East Hebei Autonomous Government

Origins

The Tanggu Truce of 1933 created a demilitarised zone south of the Great Wall. In November 1935, as Japan pressed for the separation of northern China, the local administrator Yin Rugeng declared the twenty-two counties of eastern Hebei autonomous from the Nationalist government, with its seat at Tongzhou near Beijing.

Rule and society

The administration was dependent on the Japanese army. It charged its own low customs rates, which allowed Japanese goods, silver and narcotics to flood into northern China, undermining the Nationalist government's revenues. Its peace preservation corps provided local security.

Decline and legacy

In July 1937, soon after the Marco Polo Bridge incident, its own Chinese security troops mutinied at Tongzhou and killed many Japanese and Korean residents. The regime was absorbed into the Provisional Government of the Republic of China in February 1938.