Former Site of the State Council of Manchukuo

Former Site of the State Council of Manchukuo

The Former Site of the State Council of Manchukuo is a cultural relic protection unit of Jilin Province and a patriotic education base.

In the early days after the establishment of the State Council of Manchukuo, its temporary location was at No. 2 Qimalu, the former site of the Jichang Dao Yin Office in Changchun. In July 1937, it moved to a new building located at the southeast corner of the intersection of Xinmin Street and Jiefang Avenue. Construction of this building began in July 1934, was completed in November 1936, and put into use in January 1937, covering an area of nearly 50,000 square meters, with a construction area of 20,500 square meters. The main body of the building has five floors (including one basement level), while the two wings have four floors. The entrance hall features two square-edge pillars and four tapered round pillars extending straight up to the third-floor rooftop. The tower is topped with brown glazed tiles, and the exterior walls are clad with coffee-colored ceramic tiles. The main entrance faces west and closely resembles the design of the Japanese Diet Building in Tokyo. The State Council of Manchukuo was the highest administrative authority of the puppet government, overseeing the administrative affairs of the regime. The main administrative department was the General Affairs Agency, headed by a Japanese Chief Secretary and Deputy Chief Secretary. Organizationally, Manchukuo claimed to be a highly centralized system centered on the “Emperor,” but in reality, it was a highly centralized system centered on the General Affairs Agency. Both the Chief Secretary and the Chief Administrative Officer were appointed by Section 4 (Manchuria Section) of the Kwantung Army, making the Commander of the Kwantung Army the true ruler of Manchukuo.

After the liberation of Northeast China on August 15, 1945, during the Nationalist rule period, the Former Site of the State Council of Manchukuo was occupied by the pro-American and pro-Chiang spy agency “Diligence Society.” After the liberation of Changchun in 1948, Changchun Jiefang Avenue Primary School temporarily operated here, later taken over by the First Military Medical University of the People’s Liberation Army, which established its Department of Basic Medicine. It was later renamed Jilin Medical University and then Norman Bethune University of Medical Sciences. It is now the Basic Medical College of the Norman Bethune Medical College of Jilin University.

Source: Changchun Municipal Tourism Bureau