Editing Wang Jingwei (section)

==Early career==
In the years leading up to the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, Wang was active in opposing the Qing government. Wang gained prominence during this period as an excellent public speaker and a staunch advocate of [[Chinese nationalism]].

Wang was part of a Tongmenghui cell which attempted to assassinate the regent, [[Zaifeng, Prince Chun|Prince Chun]].<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=40–41}} Wang and [[Chen Bijun]] were betrothed and informally married shortly before the assassination attempt.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=44}} The bomb that Wang and his cell planted was discovered, and Wang and two others who planned the assassination were arrested two weeks later.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=40–41}} Wang readily admitted his guilt at trial and was not repentant.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=41}} Wang was sentenced to life imprisonment.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=41}}

A number of factors may have contributed to Wang's receiving a life sentence instead of being executed.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=41}} [[Shanqi]] (Prince Su) was believed to have been moved by Wang's confession.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=41}} In his view, leniency would show the government's magnanimity and its commitment to reform.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=41}} Additionally, Shanqi's advisor Cheng Jiacheng was an undercover Tongmenghui agent and there were other sympathetic officials.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=41}} Finally, Tongmenghui leaders threatened reprisals if Wang were executed, and these threats may have had an intimidating effect on government officials.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=41}}

He remained in jail from 1910 until the [[Wuchang Uprising]] the next year, when he was freed as part of a general amnesty for political prisoners,<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=41}} and became something of a national hero upon his release.<ref>''The Biographical Dictionary of Republican China.'' Eds. Howard L. Boorman and Richard C. Howard,(New York: Columbia University Press, 1970), pp. 370–371.</ref> A book of poems written by Wang during his incarceration was published after his release and became widely popular.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=41–42}}

During and after the Xinhai Revolution, Wang's political life was defined by his opposition to Western imperialism.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}

Wang was a part of the [[Diligent Work-Frugal Study Movement]].<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=47–48}}

While Wang was living in France in 1913, the Kuomintang's (KMT) parliamentary leader [[Song Jiaoren]] was shot and died two days later.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=51}} [[Yuan Shikai]] was alleged to have been responsible for the assassination.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=51}} Sun Yat-Sen summoned Wang back to China shortly thereafter.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=51}}

Wang attended the post-World War I [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)|Paris Peace Conference]] as an observer, having declined to take a formal role with one of the competing Chinese delegations to avoid compromising his impartiality.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=56}} He was outraged by the diplomatic fiasco that unfolded at the conference and the European powers' treatment of China.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=57}}

In the early 1920s, he held several posts in Sun Yat-sen's Revolutionary Government in [[Guangzhou]], and was the only member of Sun's inner circle to accompany him on trips outside of KMT-held territory in the months immediately preceding Sun's death. He is believed by many to have drafted Sun's will during the short period before Sun's death, in the winter of 1925.
[[File:Wang Ching-wei addressing the students before the parade.jpg|thumb|Wang Jingwei addressing the students before a [[Shakee Massacre|demonstration in Shakee]] in June 1925 in [[Guangzhou]]]]
He was considered one of the main contenders to replace Sun as leader of the KMT, but eventually lost control of the party and army to Chiang Kai-shek.<ref>[[Jonathan Spence|Spence, Jonathan D.]] (1999) ''[[The Search for Modern China]]'', [[W.W. Norton and Company]]. pp. 321–322. {{ISBN|0-393-97351-4}}.</ref> At this time, Wang's view was that the KMT should be the lead party in a democratic coalition based on [[constitutionalism]] and that it should guide mass movements to change China's social structure.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=21–22}}

Wang had clearly lost control of the KMT by 1926, when, following the [[Zhongshan Warship Incident]], Chiang successfully sent Wang and his family to vacation in Europe. It was important for Chiang to have Wang away from Guangdong while Chiang was in the process of expelling communists from the KMT because Wang was then the leader of the left wing of the KMT, notably sympathetic to communists and communism, and may have opposed Chiang if he had remained in China.<ref>Barnouin, Barbara and Yu Changgen. [https://books.google.com/books?id=NztlWQeXf2IC ''Zhou Enlai: A Political Life''] Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. p. 34. {{ISBN|962-996-280-2}}. Retrieved 12 March 2011.</ref>