in late 1925, zheng arrived in france to study at the university of lyon. by 1926, zheng became leader of the french chapter of the kuomintang. from his base in lyon, he oversaw party operations in several western european countries. in 1927, zheng transferred to the university of paris. the next year, he returned to china, attending the third kuomintang national congress in nanjing. zheng then became the european bureau chief for the "central daily news". zheng formally declared his support of chiang kai-shek's nationalist government in 1930 and began work at the league of nations.