Political parties play a vitally important role in the making and governing of modern nation-states. Party composition and ideology may mirror the present and the future of a country. So it is with China, which at present is divided—part free and part enslaved. The part under the effective control of the government of the Republic of China includes Taiwan (Formosa), Penghu (the Pescadores), and the offshore islands of Kinmen (Quemoy) and Matsu. The Republic of China stands for the principles of nationalism, democracy, and social well-being set forth by the Kuomintang and is continuing the fight for freedom. The other part of the Chinese mainland, tyrannically ruled by a Chinese Communist Party that advocates Marxism, class struggle, and proletarian dictatorship and also seeks world domination. The final battle between these two political parties is yet to be fought. Whether China is to be free or enslaved will depend on the outcome. A comparative study of the two parties, therefore, is of crucial importance.
There are other parties—the Young China Party, the Democratic Socialist Party, the Democratic League, the China Democratic Reconstruction Society, and so on. These minor parties are also divided into two camps —the Young China Party and the Democratic Socialist Party on the side of the Kuomintang, and the Democratic League and the China Democratic Reconstruction Society on the side of the Chinese Communists. But the Kuomintang and Communist Party are at the core of the struggle. They and not the minority parties will decide China's destiny.
The Kuomintang was founded in 1894. It first was called the Hsing Chung Hui and was successively reorganized into the Ke Ming Tung Meng Hui, Kuo Min Tang, and Chung Hua Ke Ming Tang. The name Chung Kuo Kuo Ming Tang or Kuomintang was adopted in 1919. Although the Kuomintang had different names during its first 25 years, the objective was always the same—to build a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people. Each of the societies was led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, and they were congruous in principle, platform, staff, and membership. The Hsing Chung Hui was organized overseas. The Ke Ming Tung Meng Hui also was established overseas, but had a large 'domestic following. The Kuo Min Tang drew its support mainly from people at home. The Chung Hua Ke Ming Tang was set up abroad. The Kuomintang was indigenous to the mainland. What matters is that members of the Kuomintang are Chinese, whether they reside at home or abroad. Made up of people from all walks of life, the party is national in character and has nothing whatever to do with any other country or any party in any other country.
This is not so with the Chinese Communist Party. Marx's Communism is based on the overthrow of capitalism by the proletariat. But according to Mao Tse-tung, China is a "semi-colony" and a "semi-feudal society" where capitalism is not well developed and no sizable proletariat exists. Therefore, there is really no raison d'etre for the Chinese Communist Party. It was the Com intern and Soviet Russia, not China, that needed the Chinese Communist Party. The Comintern sent Gregori Voitinsky and G. Maring to China to help establish the party (1921) and supervise its activities. The earliest constitution expressly provided that the party was the China chapter of the Comintern and that it would abide by the Comintern's declaration and resolutions. Its basic and permanent policy is to support Soviet Russia. Externally it is an international party and internally it is a class party.
Opposite Views
The principles of the two parties are completely different. The Kuomintang follows the principles of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Politically, it stands for nationalism and democracy; economically, it supports the people's livelihood; ideologically, it endorses the theory of social cooperation and holds that livelihood is the center of social progress. The Chinese Communist Party is Marxist. Politically, it stands for international Communism and seeks to establish a proletarian dictatorship; economically, it is Communist; ideologically, it is materialistic and a believer in the class struggle.
The two parties have conflicting views of China's revolution. The Kuomintang believes that China required a national revolution to overthrow the Manchu dynasty, eliminate the feudal warlords, oppose imperialism, establish the Republic of China, organize a national government, introduce a democratic system of government, carry out a peaceful land reform program, restrict private capital according to law, etc. For the last 70 years, the Kuomintang has worked for the fulfillment of these objectives. The Chinese Communist Party maintains that China must have a socialist revolution of workers and farmers to oppose the national government, establish the "People's Republic of China", introduce the proletarian dictatorship, confiscate private land and capital, build socialism, organize the people's communes, etc. The Chinese Communist Party has sought to achieve these goals for the last 40 years.
Since its removal to Taiwan in 1949, the government of the Republic of China has enforced the Constitution, implemented local self-government, carried out a "land-to-the-tiller" program, encouraged free enterprise, assured political stability and economic progress, and raised the people's living standard. On the mainland the picture is far different. Under the Communist dictatorship tillers have lost their land; there is no private enterprise, only a bureaucratic capitalism that results in political despotism, economic retrenchment, and a worsening of the living standard. It is not difficult to see why the two parties must oppose each other. The policy of the Kuomintang is to "recover the mainland", that of the Chinese Communist Party to "liberate Taiwan". The time for the final battle is approaching.
The origin of the conflict goes back 40 years. After establishment of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921, a Soviet commissar named Joffee assured Dr. Sun Yat-sen that Soviet Russia had no intention of introducing Communism and the Soviet system into China. The Kuomintang thereupon decided to permit members of the Chinese Communist Party to join the Kuomintang on an individual basis. On the surface, the parties cooperated from 1924 to 1927. But in fact, the struggle became more serious after 1924, culminating in the open break of 1927.
Dr. Sun agreed to allow of the Chinese Communist Party to join the Kuomintang in the hope of uniting the country to complete the National Revolution and implement the Three Principles of the People. Some Kuomintang members, such as Feng Tse-yu, continued to oppose the Chinese Communist Party as antagonistic to China's needs and aspirations. After the death of Dr. Sun in March, 1925, more and more Kuomintang members voiced their opposition to Communists. In November of that year, Chang Chi, Chu Cheng, Tsou Lu, Hsieh Chi, and many others met at Dr. Sun's burial place in the Western Hills near Peiping to discuss anti-Communist measures.
After joining the Kuomintang, members of the Chinese Communist Party secretly expanded their own organization. Their intrigues to divide and conquer the Kuomintang gradually became known. Kuomintang members who previously supported the alliance with the Chinese Communist Party began to change their mind. The Chung Shan warship casel on March 18-20, 1926, and the May 15 resolution of the second plenary session of the Kuomintang's Second Central Committee to reorganize the party are examples of the disillusionment with Communism. The same' year saw the rapid progress of the Northward Expedition, which had started from Canton and pushed northward to the Yangtze River valley. Communist strength also expanded and posed a serious threat to the Kuomintang. The curtain of an all-out anti-Communist drive was raised on April 12, 1927. All Communists within the ranks of the Kuomintang, the military, and political and civic bodies were expelled in one massive purge.
Reds Defeated
The Chinese Communist Party responded with uprisings in Nanchang, Canton, and smaller revolts in other places. All were suppressed by the national government, led by the Kuomintang. Unable to remain in the cities, the Communists fled to the countryside. They organized armies, conducted guerrilla operations, and pillaged and killed more in the manner of bandits than as representatives of a responsible political party. Communist influence was gradually extended in Hupeh, Hunan, Anhwei, Kiangsi, and Fukien. In Kiangsi, the Communists set up a soviet-style regime. They called their military branch the Red army and implemented a so-called "land revolution". The national government was successful in its military punitive actions. In a few years, the Communist troop3 in the various provinces had been wiped out. The forces in Kiangsi were finally compelled to flee to the northwest. In October, 1935, the Communist remnants in Kiangsi reached Yenan in the northern part of Shensi.
Sian Incident
Earlier in 1931 Japan had occupied the Northeastern provinces (Manchuria), and threatened Soviet Russian position in neighboring Siberia. It was apparent that only if China resisted Japanese aggression could the threat to Soviet Russia be removed. The Comintern at its seventh world conference held in Moscow in July, 1935, decided to adopt a "united front" policy. It resolved that the Chinese Communists should join the fight against Japan. But by then the Communists had only 20,000 men left in the northern part of Shensi, and were no longer a military force to be reckoned with. The government troops stationed in Shensi for the suppression of the Communists happened to be the Northeastern army. Instigated by the Communist slogan: "Let us fight back to our homeland, the Northeastern army engineered the Sian Incident2 of December, 1936. The Communist suppression campaign came to an abrupt end. The following year Japan renewed her aggression against China. Major Sino-Japanese hostilities broke out in July, 1937. In August, the Battle of Shanghai began. In September, the Chinese Communists issued a manifesto declaring that they would disband the soviet-style regime in China, reorganize the Red army, terminate the "land revolution", support the national government, and follow Dr. Sun's Three Principles of the People. They told members of the Chinese Communist Party to join the Kuomintang.
Obviously, the government troops could 'not fight two wars at the same time—with Japan externally and with the Chinese Communists internally. Additionally, China needed foreign aid and Soviet Russia was offering some. However, from experience 'the national government had learned to doubt that the Communists would really fight the Japanese and it therefore adopted a policy of deterring Communist expansion. The Kuomintang turned down the Communist bid for membership. On the surface, the two parties were once again allied, this time to fight Japan. In actuality, the Communists seized the opportunity to launch guerrilla warfare and expand their numerical strength and territorial holdings. As a result of unceasing Communist attack on government troops, the government disbanded the Communist New Fourth Army in 1938. The relations between the two parties worsened.
Move to Taiwan
Because China needed peace after eight years of war against Japan, the national government in 1945 asked Mao Tse-tung to go to Chungking for discussions. The United States was enthusiastic about a peaceful settlement, and sought to effect a truce between government and Communist troops. However, the Communists were only interested in exploiting the war-weariness of the Chinese people to seize power. They used the peace talks as a cover to augment their troops and to extend their area of control. After the breakdown of peace talks, General George C. Marshal, U.S. special envoy to China, returned to Washington to become secretary of state early in 1947. The United States cut off aid to the national government, but Soviet Russia continued to assist the Communists. Shortly afterward, the Chinese Communists captured the mainland and established the so-called "People's Republic of China" in 1949.
In 1949, the national government moved its seat to Taiwan and continued to function in accordance with the Constitution promulgated in 1946. It has reorganized the army, increased agricultural and industrial production, and expanded educational facilities as part of the preparation for recovery of the mainland. The ruling Kuomintang was thoroughly reformed. It has become a fighting party with militant members and strong 'subsidiary units. The Young China Party and the Democratic Socialist Party also have reorganized themselves to meet the new challenge.
Seeking the unity of all democratic forces in the fight against Communism, the Kuomintang has repeatedly invited the Young China Party and the Democratic Socialist Party to participate in the government. Because of internal disputes, the two minority parties have not nominated their representatives. The two minority parties have been cooperative with, the government, however, because their basic policy is the same: opposition to Communism and the recovery of the mainland. There was a movement to organize another political party several years ago but it did not materialize. Taiwanese who are interested in politics have joined the Kuomintang, the Young China Party, and the Democratic Socialist Party. The need for a new party does not seem to exist. As of June, 1963, the Kuomintang had 600,000 members, of whom more than 20,500 were Taiwanese.
Some observers have asked whether the Kuomintang and Communists could not conclude another truce and coexist again. The conflict has been going on for 40 years and the decisive battle is yet to be fought. But a peaceful solution is out of the question. The two parties cannot coexist. During each period of supposed cooperation in the past, a secret struggle actually was going on beneath the surface. Invariably, this led to an open break.
Unceasing Conflict
Why has the Kuomintang so far failed to recover the mainland or the Chinese Communists to seize Taiwan? Why has the status quo of the Taiwan Straits been maintained for more than a decade? The reasons are: Though the Communists have captured the mainland, they do not have the strength to launch an effective attack against Taiwan; though the Kuomintang is determined to recover the Chinese mainland, it still has not found the auspicious opportunity to launch an effective counterattack. When the strength of one or the other prevails, the final battle will begin. Meanwhile, small-scale sea and air warfare has never really ceased during all these years. The bombardment of Kinmen (Quemoy) in August, 1958, is only one example.
Since Taiwan is small in area, population, and number of armed forces, and is short of natural resources in comparison with the mainland, some persons have asked how the Kuomintang can overthrow the Communist regime and recover the mainland. The truth is that the anti-Communist struggle is an internal conflict in which political factors are much more important than sheer military strength. Once government troops have occupied one or two provinces of the mainland, they will be able to regain all of China on the tide of popular support.
The mainland people are opposed to the Communist regime. Since the introduction of the people's communes, the farmers have lost their land and turned against the Communists. Workers, too, have come to oppose the Communists because of exploitation and industrial dislocation resulting from agricultural failure. Businessmen who have been systematically fleeced by the Communists have no love for the regime. It can be safely concluded, therefore, that an overwhelming majority of the people on the mainland are anti-Communist. These people will act when the government troops arrive. They will rise to support the Kuomintang and overthrow the Communist regime. They will back the Kuomintang just as they did in the Revolution of 1911, which overthrew the Manchu dynasty, and in the Northward Expedition of 1926-1928, which destroyed the warlords.
The greatest tragedy today is that while Peiping is suffering economic fiasco and loss of Soviet assistance, some anti-Communist and non-Communist countries have shown readiness to lend the Chinese Communists a hand to tide over their difficulties. This, of course, is detrimental to the Kuomintang cause, which is also China's national cause. It is to be hoped that all anti-Communist and non-Communist countries will be far-sighted enough to see that in the strife between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communists, a Kuomintang victory and the return of the national government to the Chinese mainland will benefit China and the whole free world, whereas a Communist victory and the conquest of Taiwan will prolong the agony of people on the Chinese mainland and increase the threat to the peace and security of other countries in the Far East.
1 Communist Li Tse-lung, then acting director of the Naval Bureau, ordered the warship Chung Shan to mutiny on March 18, 1926, and revealed Communist intrigues to overthrow the government by force.
2 Instigated by the Communists, Chang Hsueh-liangt then deputy commander-in-chief of the Communist Suppression Army, detained Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek at Sian for two weeks beginning December 12, 1936.