Chiang Kai-Shek

by Emily Hahn

  “I feel ashamed to be back … in the present circumstances of retreat and failure. I cannot but admit that I must share a great part of the defeat. I am appalled at the existence of gambling and opium smuggling in Canton under the very nose of the government. But we must hold Canton, our last port.”

  The famous White Paper on China was released in Washington on August 6, 1949. It was a blow to the Nationalists to be told once more, especially in such impressive language and at such cost in labor and paper, that they were corrupt and incompetent. But except for poor Mayling, who was there on the spot, no one suffered any extra embarrassment. Washington had already made it all too clear that the State Department was opposed to helping Chiang directly at this delicate point. To Li Tsung-jen, however, the White Paper acted as a shot in the arm. If not Chiang, why not himself? He would prove that he was a far better leader—not corrupt, certainly not incompetent. For one thing, he would revise the Generalissimo’s plans for a final stand against the Reds. All he needed was that reserve, in men, ammunition, and currency that had been spirited over to Taiwan. He pelted the White House with cables.

  Then Lanchow was lost to the Reds, and all of Suiyuan. North China was gone, the Northwest was gone, Szechuan itself would soon go. Chiang would have lavished preventive attention on Szechuan, perhaps, and held off the day of reckoning, but he determined to concentrate instead on the far more dangerous province of Yunnan. If Yunnan went, the way was open to Canton, and the province was, as it had always been, shaky politically. Chiang flew alone to the capital, Kunming, on September 22, had a talk with the governor, and came away that same afternoon. Yunnan’s lease on Nationalist life was thereby lengthened for several weeks. But all this, helpful as it was for the short run, could only postpone the end.

  Li Tsung-jen now devoted himself to a campaign to remove the Premier Yen Hsi-shan from his second post as Minister of National Defense and put in his place his old crony Pai Chung-hsi. The final weeks of the Canton government were given over to this struggle, which, according to Li and Pai, was crucial to China’s fate. If they had the exclusive handling of affairs, they were convinced, America would come to the rescue at last. The officials were still hard at it, like Tweedledum and Tweedledee, when the Reds swept in on October 15. Bitterly arguing about whose fault it had been, they were forced to make tracks for the interior.

  They went to Chungking. There Li yelled for Chiang, but by the time the Generalissimo had arrived—and the Reds were well on the way—the Acting President himself had gone, this time to Nanning. During the next month he had one last try at overturning the government. He could not come to terms with Pai Chung-hsi about it, however, and Chiang kept telegraphing him to return to Chungking. Li replied that he was having stomach trouble and couldn’t possibly face the trip back. Suddenly he came to a decision. On November 19 he wrote to the Generalissimo:

  “My stomach ailment has become much worse. I am very tired. So, I have decided to leave for Hongkong today en route to U.S.A. for a thorough checkup and, if necessary, an operation. In view of the grave situation, I shall come back in a short time to take up my responsibilities.”

  Li got stuck in Hongkong, for he had no passport and the government refused to issue one. In Chungking his associates were shrill with indignation. His abrupt departure had left them without any President at all, either real or acting, and Chiang refused to take on the responsibility of the title. He said it wouldn’t look well.

  In any case, Li in Hongkong wouldn’t commit himself. Half the time he said he would resign as soon as he should arrive in the States. The other half the time he said he wouldn’t, claiming that he would need the vice-presidency in Washington in order to arrange for aid. Finally his colleagues relented and gave him a passport, and he chartered a plane and took off forthwith.

  Pai Chung-hsi had already given up and fled with his troops to Hainan.

  Chiang’s farewell to the mainland should have been dramatic, and if it is ever put on the stage, no doubt it will be. But it is not in him to strike attitudes, and he does not accept finality in these matters. To him leaving Chungking was a necessity for the time being, that was all, and he went about it characteristically, with deliberation. On his last day in Chungking he inspected all the military offices, and early next morning, on November 30, 1949, left for Chengtu. The Communists had broken into the city before his plane took off. No doubt he was humming.

  Chiang stayed in Chengtu ten days, discussing the chances of a last-minute stand in Yunnan. This showed itself as unpromising to say the least; a conspiracy was afoot to nab him in Kunming and turn him over to Mao. He therefore gave Kunming a miss and flew on to Taiwan. It was as simple as that.

  16 THE END?

  Chiang’s associates made their way to Taiwan according to chance, from wherever their fortunes had deserted them. There were two outstanding exceptions; Li Tsung-jen, who was in America, and Feng Yu-hsiang.

  But Feng for a long time had not been a genuine associate. He was showing a fondness for the cause of Mao Tse-tung. He had gone to America and stayed there for some time, attracting much admiring notice with his rough, picturesque appearance and outlandish history: there he seemed the epitome of the mysterious East in our time. In the Western mind, the Confucian sage had gone out of fashion: Americans had learned to admire the age of the common man in China, and Feng filled the bill admirably. When he declared his abhorrence for the venality and corruption of the Chiang Kai-shek regime it was remarkably effective, and he returned to North China the happy possessor of a special invitation to visit Russia. Feng had a passion for moving-picture cameras, and in his luggage he carried an immense amount of undeveloped film, souvenirs of his visit to the States. It is said that he was aboard ship in the dark room, developing this film, when the fatal accident took place. The film caught fire, the whole room flared up, and Feng died in the flames. Like many stories put out by the Communists, this one sounds somehow fishy. Perhaps they were just tired of the Christian general.

  Many others had joined the Communists: their list of names was still headed by that of Madame Sun Yat-sen. But the hard core, including Yen Hsi-shan and Pai Chung-hsi, and of course Chen Cheng, stood by Chiang Kai-shek. When “the dust had settled” and the various outlying posts had given in and the troops had reached the island, something more than two million Nationalists were there.

  Two million newcomers, still without an Acting President. During the first frantic days it didn’t matter, but after a few weeks things sorted themselves out and it was agreed that the affair of the presidency must be settled.

  Taiwan houses were crammed with exiles. As each ship arrived at the island ports, more soldiers were brought in and quartered on the Taiwanese. A good deal of hasty screening had to be done in those confused days, and sometimes whole shiploads were turned back for fear they carried Red malcontents with them. But in general it was not too frantic a business; barracks had been prepared beforehand. It was the refugee civilians who found it hard going, as civilians always do.

  Rather noticeably, Li Tsung-jen failed to come back within the month named as the limit of his American visit. Watchful Chinese in New York reported that he had taken a house in Riverdale on long lease. On February 21, 1950, the Kuomintang Committee sent him an ultimatum cable; he must return within three days or relinquish the presidency. Li did not return. A few days later, on March 1, Chiang Kai-shek resumed his office.

  Argument raged in Washington. Britain had recognized the Communist government in Peking: should not America do likewise? Some voices were loud in urging it. Taiwan would inevitably fall to the Reds soon, they said, and if America was still backing the Chiang government there would be more complications. It is possible that if the Reds had not immediately taken up an inimical attitude toward the United States, Washington would have followed Whitehall’s lead. But they were inimical, and that settled the question. Economic aid was extended to Taiwan, and in spite of Communist protests, the Nationalist representative retained his seat
in the United Nations.

  How long this state of affairs could continue, however, was a very moot point. The Reds were building up a tremendous force along the Fukien coast, preparing for an all-out attack that would at last close the troublesome chapter of Chiang Kai-shek in their book. There had been one determined battle for Kinmen Island (Quemoy), lying between Taiwan and the coast, and in spite of all the reports from the mainland about mismanagement, famine, and general distress, it was clear that the Reds were consolidating the country at top speed. Fifth-column activity in Taiwan had been pounced on and practically eradicated, but the menace from outside was drawing closer and closer. Early in June 1950 a rumor swept the island: Chiang was getting out of it. He would make his escape quietly, by way of Manila; it was said that he and Madame (who had returned early in the year) had accepted an offer of asylum from America. But he did not go, and the rumor died down.

  On June 25 the Korean War broke out. All attention, including that of the Communists, was diverted to the peninsula. Taiwan was off the front page.

  “Chiang is so obstinate,” said one of his followers in Taiwan, “that you would not believe it. He is so obstinate that——” He broke off and thought for a moment. Then he found the words he wanted. “He is so obstinate he won’t even stop hoping,” he said.

  What Chiang hopes for is to return to the mainland. If during the attack to attain this he should lose his life—well, that Bushido spirit he toasted in water, long ago in Takata, still holds good.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

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  INDEX

  Abyssinia, Italian occupation of, 194

  Acheson, Dean, 337

  Agrarian reform, in Three Principles of Sun Yat-sen, 37; Chiang program of, 175

  Agrarian revolution, disagreement among Communists about, 113–14; Mao theory of, 117–18; Mao program of, 170

  Amerasia, disclosures concerning, 317, 321

  American correspondents, reports on Nationalist-Communist differences during war with Japan, 232–33; reports on Communists during World War II, 289–90, 309; and Stilwell, 300, 304–5

  Anti-Comintern Pact between Japan, Italy, and Germany, 195

  Assam, Japanese threat to, 282–83

  Atkinson, Brooks, 304–5

  Atomic bomb, 325–26

  Autumn Crop Uprising at Changsha, 113, 118

  Barbey, Adm., 333

  Berkov, Robert, quoted, 111

  Bibliography, 367

  Bissell, Gen., 243

  Bisson, T. A., article by, 262

  Blücher (Galen), Gen. V. K., 82–83, 140

  Blue Shirts, 173

  Borodin, Michael, in China, 81, 83, 87, 89, 92, 95, 97–98, 100–1; Hankow government established by, 108, 112; expelled from China by Kuomintang, 113–14

  Bose, Subhas Chandra, 246

  Brett, Gen. G. H., 239

  Burma in World War II: fall of Rangoon, 242–44; Chinese troops sent to defense of, 246; fall of, 247–48; plans for recovery campaign, 253–56, 258, 263, 267, 275–76, 279–88; campaign in, 280–83, 296–97, 308

  Burma Road, 231; closed by British and opened again, 234–35; as only supply road for Chungking, 238–39, 242–44; building of new, 265–66, 281

  Byrnes, James, 339

  Cairo Conference, 274–75

  Cairo Declaration, 276

  Canton, Shakee Massacre in, 94; Commune, 128; rebellion in, 152–55; taken by Japanese, 225; government shifted to, 355; taken by Communists, 360

  Canton government of Kuomintang, established by Sun Yat-sen, 59–63, 65–69; seized by Chen Chiung-ming, 69–70; Chen Chiung-ming deposed, 76; Sun control stabilized, 77–78; revolution of merchants against, 88; attempt to discontinue in favor of national government at Nanking, 135, 193

  Casablanca Conference, 262–63

  Chahar, Japanese attack on, 184; occupied by Mongols and Japanese, 191

  Chang Ching-kiang, 65–66, 100, 109, 120

  Chang Hsueh-liang, “Young Marshal” of Manchuria, 133, 136; Chinese Eastern Railway seized by, 139–40; in civil war, 144–46; in Japanese seizure of Manchuria, 153; in defense of North China against Japanese, 161–62, 165; trip to Europe, 165–66; Nationalist assignments, 173, 184–85; growing resentment of, 194–96, 200–2; kidnaping of Chiang, 202–13

  Chang Kuo-t’ao, 200

  Chang Tao-fan, 245

  Chang Tso-lin, “Old Marshal” of Manchuria, 90–92; Northern Expedition against, 103, 119, 132; campaign against Communists, 117; assassination of, 132–33

  Changchun, occupied by Chinese Communists, 343; taken by Communists, 352

  Changsha, taken by Nationalists in Northern Expedition, 104; Autumn Crop Uprising at, 113, 118; captured by Communists, 145, 148–49; destroyed in scorched earth program, 227; Japanese attack on, 231

  Chefoo, Communist refusal to permit landing of U.S. Marines at, 329

  Chekiang Province, 16

  Chen, Eugene, 106, 107, 114–15; in Canton rebellion, 152, 154, 157; in Foochow rebellion, 168–69

  Chen Cheng, 307, 355

 
Chen Chi-mei, 15, 33, 39, 55–57; as Commander-in-Chief, 42, 47

  Chen Chi-tang, 168, 169, 181; desertion of army to Chiang, 192–93

  Chen Chiung-ming, 59–63, 65–68, 170; government seized from Sun Yat-sen, 69–70; driven out of Canton, 76; campaign against, 96–97

  Chen Kuo-fu, 85

  Chen Li-fu, 173

  Chen-O’Malley agreement, 106

  Ch’ên Tu-hsiu, 72–73, 79

  Chennault, Col. Claire, and Flying Tigers, 238–39, 259, 266–67, 283–84, 297; requests for independence, 243–44, 263

  Chiang, Madame, 129–30, 182–83; courtship, 76–77, 86–87, 115, 122–26; as secretary and interpreter for husband, 138, 190, 245, 252, 261–62; efforts for betterment of country, 160, 172; in kidnaping of Chiang, 208–12; visit to America, 258, 263–64; and Stilwell, 267–70; at Cairo Conference, 275; gossip about marriage, 292–93; second visit to America, 353–54

  Chiang Ching-kuo, son, 33, 94, 110, 139, 353, 355; released by Russians 219–20

  Chiang Hsing-hai, quoted, 27

  Chiang Kai-shek, family background of, 16–19; military education of, 13–14, 31–36; in Revolution, 39–40, 42; in Second Revolution, 50, 54–55; in Sun’s Canton government, 59–63, 70–71, 77; courtship of Soong May-ling, 76–77, 86–87, 115, 122–26; Russian visit of, 79–81; as president of Whampoa military academy, 82–88; government taken over by, 95–101; Northern Expedition, 103–7, 112, 118–20, 129–33; break with Communists, 108–12; resignation forced by Kuomintang, 119–22; recalled by Kuomintang, 126–29; as first President of Nationalist Government, 133; reorganization of government, 150–57; kidnaping of, and acceptance of united front with Communists against Japanese, 202–15