Chu Minyi Chu Minyi ; ( ; 1884 - August 23 , 1946 ) was a leading figure in the Chinese republican movement and early Kuomintang government , later noted for his role as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the collaborationist Nanjing Nationalist Government during World War II . Biography . Born into a family of Scholar - bureaucrats in the Wuxing District of Zhejiang Province in the Empire of China , Chu ’ s father was a noted physician . Chu Minyi was sent to Japan in 1903 , where he studied economics and politics . In 1906 , together with Zhang Jingjiang , he departed Japan for further studies in France , joining the " Tongmenghui " dedicated to overthrowing the Qing Dynasty , when their ship stopped in Singapore . While in France , he assisted Cai Yuanpei in printing propaganda leaflets supporting the republican movement . In November 1911 , after the start of the Xinhai Revolution , he returned to Shanghai , where he became local leader of the " Tongmenghui " movement in the city . However , he disagreed with Song Jiaoren over the establishment of the Kuomintang , and left China for Belgium , where he earned degrees in medicine and pharmacology at the University of Brussels , but he never went into medical practice . He returned briefly to China in 1915 to oppose Yuan Shikai ’ s attempt to establish a new Chinese Empire , but soon returned to Europe . In 1921 , he became the Vice President of the Institut Franco - Chinois at the University of Lyons and held the post for a year . In 1922 he moved to Strasbourg , and received his doctorate from the University of Strasbourg in 1925 . In 1925 , on the death of Sun Yat - sen , Chu returned to China and became a member of the Kuomintang educational commission and the head of the medical school at the Guangdong University . He also became a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang in 1926 . As a Kuomintang Committee member , he organized the Chinese Arts Association , served as the Chairman of the Commission for the Establishment of National Hygiene and represented China in European countries in the early 1930s . However , due to various political differences with Chiang Kai - shek , he resigned his positions . Chu was in Shanghai during the Battle of Shanghai in 1937 , remaining in that city during the Japanese occupation . However , when his brother - in - law Wang Jingwei broke ranks with the Kuomintang and established the collaborationist Nanjing Nationalist Government , Chu accepted the post of Vice President of the Executive Yuan and Foreign Minister in 1940 . As Foreign Minister , he negotiated the November 30 , 1940 treaty in which Tokyo accorded formal diplomatic recognition to the Nanjing Nationalist Government and worked to secure diplomatic recognition by the Axis Powers by the end of 1941 . He was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun ( 1st class ) by Emperor Hirohito . Chu continued to pay an important role in the Nanjing Nationalist Government until the end of World War II . In 1945 , after the surrender of Japan , Chu was taken into custody by the Republic of China government in Guangdong in August 1945 . He was brought to trial in Nanjing on charges of treason in April 1946 . There was considerable public sympathy for Chu at the time of his trial for many people found it hard to consider Chu as a national traitor due his record as a Chinese nationalist . Many people considered his wartime role as a result of his personal loyalty to Wang Jingwei . Nevertheless , Chu was found guilty of treason and executed at Suzhou on August 23 , 1946 . His last words were “ I am not ashamed for my living , yet my dead will make more value . My body should be sent to the hospital to assist the study on medicine . ” There was a byword in China describing the main members of Wang Jingwei ’ s government . “ Chen Gongbo ’ s mouth , Zhou Fohai ’ s pen and Chu Minyi ’ s legs . ”