October of 1966 brings the Republic of China to the beginning of its 56th year and President Chiang Kai-shek to his 80th birthday. The two events are complementary. In a unique sense, the life of President Chiang and the history of Asia's first republic are one and the same. Neither would be meaningful without the other. Chiang Kai-shek was in his middle 20s when the "shots heard round the world" rang out at Wuchang. His first command was assumed at Hangchow during the Revolution. Thereafter he stood at the side of Founding Father Sun Yat-sen until the latter's death, whereupon the mantle of free Chinese leadership fell to General (later Generalissimo and President) Chiang.
To summarize at "55 and 80", the miracle of the Republic of China is its continued existence, and it is Chiang Kai-shek who must be given the credit for having performed the miracle. It was Chiang Kai-shek who led the March Northward to unify the country and save the Republic from warlords in the 1926-28 period. It was Chiang who extricated China from the Communist trap into which Dr. Sun and the Kuomintang had been falling, and who then led the nation through eight years of war to victory over Japan. It was Chiang who prepared Taiwan as a bastion of defense against the Communist tyrants and who in the last 17 years has made the island into a model province and the most prosperous China has ever known.
President Chiang, who commanded Whampoa Military Academy in 1924, still has a personal interest in the life of the Chinese cadet. Here he inspects students at a swimming contest. (File photo)
Today it is President and Generalissimo Chiang who stands at the head of the nation and in the forefront of his troops, ready to lead the way in counterattack, victory over the Communists, and reconstruction of the Chinese mainland after the pattern of Taiwan and in the spirit of Dr. Sun's Three Principles of the People. At 80, Chiang Kai-shek looks ever forward, supremely confident that his life's biggest and most decisive battle is yet to be fought, and that it will bring freedom and peace to the more than 600 million people of China.
Many political scientists and journalists have tried to evaluate Chiang Kai-shek and the place he holds in the world. Essentially, he defies such analysis. He is a man firmly rooted in the past, a confirmed and dedicated Confucian. Yet he is also as modern as tomorrow, aware that China must find greatness not only in the philosophies and ethical systems of ancient times but also in the science and the new political concepts of the future. He is a great soldier, and also an astute and knowing student of the international scene. He is a disciplinarian and at the same time a warm-hearted, loving husband and father. Trained in military science, he also has stood at the side of such statesmen as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, and won their respect and admiration.
Test of Character
How can you evaluate such a man, except to say that he has been touched by history and has, in turn, left his own mark upon the affairs of men all over the world.
Hollington K. Tong, the President's biographer, has said that "In the long life story of Chiang Kai-shek, several incidents stand out among others, as definitive tests of character". Those words were written about 14 years ago, at a time when the Generalissimo was in his middle 60s and should have been presumed ready for retirement. Today — at 80 — his character continues to be tested and found not wanting. It was during these latter years that he built up Taiwan and brought preparations for counterattack to completion.
One of Chiang's first great tests came in 1924, even before the death of Dr. Sun. At this time he pitted his judgment of Communism against many of his Kuomintang associates and even against Sun Yat-sen himself. This was a crisis that changed the course of Chinese and world history, and that prevented Communism from sweeping across the face of all Asia.
In 1923, Chiang Kai-shek had made his now famous trip to Soviet Russia at Dr. Sun's behest, and returned with a recommendation of "Don't trust the Communists!" He reported to Dr. Sun in writing, but the latter was then surrounded by Communist and fellow-traveling aides, including the Russian Michael Borodin. Dr. Sun was not convinced and put the report away. Later, when he wanted to re-examine it, the document had disappeared, presumably stolen by the Communists.
However, Chiang's views of Communism are clearly set forth in a letter he wrote to Liao Chung-kai. He said:
"From what I have observed, the Russian Communist party has absolutely no sincerity. As I have told you earlier, the words of the Russians are only 30 per cent dependable. Even that in an overstatement.
"The sole objective of the Russian Communist party is to communize China under its protective wing.I can never believe our party and the Communist party could successfully cooperate from the beginning to the end. With regard to her policy to China, Russia wants to bring Manchuria, Mongolia, the Moslem and Tibetan dependencies into the orbit of the Soviet Union. As regards China proper, I am not convinced that Russia does not want to grab it, too. It would be against logic if we should give up our spirit of self-reliance in favor of dependence on others. Are our people, plagued by such an inferiority complex, willing to let aliens rule us and then worship them like gods?
New Imperialism
'The internationalism and the idea of the world revolution which the Russians propagate is actually not different from the imperialism preached in the Kaiser's days. The only difference is that the Russians are clever enough to change slogans for the purpose of bewildering the public. It pains me to say that my report was not given even the slightest attention. I feel ashamed of myself for having lost both confidence and pride.
"But I wish to add here that while I was in Russia, my activities, I believe, should have been no theme for slander. Nor did I do anything which would be a discredit to our party. But on the subject of our arbitrary association with the Communist party, I have ventured to speak my mind to Dr. Sun. As a loyal subordinate, I felt it was my duty to make my views known to my superior."
Chiang watched Borodin's machinations intently, and strongly opposed the Russian's efforts to take over the Kuomintang. Dr. Sun often ignored Chiang's counsel during this period. Much as he loved and respected the Republic's Founding Father, Chiang stuck to his guns. He resisted Communist cultivation, and the Reds tried to destroy him. One attempt involved a plot to kidnap and transport him to Vladivostok aboard a naval vessel. Chiang kept his head throughout this crucial period, and by 1927 he was ready to strike against the enemy within. Borodin and other Russian agents were expelled. From this moment forward, Chiang fought the Communists tooth and nail. Had not the Japanese war intervened, he would have succeeded in wiping out the Yenan remnants of Mao Tse-tung.
Chiang also met the challenges of the Northward Expedition, which unified the country and destroyed the warlords, and of the eight long, cruel years of the conflict with Japan. The second victory could not have been won without the first — that is, a divided China could never have withstood the Japanese onslaught. Chiang's strategic concept of the Japanese war was masterly and his leadership was inspiring. He spurned the Japanese phony appeals for peace. Be trading space for time, he wrecked Japan's timetable and made a huge contribution to the victorious Pacific campaign of the United States. The American histories of World War II correctly glorify the island-hopping that led to Okinawa and then, after atomic bombs had fallen on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to the surrender of Japan. But there is another chapter of the war in Asia to which not enough attention is given in the West. While the Americans were moving toward the Japanese home islands, the forces of Chiang Kai-shek were holding down 70 divisions of Japan's best troops. If these divisions had been freed to fight the Americans, the outcome might not have been changed, but American losses would have been much heavier.
Free Chinese commandos are known for their daring exploits along the Red-occupied mainland coast. (File photo)
The postwar showdown with the Communists can be evaluated as both a defeat and a victory for Chiang. In the sense that President Chiang and the National Government had to leave the Chinese mainland temporarily. it was a defeat. In the sense that the Communists were unable to destroy either Chiang or the National Government, it was a victory. Additionally, the causes of the mainland debacle should be analyzed objectively. Once America entered the war in December of 1941, the Generalissimo no longer was in a position to handle the Communist problem as he wished. China and the United States were wartime partners, but the latter also had a European war partnership with the Soviet Union, a Communist country and, in fact, the creator of the Chinese Communist movement. The requirements of the two wars had to come first. Another problem was the thinking of many of the counselors and emissaries the United States sent to China - such men as General Joseph Stilwell, Owen Lattimore, Lauchlin Currie, and Henry A. Wallace.
Warning Ignored
Then came the incredible Yalta Agreement. Without consulting China, the United States and Great Britain agreed to admit Russian forces into North China. Long before this, Chiang had warned against such a tragic mistake. In a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt the day before Pearl Harbor, Chiang wrote: "China must not give up the Northeast (Manchuria). Otherwise, Sinkiang and Tibet would be unsafe, and the recovery of Outer Mongolia would not be possible. Then China proper would not be able to survive." These were prophetic words.
Hollington Tong puts Chiang's problem of the late 1940s this way: "Even the Yalta betrayal did not end the score of Allied interventions in the Generalissimo's handling of the Communist problem. When China was making definite headway in the containment of the Communists, the Marshall mission was imposed to freeze Chinese anti-Communist policy for the decisive 13-month period from December, 1945, to January, 1947. However well-intentioned the Marshall mission was, its effects were catastrophic. It gave the Chinese Communists the needed time to be armed and trained in the use of the Japanese Kwantung stockpiles which the Russians permitted them to seize, and thus to face Chiang Kai-shek, for the first time, with a modern-equipped army. After the Marshall mission, there was no hope of stopping the glacial advance of the Communists.
Crowds gather at Dr. Sun's statue on festive day. (File photo)
"To place the major blame upon the Generalissimo for the Red triumph of 1948 and 1949, as so many superficial writers do, is to disregard all these ill-starred Allied interferences, which paralyzed his policy in the decisive junctures when it was possible for him to suppress the Communists. It will long be a matter for historical conjecture whether, without these interferences, Chiang could actually have wiped out the Chinese Communists. The question whether he could have done so will remain moot. But one fact is beyond question: in the face of such colossal blunders on the part of his allies as the Yalta Pact and the Marshall Mission, Chiang would have had to be little short of a magician to have retrieved the situation."
Building of Taiwan
At the least, it is certain that Chiang triumphed dramatically and perhaps in the end decisively with his brilliant withdrawal to Taiwan to prepare for another day of battle. Without his stubborn determination to fight on, the Communist triumph would have been complete. No free China would exist today. Quite possibly, the rest of free Asia would also be gone.
Having arrived on the Taiwan island redoubt, the President and Generalissimo did not look backward to mainland mistakes — whether of his own or others making. He looked forward to what would have to be done to bring about counterattack, mainland recovery, and the reconstruction of a free, democratic, and united country. He might have been expected to pour every ounce of Taiwan muscle into the rebuilding of the National armies. Rebuild them he did, but gradually. He insisted that first priority must go to the implementation of Dr. Sun's Three Principles of the People — to the strengthening of Nationalism, the implementation of Democracy, and the betterment of the People's Livelihood.
This story has sometimes been called the free Chinese miracle, and rightly so. In only 17 years Taiwan has become one of the fastest developing lands in the world. A sleepy agricultural colony, exploited by the Japanese for half a century, has been made into a streamlined, industrialized community with the economic viability to serve as the base for mainland recovery. Industry has grown as much as 20 per cent in a single year. The annual average is continuing to exceed 11 per cent. At the same time, agricultural output is rising by more than 4 per cent a year and population growth has been cut back to about 3 per cent. Free China's food supply is well ahead of the increase in new mouths to be fed.
Other Contrasts
Foreign trade affords one of the most interesting of contrasts between free and slave China. Taiwan's trade volume is now exceeding a billion U.S. dollars a year and the balance is favorable — this on an island of 13,000 square miles and 13 million people. The Chinese mainland has 4 million square miles and nearly 700 million people — but its trade is only about four times as large as Taiwan's! Little wonder that the Communists daily scream they must "liberate" Taiwan — and its riches. Although agricultural and processed agricultural exports remain dominant, an increasingly large percentage of foreign sales are coming from the industrial sector. Foreign investment has soared over the US$200 million mark, and bigger plants are being established. Within the next few years, the island will have its first integrated steel mill. A huge petrochemical complex is being established. Power soon will be produced from nuclear fission — but Oil Taiwan the atom is split for peaceful purposes. On the mainland it is split for purposes of destruction and the Nuclear War I that Mao wants so he can extend the madness of Chinese Communist rule and the teen-age hoodlum ism of the Red Guards.
Educational Gains
Taiwan's per capita income is nearing US$200 a year, one of Asia's highest figures and between three and four times the usual estimate for the Chinese mainland. Nine out of ten farmers own the land they till. They are so prosperous that television sets, refrigerators, power tillers, and motorcycles are no longer a curiosity in the countryside. Most farm families have bad radios and electric fans for many years. Rural electrification reaches virtually all the island except isolated villages in the high mountains. The power rate schedule is one of the world's lowest.
Accent is on youth — but without anything to resemble the Red Guards. The Youth Corps is wholly voluntary. Every summer it conducts widespread activities of an educational, recreational, and athletic nature. Nearly 100,000 young people of high school and college age participate. The Chinese Communists are in the middle of an educational upheaval. Admissions to schools above the secondary level are frozen until next spring - and the new system apparently will be 50 per cent Mao-think and 50 per cent forced labor, with no time for anything resembling objective education. By contrast, the Republic of China is planning to extend free compulsory education from the present six to nine years. One out of every four persons is enrolled in school. Forty-five universities and colleges have nearly 70,000 students. Nearly two thousand college graduates go abroad annually for advanced training.
Over the last 17 years, the armed forces have been overhauled, reconstituted, and modernized. Older officers and non-commissioned officers have been retired and their welfare assured by an extensive settlement program. The average age has been cut to less than 25. Selective service assures a continuous supply of young men. The officer corps come from the various service academies and from the civilian institutions of higher learning. The Army has a newly equipped armored corps with up-to-date medium tanks and is highly mobile. Sabre jets, long the backbone of the Air Force, are being phased out for supersonic fighter-bombers. The transport wings arc being enlarged and modernized. Airborne forces are ready to jump into any combat anywhere. The Navy has destroyers and newly acquired escort and other craft. Extensive amphibious operations have been conducted, some in cooperation with the forces of the United States. Combined service forces capably take care of logistics and management. Special forces are prepared for commando and guerrilla activities.
Road to Victory
Armed forces of the Republic of China number about 600,000 men plus reserves of more than a million. The Chinese Communists are supposed to have standing forces of more than 2.5 million and a huge reserve and militia. Foreigners have sometimes asked President Chiang how his smaller forces can be expected to overcome the Communists' numerical advantage. He spoke on this subject at some length in his fourth inaugural address on May 20:
Offshore island defenders are ready for any test. (File photo)
"In the early days of our National Revolution," he said, "Dr. Sun piloted and guided us through a series of campaigns the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty, the founding of the Republic, the defending of the Republic's provisional constitution, and the suppression of Chen Chiung-ming's attempted coup. Succeeding to Dr. Sun, I led the nation in the Northward Expedition that brought about China's unification, in campaigns to oust the Chinese Communists from their very lairs, in central China provinces, and in our War of Resistance against Japan until victory. In all these undertakings, we invariably managed to defeat the enemy in a manner characterized by the phenomenon of a minority vanquishing a majority in point of troop strengths, and that of a majority overwhelming a minority in point of moral support. Dr. Sun said: The might of revolution is different from that of ordinary force. With but a small revolutionary army, we can destroy an enemy of enormous numerical and armament strength'. That explains why the Chinese Communists, who have occupied the Chinese mainland for 16 years and imposed their control over 600 million people, dare not come face to face with our 12 million people on Taiwan. Worse than that, they invariably suffered a downright defeat in everyone of their moves against any point in the Kinmen and Matsu complexes of the offshore islands - whether at Kuningtou, or at the islet of Tatan, or at the islet of Lieh. In these engagements, no matter whether the Chinese Communists attacked by amphibious landings or by prolonged bombings, and no matter how hard they tried, they unfailingly ended up in a total defeat, with everyone of them either captured or killed.
All Anti-Communist
"The Chinese Communists can slave drive the 600 million people on the mainland by force and violence, but they cannot convince their minds and win their hearts as they are all anti-Communists. On the other hand, if we on Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu are inferior in number, the entire body of our military forces and civilian population are united in a single mind, absolutely dedicated to duty and iron firm in devotion to our nation. To them, the Chinese Communist are an enemy with whom they 'will not coexist under the same sun' and they are determined to march forward with one heart with a common purpose and never a backward glance. This will serve to prove that our 600.000 troops that fight as one man cannot but defeat the 3,000,000 Communist troops since they are of 3,000,000 different minds, each pulling in a different direction.
"The people on the mainland have suffered most from the hands of the Communists, and deep in their hearts they have nurtured an extreme hatred of the Peiping regime. They are actually the Communists' enemy. They have virtually become the main reserve units of the government forces, ready to take part in our counter offensive. For this reason, we are all the more convinced of the truth in Dr. Sun's saying: With but a very small force, we can destroy the most powerful enemy.' Now, while speaking of numerical strength, we have today not only 600,000 men under arms who believe in the Three Principles of the People, but also 12 million loyal compatriots in our bastion of freedom, Taiwan, in addition, we have in overseas areas 15 million Chinese who likewise support the Three Principles of the People. And, above all, we have on the mainland 600 million countrymen who look forward to the triumph of the Three Principles of the People and who impatiently await rescue from the brink of death. We have no doubt whatsoever that we shall be able to crush the armed forces of the nefarious Mao Tse-tung who is now at the end of his tether. We know that among the rank and file of the Chinese Communist forces, an overwhelming majority are 'flying the Red banner but are really anti-Red at heart'. These soldiers are comparable to the 'New Army' of the Manchus, who joined forces with the revolutionaries to make the Revolution of 1911 a success. This 'New Army' under the Red banner is merely biding its time to bring its revolt into the open. The Communists in Peiping, imbued with the evils of Marxism and Leninism imported from Soviet Russia, will perish by their own violence, because they first seized power by violence for like begets like. By contrast, our National Revolution, which is based on Dr. Sun's Three Principles of the People, has its origin in benevolence and, therefore, conquers by benevolence."
Red Guards Emerge
In other words, the Communists will destroy themselves. Those upon whom they rely are not loyal. Those whom they trust can be trusted only to turn on the hated apparatus of Mao. The moment will come the instant National forces are set down on the mainland — perhaps even before that. Much has happened since President Chiang spoke. The proletarian cultural revolution of the Communists was just getting started at that time. Now Mao has had to go to "defense minister" and army boss Lin Piao for help. Then, fearful to trust even the army, Mao and Lin turned to the anti-intellectual violence of the Red Guards. Communist cadres have fought back against this teen-age hoodlumism. Even the Peiping regime has become alarmed and tried to rein in the new monster that they had set upon the people.
So the Republic of China observes its 55th anniversary and President Chiang's 80th birthday with hopes high. The end of a long hard road seems in sight at last. Between the Double Tenth and the President's birthday on the month's last day will occur two other occasions to demonstrate free Chinese solidarity and strength: Overseas Chinese Day and Taiwan Retrocession Day. Chinese had begun to stream into Taiwan by the hundreds even before October's advent. The total is sure to reach into the thousands. Most will stay throughout the month and many into November for the ceremonies concluding Dr. Sun's centennial year. As for retrocession, the 13 million people of the island — Taiwanese and mainlanders alike — had reason to be thankful for the liberation from Japanese colonialism and the good life that had become theirs under President Chiang and the National Government.
Visitors on Kinmen send messages to the mainland. (File photo)
The feelings of the Chinese people were sure to boil over into a mighty demonstration of affection on the birthday of their chief of state and commander-in-chief. The President has asked that the people ignore his natal day. He himself will go quietly to the countryside in his accustomed modest way. However, 80 represents a milestone that the Chinese cannot be persuaded to ignore. Throughout the world they will gather in signature ceremonies — the signing of books to wish the President long life and happiness, and many more years at the helm of free China.
President's Keynote
Celebrations will take place in an atmosphere of solemnity rather than of merry-making. Mainland China is still in the hands of the Communists. Until it is free, festive rejoicing is out of the question, even on the President's birthday.
President Chiang himself sounded the keynote of 1966's big October days in these words of his fourth inaugural address:
"I am keenly sensitive to the tremendous responsibility my countrymen have placed on me. But urged on by my life-long dedication, I dare not shirk this sacred duty when the national crisis is still acute, when the Communist scourge remains rampant, when your mainland compatriots, shedding blood and tears, patiently defy death and urgently await deliverance, and when the great task of National Revolution bequeathed to us by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the Founding Father of our Republic, is not yet completely fulfilled. I shall, therefore, endeavor to discharge my duty from beginning to end - in the words of my oath of office, to 'observe the Constitution, faithfully perform my duties, promote the welfare of the people, and safeguard the security of the state'. With a grim determination to persevere, I shall make a supreme effort to achieve a total victory for our counter offensive and national recovery, and to score a consummate success for our National Revolution ...
Taiwan-made appliances are popular. (File photo)
"I have long been entrusted with the task of rescuing the people and punishing the guilty. Looking back, I must say that I have often lived in suffering, humiliation, danger, false accusations, enemy infiltration and subversion, and narrow escapes from death. I have scored many successes but I have also met with many defeats. Defeats, however, only paved the way for successes. All these experiences of successes and failures and precarious living and narrow escapes have made me an undiscouraged old soldier. This undiscouraged old soldier, who can be as alert and vigilant as if he were walking on thin ice or standing at the edge of a precipice, is, however, indifferent to name and position and oblivious to fame and slander. Now I must continue to accept the heavy responsibility of leading our people in the counteroffensive and national recovery just as I must accept the wartime emergency powers they have entrusted me with. With a common feeling of making amends and a determination to render our best, I shall work together with Vice President Yen Chia-kan to punish the rebels, implement the Three Principles of the People, and relieve the nation of its calamity. We shall combine the might of our servicemen and civilians to recover the national territories, protect civil rights, exterminate Mao Tse-tung and his cohorts, liberate our mainland compatriots, and establish on the ruins a new country of unity and freedom. We also shall cooperate with free Asia and the free world in establishing a new age of peace and tranquility. Thus will our country and our people be blessed!"
Editor's Note: President Chiang was born on October 31, 1887. His 80th birthday this year is according to Chinese reckoning.