# Hebei–Chahar Political Council

The Hebei–Chahar (or Hopeh-Chahar) Political Council, or Hebei-Chahar Political Commission (Chinese: 冀察政務委員會; pinyin: Jìchá zhèngwù wěiyuánhuì; Wade–Giles: Chi-ch'a chêng-wu wei-yüan-hui), was a political body established under General Song Zheyuan on 18 December 1935 to rule over the two northern Chinese provinces of Hebei and Chahar.
During mid-1933, the Kuomintang government in Nanjing sought to strengthen control over the northern provinces of Hebei and Chahar, then under the control of Song's 29th Army. As such, He Yingqin replaced Zhang Xueliang as head of the Beiping Branch Military Council and Huang Fu installed as head of the new Political Affairs Commission, both men being Kuomintang officials loyal to Nanjing. Their impact, however, was limited, and any improvement of relations between the 29th Army and the central government came from personal relationships, such as that between Song and Liu Jianqun, political education officer in the 29th Army.
In 1935, under Japanese pressure, China signed the He-Umezu Agreement, which forbade the Kuomintang from conducting any party operations in Hebei, thus obliging the removal of all central government influence from the PAC and BMC, and both Ho and Huang returned to the capital. In May of the same year, the Qin-Doihara Agreement was signed, removing Song as governor of Chahar and essentially removing all KMT influence there. By the end of 1935, the Chinese central government had virtually vacated from North China. In its place, the Japanese, under the direction of Doihara Kenji began a movement to promote autonomy for the five northern provinces of Hebei, Chahar, Shanxi, Shandong and Suiyuan. Retired politicians from the Beiyang government such as Cao Kun, Wu Peifu (formerly of the Zhili clique) and Duan Qirui (formerly of the Anhui clique) were also targeted to serve as potential leaders, and by late autumn the autonomy movement had begun amassing the semblance of a popular base in Beiping (present-day Beijing), Tianjin and rural Hebei, culminating in the creation of the Japanese-backed East Hebei Autonomous Council in November. Doihara then diverted most of his overtures towards General Song, hoping to convince him to set up an autonomous government in the Hebei-Chahar region. The latter initially vehemently denied any personal involvement in Japanese plans for the region, and it was only on 19 November 1935, after Doihara presented Song with an ultimatum to declare autonomy or face military reprisal that did he admit to being the target of Japanese overtures, telling Chiang Kai-shek that:
   We have had no choice but to begin exploratory discussions with [the Japanese], while supporting the centralized system and remaining within the following limits: non-intervention in China’s domestic politics, non-infringement of China’s territory, equality and mutual amity....
In December 1935, seeking to re-establish control over the northern provinces, Nanjing resolved to dissolve the BMC, establishing the Hebei-Chahar Political Council in its place, which reported directly to Wang Jingwei's Executive Yuan. Nonetheless, discussions with the Japanese continued: in spring 1936, the North China Garrison Army proposed joint political and military action to "prevent the spread of communism" in the region, with an agreement reportedly concluded by 30 March. On 1 October, a preliminary agreement was concluded between Song and Tashiro Kanichirō regarding joint Sino-Japanese economic development of the region, but the talks were suspended after the government in Nanjing made clear that no such agreement would be considered valid without its approval. During the latter part of 1936 and early 1937, however, Song moved back towards realignment with Nanjing, supporting Chiang Kai-shek during the Xi'an Incident.
After the fall of Beiping, Song resigned as Chairman of the Hebei-Chahar Political Council, but it was refused, and he remained in post until the Council was officially dissolved on 20 August 1937.