Sun Baoqi

Sun was born in Hangzhou ( Zhejiang Province ), in 1867, in the family of Sun Yijing, an assistant mentor to Emperor Xianfeng . Sun received a classical Chinese education, then he married a relative of Aishinger Yukuan, the future prince. In 1886, Sun became the junior secretary of the Punishment Council, in this position he remained until 1895. The appointment to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1898 was postponed due to the Ihethuan rebellion . In 1902, he served for some time as secretary of the diplomatic mission in Vienna , Berlin , ^[2] and Paris , after which he was appointed ambassador to France. Sun returned to China in 1906 and became the chief secretary of the council that was involved in the reorganization of the country's administrative system. In 1907, he became ambassador to Germany.

In January 1909, Sun was appointed assistant director of the Tianjin - Pukou Railway , and in June of that year he became governor of Shandong Province . Sun was a supporter of the constitutional government of China. In 1910, he urged imperial authorities to create a cabinet system, and in 1911 he recognized the independence of Shandong Province from Manchu rule. However, after Yuan Shikai took power, Sun was forced to withdraw this statement and resign ^[3] .

After the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912, Sun went into private business with the Prince of Qing, and at the same time quickly became involved in the government as the acting general director of the Customs Administration. On September 11, 1913, he was appointed to the office of Xiong Silin , where he achieved an agreement with Russia, according to which Russia recognized the sovereignty of China over Mongolia, in turn, China recognized the independence of Outer Mongolia . When Sun resigned in mid-February 1914, he became acting prime minister until Xu Shichang took office in May. Sun continued to serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs until January 1915, until he resigned in protest against the Twenty-One Demands Made by the Prime Minister of the Empire of Japan ^[3] .

From that moment, Sun held mainly economic posts, unlike his previous foreign policy work. In January 1916, he became director of the audit bureau, and in April, Minister of Finance. In 1917, he was appointed Director General of the Customs Administration, in 1920 he became director of the Bureau of Economic Management. He then became chairman and general director of the hunger strike bureau, as well as deputy chairman of the Yangtze River Commission. In January 1924, Sun became Prime Minister for the second time, but resigned in July after a conflict with Finance Minister Wang Fomin. After that, Sun was chairman of the foreign affairs committee and president of the Haneping shipping company. In 1926, he was appointed director of Sino-French University. In 1929, Sun went to Hong Kong to treat a chronic intestinal disorder. His illness worsened, he died in Shanghai on February 3, 1931 ^[3] .

1. Who's Who in China , a biographical reference published by The China Weekly Review, 4th edition, 1931
2. Who is who in modern China, published in Hong Kong, 1954