T. V. Soong
| Soong Tse-Ven 宋子文 (T. V. Soong / Paul Soong) |
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|---|---|
 |
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| Premier of the Republic of China | |
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In office 25 September 1930 – 4 December 1930 |
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| President | Chiang Kai-shek |
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In office 31 May 1945 – 1 March 1947 |
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| President | Chiang Kai-shek |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
December 4, 1894 Shanghai, Qing Dynasty |
| Died | April 26, 1971 (aged 79) San Francisco, California, United States |
| Nationality | Republic of China |
| Political party | Kuomintang |
| Spouse(s) | Lo-Yi Chang |
| Father | Charlie Soong |
| Alma mater |
Harvard University Columbia University |
| Religion | Methodist |
Soong Tse-ven or Soong Tzu-wen (Chinese: 宋子文; pinyin: Sòng Zǐwén; December 4, 1894 – April 26, 1971) was a prominent businessman and politician in the early-20th-century Republic of China. His father was Charlie Soong and his siblings were the Soong sisters. His Christian name was Paul, but he is generally known in English as T. V. Soong. As brother to the three Soong sisters, Soong's brothers-in-law were Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, and financier H. H. Kung.
Born in Shanghai, T. V. Soong received his education at St. John's University in Shanghai before completing a bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard University in 1915. He worked at the International Banking Corporation in New York while pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University
Upon returning to China he worked for several industrial enterprises, and was then recruited by Sun Yat-sen to develop finances for his Canton government. After the success of Chiang Kai-shek's Northern Expedition in 1927, Soong served in a succession of offices in the Nationalist Government, including governor of the Central Bank of China (1928–1934) and minister of finance (1928–1933).
He founded the China Development Finance Corporation (CDFC) in 1934, along with other prominent financial figures, such as Chang Kia-ngau, Chen Guangpu and H.H. Kung. CDFC provided China’s chief access to foreign investment for the next decade. In summer of 1940, Chiang appointed Soong to Washington as his personal representative. His task was to win support for China’s war with Japan. Soong successfully negotiated substantial loans for this purpose. Also, while in Washington in 1940, Soong managed to prevail upon President Roosevelt and his administration to back the plan of then-retired U.S. Col. Claire Lee Chennault to firebomb Japanese cities with Boeing B-17 bombers painted with Chinese Air Force markings and flown by American pilots from airbases in China, before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A scant month before the Pearl Harbor attack, the plan was scotched by U.S. Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall. After Pearl Harbor, Chiang appointed Soong Minister of Foreign Affairs, though Soong remained in Washington to manage the alliance with both the U.S. and the U.K.
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