Editing Lin Sen (section)

==As head of state==
In 1931, Chairman Chiang's arrest of [[Hu Hanmin]] caused an uproar within the party and military. Lin and other high-ranking officials called for the impeachment of Chiang. The [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria]] prevented the civil war from erupting, however it did cause Chiang to resign on 15 December. Lin was appointed in his place as acting chairman and confirmed as chairman of government on 1 January 1932. He was chosen as a sign of personal respect and held few powers since the Kuomintang wanted to avoid a repeat of Chiang's rule. He never used the [[Presidential Palace, Nanjing|Presidential Palace]], where Chiang continued to reside, and preferred his modest rented house near the [[Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum]]. Chiang's full influence was restored after the 1932 [[Battle of Shanghai (1932)|Battle of Shanghai]] as party grandees realized his necessity.

Shortly after acceding to the chairmanship, Lin Sen embarked on an extended trip that took him to the Philippines, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France. He visited the Chinese diaspora and the Kuomintang party organisations in those countries. This was the first overseas visit by a serving head of state of China.

In 1934, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine called him "puppet President Lin", and when there was a talk by [[Military Affairs Commission|military chief]] [[Chiang Kai-shek]] at a "secret conference of government leaders" of granting the President of China actual powers, it insinuated that Chiang was entertaining the thought of taking the Presidency himself, since Chiang held the actual power while Lin's position was described as "[[Figurehead|figurehead class]]".<ref>{{cite news |title=CHINA: Chiang on Lid|newspaper=TIME|date=Aug 20, 1934|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,747712,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125090434/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,747712,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 25, 2010|accessdate=May 22, 2011}}</ref>

Though he had little influence on public policy, Lin was highly respected by the public as an august elder statesman who was above politics. His lack of political ambition, corruption, and nepotism was an exceedingly rare trait. He lent dignity and stability to an office while other state institutions were in chaos.

A widower, Lin used his position to promote monogamy and combat [[concubinage]] which became a punishable felony in 1935. He also called for a peaceful resolution when Chiang was kidnapped during the [[Xi'an Incident]]. National unity was something he stressed as relations with Japan deteriorated further.

When the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] entered full swing in 1937, he moved to the wartime capital of [[Chongqing]]. He legalized civilian use of guerrilla warfare, but this was merely a formality as it was already a widespread practice. He spurned all offers to defect and collaborate with the [[Reorganized National Government of China|Japanese puppet government]].