Diplomat, politician, social activist, sport activist
Education level: Undergraduate (Liberal Arts)
Matriculated year: 1907
Biography
Wang Zhengting (王正廷，字儒堂), also known as C.T. Wang, Chengting Thomas Wang, or Chengting Wang, is a famous politician, diplomat, and social activist in China. His contribution to modern China was also recognized in the field of athlete and sports that he is one of the bellwethers in the promotion of Olympics in China and the very first Chinese member of the International Olympic Committee.[i]
Read moreBorn in a Christian family on September 7th, 1882 in Fuhuang, Zhejiang province, Wang was raised in the soil of Western thoughts and ideas. He went to the United States as a liberal arts student at the University of Michigan in 1907.[ii] He then transferred, after one year of enrollment at Michigan, to Yale University where he eventually received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1910. Wang returned to China in 1911 after one year of study in the Yale graduate program.[iii]
Wang served several key positions in the government of the Republic of China including the Chief of Diplomatic Affairs, the Vice-Minister, and later the Minister of Commerce and Industry, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Ambassador to the United States for a period of two years from 1936 to 1938.[iv] Wang also was the secretary of the Chinese Y.M.C.A. in Shanghai.
Intellectual Influence
During his position as Chief of Diplomatic Affairs, Wang lead the movement on the rescission of unequal treaties with Western powers through soft and pragmatic strategies, or “iron fist covered with rubber,”[v] as he proposed.
Read moreHis efforts have largely protected the Chinese sovereignty and retrieved a certain level of economic autonomy of his country.[vi] Wang is also a lifelong sports activist that he believes the popularization and promotion of sports and physical exercise at the national level can help defending China and improving the international influence of government.[vii] Wang’s long career as a diplomat and legislator inspired writings on comparative government, history, and the state of affairs in China. His experiences contributed to his works, such as An Overview of Modern Chinese Diplomacy, published in 1929.
Publication Showcase
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Bibliography *Profile photo obtained from: C.T. Wang, Box 147, Individual photographs, University of Michigan Alumni Association. [i] Qi Jun齐君 and Zhang Lianyi张连义, Lun Wang Zhengting de Ti Yu Li Nian, 论王正廷的体育理念 [A discussion of the athlete ideology of Wang Zhengting’s], Ti Yu Wen Hua Dao Kan, 5(2008):27 [ii] Howard Boorman, ed. Biographical Dictionary of Republican China Vol III (New York: Columbia University Press, (1970): 362-363 [iii] A.R. Burt, J.B. Powell and Carl Crow, editors, Biographies of Prominent Chinese (Shanghai: Biographical Publishing Company Inc., c.1925). 27. [iv] Howard Boorman, ed. Biographical Dictionary of Republican China Vol III (New York: Columbia University Press, (1970): 362-363 [v]Lou Tongsun 楼桐孙, Xin Yue Ping Yi, 新约平议 [A Discussion and commentary on updated treaties], Dongfang Za Zhi, 26(1):13 [vi] Guo Xia 郭霞, Lun Wang Zhengting de Fei Yue Si Xiang Ji Zhu Zhang, 论王正廷的废约思想及主张 [A Discussion on the treaty rescission of unequal treaties of Wang Zhengting’s ],Hunan Chengshi Xue Yuan Xue Bao, 1(2003):33 [vii] Qi Jun 齐君 and Zhang Lianyi 张连义, Cong Dang An Kan Minguo Waijiao Jia Wang Zhengting de Ti Yu Li Nian, 从档案看民国外交家王正廷的体育理念 [The athlete ideology of a Republics of China’s diplomat Wang Zhengting—an archive research ], Lan Tai Shi Jie, 7(2008):54
