge sum of money falls into Japan In the hands of Kou, it will inevitably cause huge economic losses to the country. The entire consulate general was mobilized urgently and ordered to destroy them. At that time, there were 8 diplomats in the consulate general. Consul general Yang Guangsheng did not give more consideration to his own safety, because according to the international According to the provisions of public law that belligerent countries should not kill the diplomats of the enemy country, the Japanese cannot kill them. When the Japanese army landed and the US commander in the Philippines, MacArthur retreated, he reserved a seat for Yang Guangyu and others, but he politely declined. At the meeting of all embassy staff, he announced that "as a diplomatic official, he should bear the heavy responsibility of protecting overseas Chinese, and he will never leave his post without order." In early January 1942, eight officials of the Chinese Consulate General including Yang Guangyu were detained by the Japanese army, and at the same time More than 40 patriotic overseas Chinese leaders were also detained. The Japanese occupation authorities coerced them into accepting three conditions: (1) the Chongqing government was called to "negotiate peace" with Japan, and declared support for the traitor regime of Wang Jingwei in Nanjing; (2) within three months, Raised for the Japanese occupation authorities the double amount of donations (12 million pesos) made by overseas Chinese in the Philippines to the Chongqing government from 1937 to 1941; (3) organized overseas Chinese associations and cooperated with the Japanese occupation authorities. He also said that if these conditions can be accepted , the detainees can be released, and the frozen property can also be returned. The reply is limited within two days. But the detained Chinese are righteous and sternly rejected the enemy's request. The coercion failed, and the Japanese invaders took the Chinese diplomats and overseas Chinese Imprisoned. Eight diplomats, including Yang Guangyu, were tortured in the damp dungeon of the San Diego Fortress. On April 17, the Japanese occupation authorities disregarded international public law and used the so-called "anti-Japanese activities" to assist the Chongqing government militarily and boycott Japanese goods. and "disturbing" law and order and other "crimes", they should be kept secretSecret execution.In the face of the enemy's butcher's knife, the eight Chinese diplomats were brave and unyielding, showing precious national integrity.

While detaining Yang Guangyu and other Chinese diplomats stationed in the Philippines, Zhuo Huanlai also fell into the clutches of the Japanese invaders in Sandakan. On January 19, 1942, the Japanese army occupied Sandakan, British North Borneo. The Chinese Consulate failed to withdraw in time, and the diplomatic personnel were surrounded by the enemy.When the Japanese army rushed into the consulate, the Chinese flag was still flying high, and Zhuo Huanlai remained calm at his desk.The enemy forced him to hand over the documents, and he showed the ashes.The Japanese army was furious and immediately arrested Zhuo Huanlai, other officials and family members.The Japanese occupation authorities threatened Zhuo Huanlai. If he surrendered and joined the Wang Jingwei government in Nanjing, he would enjoy the "Greater East Asia Common Prosperity" and his wife and two young children would be free.To the enemy's coercion and temptation, Zhuo Huanlai "smiled lightly" and categorically refused to cooperate.In the following three years, Zhuo Huanlai was imprisoned in a concentration camp, doing hard labor such as logging and building roads, and was transferred to various places in North Borneo. The living conditions were extremely harsh.Zhuo Huanlai, who was physically and mentally devastated, never gave in to the enemy. From the lines in the newspapers run by the Japanese army, he captured the information that the enemy was about to fail.Overseas Chinese from all over the world did their best to help him materially, sending food, vegetables, and medicine. They also planned to help him escape from the devil's den.Especially at the beginning of 1945, the defeat of the Japanese army in the Pacific War was set.Allied planes frequently attacked.In order to avoid air raids, the Japanese army loosened control over Zhuo Huanlai, allowing him to move freely, so the overseas Chinese drew up an escape plan for him.Zhuo also came to politely resign, and he said affectionately to his well-meaning overseas Chinese friends: With everyone's help, it is easy to escape, but if the Japanese army can't catch him, they will inevitably harm the overseas Chinese in the entire region.The years of hardship were over, and now that peace was at hand, he could not abandon everyone and run away.He encouraged the overseas Chinese to "don't be discouraged and don't forget the motherland. The motherland will never forget us. We must wait patiently for the arrival of victory, and China will surely become a world power"! In the early morning of July 6, Zhuo Huanlai and four other fellow sufferers from the West were brutally killed by the Japanese army.At this time, there was only a few months before the surrender of the Japanese army.

History is always just. In August 1945, the World People's Anti-Fascist War achieved complete victory. In early 1946, the executioners who killed nine Chinese diplomats including Yang Guangshang and Zhuo Huanlai were executed. In 1947, the remains of nine martyrs including Yang Guangsheng and Zhuo Huanlai were buried in the motherland.Tragic public sacrifices and farewell ceremonies were held in the Philippines, North Borneo, and Singapore.On July 8 of that year, the Chinese government solemnly paid homage to the nine heroes in Nanjing. On September 3, the remains of the martyrs were buried in Nanjing Juhuatai Zhonglie Park.There are also monuments in Manila and North Borneo, where they died, to commemorate their achievements.