The
General Affairs State Council was the de facto
executive administrative branch}}In the study of political science the executive branch of government has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the democratic idea of the separation of powers .In many...
of the government of the Japanese-controlled Empire of
ManchukuoManchukuo was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Dynasty of China...
from 1934-1945.
Manchukuo was proclaimed a
monarchyThe person who heads a monarchy is called a monarch. It was a common form of government in the world during the ancient and medieval times. A Monarchy is a form of government in which supreme power is absolutely or nominally lodged with an individual, who is the head of state, often for life or...
on 1 March 1934, with former
Qing dynastyThe Qing Dynasty , also known as the Manchu Dynasty, was the last ruling dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912...
emperor
PuyiPuyi , of the Manchu Aisin-Gioro ruling family, was the last Emperor of China. He ruled in two periods between 1908 and 1924, firstly as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 to 1912, and nominally as a non-ruling puppet emperor for twelve days in 1917...
assuming the Manchukuo throne under the reign name of Emperor Kang-de. An
imperial rescriptAn Imperial Rescript is a major political edict issued from an imperial authority. In each culture where practiced there are specific traditions, normally associated with the written form the statement takes .Examples:...
issued the same day, promulgated the
organic lawAn organic law or fundamental law is a law or system of laws which forms the foundation of a government, corporation or other organization's body of rules. A constitution is a particular form of organic law for a sovereign state....
of the new state, establishing a
Privy CouncilA privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation on how to exercise their executive authority, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government...
, a
Legislative CouncilA Legislative Council is the name given to the legislatures, or one of the chambers of the legislature of many nations and colonies.A member of the Legislative Council is commonly referred to as an MLC.- Unicameral legislatures :...
and the
General Affairs State CouncilThe Council of State is the name of a governmental body in many countries and specifically in republics. The term Council of State is applied to a number of different things ranging from the formal name for the cabinet to a non-executive advisory body surrounding a head of state...
to “advise and assist the emperor in the discharge of his duties”.
The
General Affairs State Council was the de facto
executive administrative branch}}In the study of political science the executive branch of government has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the democratic idea of the separation of powers .In many...
of the government of the Japanese-controlled Empire of
ManchukuoManchukuo was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Dynasty of China...
from 1934-1945.
Background
Manchukuo was proclaimed a
monarchyThe person who heads a monarchy is called a monarch. It was a common form of government in the world during the ancient and medieval times. A Monarchy is a form of government in which supreme power is absolutely or nominally lodged with an individual, who is the head of state, often for life or...
on 1 March 1934, with former
Qing dynastyThe Qing Dynasty , also known as the Manchu Dynasty, was the last ruling dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912...
emperor
PuyiPuyi , of the Manchu Aisin-Gioro ruling family, was the last Emperor of China. He ruled in two periods between 1908 and 1924, firstly as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 to 1912, and nominally as a non-ruling puppet emperor for twelve days in 1917...
assuming the Manchukuo throne under the reign name of Emperor Kang-de. An
imperial rescriptAn Imperial Rescript is a major political edict issued from an imperial authority. In each culture where practiced there are specific traditions, normally associated with the written form the statement takes .Examples:...
issued the same day, promulgated the
organic lawAn organic law or fundamental law is a law or system of laws which forms the foundation of a government, corporation or other organization's body of rules. A constitution is a particular form of organic law for a sovereign state....
of the new state, establishing a
Privy CouncilA privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation on how to exercise their executive authority, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government...
, a
Legislative CouncilA Legislative Council is the name given to the legislatures, or one of the chambers of the legislature of many nations and colonies.A member of the Legislative Council is commonly referred to as an MLC.- Unicameral legislatures :...
and the
General Affairs State CouncilThe Council of State is the name of a governmental body in many countries and specifically in republics. The term Council of State is applied to a number of different things ranging from the formal name for the cabinet to a non-executive advisory body surrounding a head of state...
to “advise and assist the emperor in the discharge of his duties”. The Privy Council was an appointive body consisting of Puyi's closest friends and confidants, and the Legislative Council was largely an honorary body without authority. The State Council was therefore the center of political power in Manchukuo.
Workings
The General Affairs State Council consisted of ten ministries forming a
cabinetA Cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or Executive Committee.- Overview :...
. The cabinet ministers were all native Manchukuoans, of either ethnic
ManchuThe Manchu people are a Tungusic people who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the seventeenth century, with the help of Ming rebels , they conquered the Ming Dynasty and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which established a...
or
Han ChineseHan Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and, by most modern definitions, the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92 percent of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98 percent of the population of the Republic of China , 75 percent of the...
descent, and in all cases, the vice-ministers in each ministry were
Imperial Japanese ArmyThe Imperial Japanese Army , or literally Army of the Empire of Greater Japan was the official ground based armed force of Imperial Japan from 1867 to 1945...
officers, appointed by the
Kwantung ArmyThe , also known as the Guandong Army , was an army group of the Imperial Japanese Army in the early twentieth century. It became the largest and most prestigious command in the IJA...
leadership. The Japanese vice-ministers functions in roles similar to British
resident officerResident Commissioner is the title of several, quite different types of Commissioner in overseas possession or protectorate of the British Crown or of the United States.-British English:...
s in British overseas protectorates in that they had final approval over any actions of the “native” ministers. The State Council itself was presided over by a Secretary-General, the first of whom was Takuzo Komai, an ethnic Japanese.
The Council's initial composition was at the time of Prime Minister
Zheng XiaoxuZhèng Xiàoxū . Chinese statesman, diplomat and calligrapher.-Early life and diplomatic career:Although Zheng traced his ancestral roots to Minhou, a small town near Fuzhou, he was born in Suzhou, Jiangsu...
included the following
portfolioA ministry is a specialised organisation responsible for a sector of government public administration, sometimes led by a minister, but usually a senior public servant, that can have responsibility for one or more departments, agencies, bureaus, commissions or other smaller executive, advisory,...
s:
- Prime Minister
- Home Affairs
- Foreign Affairs
- Defense
- Finance
- Industry and Agriculture
- Transportation and Communications
- Justice
- Education
- Mongolian Affairs
The State Council building
The State Council Building was an imposing five-story structure with two four-story wings built in downtown Hsinking in
reinforced concreteReinforced concrete is concrete in which steel reinforcement bars , plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen a material that would otherwise be brittle.-History:...
with a portal frame construction with a pseudo-oriental roof with towers. The building was designed so that its main entrance faces west. The building is still in use today by the
Jilin' , is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west...
Provincial government of the
People's Republic of ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
. Each of the main cabinet-level ministries also had its own imposing building. Many of these structures are still in use in various capacities in modern China.