Kenji Doihara: Spy Leader
By Rong Weimu
Since Japan targeted China and Korea in its aggression policy in the 19th century, it set up many espionage agencies in China. One of the most famous was the secret service division established by Kenji Doihara in the 1930s.
Speaking fluent mandarin and several other Chinese dialects
Doihara was born to a military family in Okayama on August 8, 1891. After graduating from the Army War College in 1912, he held a post in the General Staff Office, and then was sent to China, thus starting his spy career.
Doihara spoke fluent mandarin and several other Chinese dialects, which offered many advantages for his intelligence work. In 1930 he acted as head of the secret service agency in Tianjin.
Plotter of September 18 Incident, propping up puppet regime in northeast China
In 1931 Doihara was transferred to take charge of the secret service agency in Shenyang. Several months later, the September 18 Incident broke out when Doihara was in Tokyo to report on his work in northeast China. Nevertheless, the postwar International Military Tribunal for the Far East affirmed that he was one of the incident"s plotters. The accusation was based on the following facts: 1. Although he was not in Shenyang at that time, his secret service agency took the main responsibility for staging the incident; 2. When in Tokyo he wrote articles for newspapers advocating "solving the Manchuria question as soon as possible, not scruple to use force if necessary;" 3. Three days after the incident, he returned from Tokyo and assumed the office of Shenyang"s mayor; 4. He plotted for abdicating Emperor Aisin Gioro Puyi"s transfer from Tianjin to northeast China.
After the September 18 Incident, Doihara proposed to establish in northeast China a puppet regime led by Puyi. Backed by the Kwantung Army, he kidnapped Puyi living in Tianjin to northeast China, and then set up the illegitimate Manchukuo government. As a result, the entire northeast China became Japan"s colony for 14 years, during which it wantonly plundered the rich resources of the region. The local people were trapped in an abyss of misery.
Planning "autonomy movement in north China" aiming at splitting the country
After occupying the northeast, Japan took north China as its next target. In 1933 Doihara served as head of the secret service agency in Shenyang once again, and began to plan the so-called "autonomy movement in north China." At that time, all Japanese espionage agencies in Shanhaiguan, Tangshan and Tongzhou were under Doihara"s leadership. In the beginning, Japanese spies tried to rope in local leaders like Yan Xishan, Han Fuju and Song Zheyuan, seducing them to break away from the National Government and set up new autonomous regimes. However, their efforts turned out to be fruitless. Then Doihara changed over to new methods.
