Which Chinese leader endorsed the Potsdam Declaration in July 1945?

Chiang Kai-shek endorsed the Potsdam Declaration in July 1945.

Chiang was the leader of the Republic of China, one of the Allied powers fighting Japan. China had been at war with Japan since 1937, making Chinese participation especially significant in an ultimatum demanding Japan’s surrender and the removal of its wartime empire.

The Potsdam Declaration was issued on July 26, 1945, by the United States, the United Kingdom, and China. Chiang was not physically present at the Potsdam Conference in Germany. Instead, the proposed text was sent to him by telegram, and he approved it from Chongqing, then the wartime capital of the Republic of China.

Chiang’s approval included a change to the order in which the leaders’ titles appeared in the document. A common mix-up is to associate the declaration with Mao Zedong, but Mao led the Chinese Communist movement rather than the internationally recognized Nationalist government that issued the 1945 Allied statement.