Free China (Second Sino-Japanese War)

Free China
The extent of Japanese control of China as of 1940. The area in white constitutes "Free China".
Traditional Chinese	中華民國自由地區
Simplified Chinese	中华民国自由地区
Literal meaning	Free Area of the Republic of China (full form used only occasionally)
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōnghuá Mínguó zìyóu dìqū

The term Free China, in the context of the Second Sino-Japanese War, refers to those areas of China not under the control of the Imperial Japanese Army or any of its puppet governments, such as Manchukuo, the Mengjiang government in Suiyuan and Chahar, or the Provisional Government of the Republic of China in Peiping (now Beijing). The term came into more frequent use after the Battle of Nanjing, when Chiang Kai-shek evacuated the government of the Republic of China to Chungking (now Chongqing).

In the final days of the Battle of Nanking, the Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army helped to evacuate the Chiang Kai-shek government to Chongqing, which was declared the provisional capital of the Republic of China. The Japanese, following their victory at Nanking (now Nanjing), created yet another puppet government, the Reformed Government of the Republic of China, which was later merged with the Provisional Government of the Republic of China to create the Wang Jingwei Government. Many civilians from Japanese-controlled areas of China fled to Free China. Patrick Yu, a celebrated Hong Kong trial lawyer, recalled in his memoirs how a Japanese civilian in Hong Kong helped his family escape from Hong Kong to Guangxi via Macau.