The month of October has special significance for the Republic of China—the republic was established October 10, 1911; Taiwan province, the current seat of the free Chinese government, was returned to China Oct6ber 25, 1945; and President Chiang Kai-shek, the nation's leader for more than 40 years, was born on October 31, 1887.
President Chiang has been at the helm of the Republic of China longer than the chief executive of any leading nation in the world today. He was Dr. Sun Yat-sen's right-hand aide in the revolutionary movement that routed the Manchus and established the republic. In 1921, he helped Dr. Sun foil a coup by Chen Chiung-ming, a Canton warlord. In 1924, he was named commandant of the Whampoa Academy, the republic's first military school. Its cadets were spearheads for the successful 1926-28 Northward Expedition against the warlords.
In the long and arduous eight years (1937-45) of the war with Japan, the Generalissimo rallied the nation and led the way to total victory. With the end of the conflict, Taiwan was returned to China after 50 years of Japanese occupation.
China began to bind up the wounds of war, and the national leader quickly began to push programs of rehabilitation and reconstruction. That was the signal for the Chinese Communists, backed by the Soviet Union, to escalate their long-time treachery into all-out rebellion. By 1949, the mainland had been overrun and the seat of government was moved to Taiwan. Inspired by President Chiang's leadership, the free Chinese of the island and many of those overseas have been wholeheartedly supporting preparations for counterattack to liberate more than 600 million compatriots now living under Communist tyranny.
President Chiang will be 77 on October 31. He continues to be one of the world's healthiest and most energetic chiefs of state. Such is his popularity with the Chinese people that many refugees escaping the mainland attest his very name is sufficient to rally steadily growing resistance forces.
Many books have been written about Chiang through the years. Most of those in English present China's leader fairly and honestly enough—but the orientation is Western. The reader is given an impression of Chiang Kai-shek as seen through occidental eyes. What do the Chinese think of their own chief executive? To give the English-speaking reader a sampling of genuine Chinese opinion, several excerpts have been translated from articles written by those who have been the President's lifetime revolutionary comrades and his loyal followers in good times and bad. Written over the last few years on the occasion of President Chiang's birthday anniversaries, the writings depict him as a leader, a personal friend, and a teacher. They, reveal many facts of the President's life that are not commonly known in the West. It is hoped they will provide an insight into the characteristics and unique qualities of one of the world's great men.
President Chiang Kai-shek's Farsightedness
By Chang Chun, Secretary-General to the President and a lifetime friend. The two attended the Tokyo Military Academy together in 1907-09.
"This writer has been associated with President Chiang for more than 50 years. Having had close contact with him in both official and private life, I have come to some understanding of his way of life and principles in dealing with people and things.... Thinking over the major crises-commotions, rebellions, coups, and foreign invasions—of the last three decades, I find that the President usually had advance awareness of what was going to happen. When a major crisis was brewing, the leader sensed it and gave warnings and instructions for prevention. However, due to the shortsightedness of others, his counsel often was not heeded until it was too late. Even so, the leader was never panicked or discouraged. He always remained calm and exercised wise leadership to surmount the crisis. Here I would like to cite a few examples:
"Right after the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) reorganization of 1924, Dr. Sun Yat-sen entrusted Generalissimo Chiang with the task of creating a military force. That was how the Whampoa Academy came into being. As the commandant of the academy, Generalissimo Chiang worked under extremely difficult conditions—funds were low, teachers lacking, and reactionary elements were doing their utmost to smear and defame him with a succession of rumors. However, in the conviction that China could not be unified unless the northern warlords were eliminated and that in order to achieve this aim a strong military force was indispensable, Generalissimo Chiang stood firm, and organized and trained the Whampoa cadets into a strong fighting force. With this revolutionary army under his command, he emerged victorious in a series of military campaigns—first against warlords in the provinces of Kwangtung and Kwangsi, then against the militarists in the north. Later, the war against Japanese invasion was won by this same revolutionary force, handpicked by the Generalissimo himself ....
"After the Japanese attack on Mukden in 1931, the nation was in an uproar. The indignant Chinese people demanded stronger counter-measures against the Japanese. War seemed unavoidable. The Chinese Communists, then besieged by the government forces, grasped this chance to urge an external war, hoping to ease pressure of government troops upon themselves. They even saw war as an opportunity to expand their own rebellion.
"Generalissimo Chiang, convinced that without internal stability any external military campaign could not possibly succeed, decided upon peaceful negotiation with the Japanese. But he was by no means helpless—he made every possible preparation for an eventual military conflict. The Communists naturally made trouble, and lost no opportunity for treason, infiltration, and instigation. They took advantage of the heightened patriotism of the masses, trying to fan up anti-government sentiments and create a favorable environment for their subversion. They were not unaware that in doing so, they were risking the future of the whole nation.
National leader pledges resistance against Japan (File photo)
"President Chiang, firm as a pillar, was not in the least discountenanced by the Communist conspiracies. He stood up under the smear attacks with calm endurance, while sticking to his own plans and policies. In addition to stepped-up military campaigns against the Communist rebels, he promoted various reconstruction programs and launched the 'New Life Movement.' He placed special emphasis on the construction of roads in Szechwan, foreseeing that this mountainous province in west China one day would become a base of resistance to the Japanese invaders.
"As early as 1935, President Chiang had already drawn a set of plans for China's struggle against Japan. He once pointed out: 'In a war with Japan, the main battleground would be south of Yangtze River and west of the Peiping-Hankow Railway; the ultimate frontline would be along a Loyang-Hsiangfan-Chingyi-Changteh line; the provinces of Szechwan, Kweichow, and Shensi would be the ultimate base, with Kansu and Yunnan as the rear.' Later developments bore out his predictions exactly....
"President Chiang also detected the danger of Communism before anyone else. As early as 1924, when the Kuomintang adopted a policy of alignment with Soviet Russia and of admitting Chinese Communists to the Party, President Chiang wrote to Liao Chung-kai, another noted revolutionary: 'The Russian Communist Party, in its dealings with China, has only one aim, namely, to make the Chinese Communist Party its chosen instrument. It does not believe that our Party can really cooperate with it for long.... It is the policy of the Russian Communist Party to turn the lands inhabited by the Manchus, Mongols, Moslems, and Tibetans into parts of the Soviet domain; it may harbor sinister designs even on China proper.... Their so-called internationalism and world revolution are nothing but Caesarism in another name, the better to hoodwink the outside world.... '
"All this has been borne out by what international Communism has done to China today....
"After the Northward Expedition had been launched, the Chinese Communists were gradually conspiring to seize power with Russian help. That was when President Chiang urged a Party purge. However, leftist elements at Wuhan refused to cooperate, and granted an opportunity for the Communists to fan up one riot after another. President Chiang, launching an all-out attack on the Reds, chased the remnants all the way from central China into Shensi, and was about to crush them completely when some rebellious generals kidnaped him at Sian, thus negating his previous efforts....
"After the Sino-Japanese war, the President, though fully aware of the Communist plot, was reluctant to resort to war at a time when the whole nation was in need of rehabilitation and reconstruction. However, due to insincerity on the part of the Communists and to the misconceptions of some of our allies, the President's efforts to bring about peace through negotiation got nowhere.
"At that time, some shortsighted politicians, deluded by the Communists, were bewitched into inadvertent support of the Red cause. In October, 1948, when the Hsuchow-Pengpu battle was at its critical stage, some leaders in the government even demanded that peace talks be resumed. Under these circumstances, President Chiang retired from office in January, 1949, in the hope that his withdrawal would help solidify the anti-Communist camp.
Generalissimo Chiang begins the Northward Expedition (File photo)
"It proved to be a forlorn hope. The nation, losing its ballast, moved toward chaos. The Communist troops crossed the Yangtze without meeting much resistance. Morale of both troops and people seemed to be collapsing. At this crucial juncture, when the destiny of the Republic was hanging by a hair, President Chiang had to resume office, and put his experienced hand at the helm of China's ship of state again.
"At that time, the seat of government was in Canton, and a sizable part of northwestern China was still in the hands of the government. Reviewing the whole situation, the President foresaw that the mainland could not then be defended, and that Taiwan province alone could be made into a base for counterattack. He ordered that the island province be secured at any cost. This great farsightedness of President Chiang again proved crucial in the preservation of the Republic. Taiwan today has become not only the seat of free Chinese government, but also a beacon of freedom and democracy in the Pacific, and a formidable source of strength for the free world in the life-and-death struggle against Communism.... "
President Chiang Kai-shek at Canton
By General Ho Ying-chin, formerly chief of the general staff and now Chairman of the Strategy Advisory Commission. A graduate of the Tokyo Military Academy, General Ho was commander-in-chief of the East Route Army of the Northward Expedition under President Chiang in 1926. He later served in various military posts and became Premier in 1949.
"It is universally known that for the last 40 years President Chiang Kai-shek has accepted the responsibility of leading the Republic of China. Few know that even before the Northward Expedition of 1926, when the President was at Canton, he had often saved the national revolution from being sabotaged.
"There was the Yungfeng Gunboat Incident, in which Generalissimo Chiang helped Dr. Sun Yat-sen weather a major coup. On June 16, 1922, Chen Chiung-ming, a Canton warlord, rebelled and shelled the Presidential Office at Kuangyin Mountain. Dr. Sun, then the provisional President, escaped with the help of Secretary Lin Chi-mien and a few guards, and boarded the Yungfeng gunboat anchored in the Pearl River. Generalissimo Chiang was at Shanghai, but at once rushed to Dr. Sun's side, determined to protect the leader with his life and suppress the coup. He joined Dr. Sun on the Yungfeng, and at the same time directed the Navy in fighting the rebels.
"His efforts were in vain. At the instigation of Chen Chiung-ming, three other gunboats—the Hai Chih, Hai Chu, and Tsou Ho—revolted on July 10. The situation became worse. When the Changchou fortress fell into the hands of rebels, Dr. Sun and Generalissimo Chiang decided to proceed along the Pearl River to Canton.
"The critical moment came when the Yungfeng passed Chu Wai Fort. Rebel guns opened up fiercely. Generalissimo Chiang, worried for the safety of Dr. Sun, persuaded the latter to stay in his cabin, while he himself personally stood at the helm. The Yungfeng was hit six times and shook like a leaf, but Chiang Kai-shek paid no attention and turned a deaf ear to urgings that he too seek shelter.
"Standing as quiet and firm as a rock, he fixed his eyes on a clock, knowing that the danger would be over in 20 minutes. The boat sailed on, the Generalissimo at the helm, and reached its destination safely. Dr. Sun and Generalissimo Chiang stayed in Canton until August 9. When reinforcements failed to arrive, they left for Shanghai via Hongkong. Later, in a book by Generalissimo Chiang, President Sun's Ordeal in Canton, Dr. Sun wrote in the foreword: 'During the Chen Chiung-ming rebellion, Kai-shek came to Canton to be at my side. His planning proved to be correct and valuable. He expressed willing ness to live and die together with me and the naval officers and men .... ' From that day on, Dr. Sun trusted Chiang Kai-shek even more than before.
"Another incident occurred when Generalissimo Chiang was touring the Soviet Union in August of 1923. Accompanied by Wang Teng-yun, a Kuomintang member; Chang Tai-lui, a Communist; and Shen Ting-i, an ex-Communist, Generalissimo Chiang left Shanghai for Moscow August 16 via Tsingtao, Dairen, Harbin, and Manchuli. They returned to China in December.
Two giants of modern China, Dr. Sun Yat-sen (left) and Chiang Kai-shek in Canton in 1924 when the Generalissimo became commandant of the Whampoa Academy (File photo)
"During his three-month stay in Russia, Generalissimo Chiang came to understand the actual situation in that country through extensive travel and observation. He also detected the sinister designs that the Soviets harbored toward China. Once the Soviets tried to persuade him to join the Communist Party, promising to place three brigades of the Mongolian army then in Kulun (Ulan Bator) of Outer Mongolia, under his command. With this force, they suggested, the Generalissimo might fight his way to Peking and seize power. Generalissimo Chiang turned the proposal down, flatly. In strong language he reproached the Soviets for encroachment on Mongolia, and insisted that Outer Mongolia was a part of Chinese territory. The Soviet leaders were much put out. From then on, Generalissimo Chiang was even firmer in his determination to fight Communism. The Communists, knowing they could never bring Chiang Kai-shek under their control, concentrated on defaming and obstructing him.
"The Chungshan Gunboat Incident was another episode displaying the then young leader's alertness and quick decision and action.
"The incident was Communist-instigated on March 18, 1926, just after Dr. Sun's death and as Generalissimo Chiang was planning the Northward Expedition in his capacity as commandant of the Whampoa Academy. The Communists, jealous of Chiang's imminent success, did their best to sabotage him. Under the direction of the Soviet adviser Borodin, Communist elements concealed in the Kuomintang began a smear campaign against Chiang Kai-shek. On March 18, Li Chih-lung, a Communist who was acting director of the Naval Forces Bureau, forged an order for the Chungshan gunboat to move down the river from Canton to Whampoa. The engines were kept running and the guns were trained on the academy. Sensing a plot against his life, Generalissimo Chiang took lightning quick action. He mobilized the fifth regiment under the command of Chiang Ting-wen, the only loyal general there, and had the Chung-shan seized and Li Chih-lung placed in custody. At the same time he ordered martial law. The coup was nipped in the bud. Afterward Generalissimo Chiang ordered the expulsion of Kissanka, chief of the Soviet Military Advisory Group, who was back of the conspiracy.... "
President Chiang Kai-shek As I Know Him
By Huang Chi-lu, Minister of Education since 1961, and a veteran revolutionary, newspaperman, and Kuomintang member.
"The first time I heard of Chiang Kai-shek was around the second or third year of the Republic (1912-13), when the second revolution (against warlord Yuan Shih-kai) was under way. Several revolutionists who had close contact with me, such as Tai Chi-tao, Yang Chang-pai, and Huang Fu-sheng, were always talking of him. They gave me the impression that this Chiang Kai-shek, whom I had not yet met, was a great revolutionary and a genius in military affairs.
"I first saw him in the winter of the fourth year of the Republic (1915) at No. 8, Pao Chang Road, Shanghai, which was a secret headquarters of the anti-Yuan revolutionists. We were not introduced. After he was gone, I asked Fu-sheng: 'Who was that lanky but energetic man?' 'That was Chiang Kai-shek we have been telling you about,' he replied. I was then only 15, a middle school student, neither old nor learned enough to be much impressed by a man who was later to become one of China's greatest leaders.
"My first direct contact with Generalissimo Chiang was in the fall of 1917, when he was entrusted by Dr. Sun Yat-sen with revolutionary work in Kiangsu and Chekiang provinces, then still under control of hostile warlords. Needing aides in military affairs, he sent word for comrades to have some military academy cadets join him in Shanghai. At the time I had just been graduated from the Futan Middle School in Shanghai, and was eager to do my share in the struggle against warlords. Yang Chang-pai asked me to go north and recruit some young officers of the Paoting Academy. Soon I returned to Shanghai by ship with eight of them.
"I at once took the young men to Hsin Ming Li, where Generalissimo Chiang was staying. Determined to show our enthusiasm, we burst into the house like a whirlwind.
"As I can still remember, Chiang, in a summer long gown and wearing dark glasses, was receiving another visitor. After I introduced the comrades, he said briefly that we should settle down and then elect a representative to come again and talk to him. Though he didn't mention it, I sensed his displeasure in our disorderliness and lack of discretion, which could have been most harmful at a time when we were engaged in secret missions.
"In our enthusiasm, it seemed as though a bucket of water had been poured over us. Yet we knew he was right. Not long afterward, the building was searched by police. We later learned that Generalissimo Chiang escaped by climbing over a wall.
"In ensuing weeks, he sought shelter in the same building where the cadets were staying. I saw him through the window several times when I went to see, the young men—alone in his room, with the door closed, pacing the floor in deep meditation. I didn't bother him.
"In those days, I was young and hot-blooded. Determined to serve my country but not given encouragement, I was naturally displeased. Later I came to understand that the unique qualities Chiang Kai-shek showed then enabled him to make his subsequent great contributions to the country. Among the revolutionary comrades of early days, there were many of high intelligence and outstanding capability. However, their wisdom and competence often were impaired by lack of modesty, perseverance, and strict discipline. These were qualities in which Generalissimo Chiang excelled. Now older and more sophisticated, I am aware that these seemingly common yet rarely found virtues are the foundation of greatness.... "
Childhood and Youth of President Chiang Kai-shek
By Hollington K. Tong, a veteran newspaperman and diplomat, and now a senior adviser to the President. He was Ambassador to the United States in 1956-58.
"I first came to know President Chiang when I taught in the Lungtsin School of Feng-hua, the native town of the President. At that time he was a student in that school, living in the same dormitory as I did.
"Every morning at dawn, I would see him standing on the veranda, silent and motionless, for more than 30 minutes. The regularity of this habit attracted my attention. I wondered whether he was doing some kind of exercise, or was pondering some weighty problem.
"Thirty years later, when writing the biography of President Chiang, I was granted the opportunity of reading his diaries of earlier days. The riddle was solved—at that time, I learned, he was considering how to get to Japan to attend military academy.
"Another small thing I can still recall is the young man's enthusiasm for reading newspapers. In Lungtsin, there was a small library which had various newspapers and magazines. Each day when the papers arrived from Shanghai, he was usually there first to read them.
"In school, he was not only good at studies, but also excelled in sports. At a track meet he took third in the 100-meter dash.
"The young Chiang Kai-shek was full of righteousness, always helping the weak against the strong. He was only seven when he performed his first act to uphold justice. At school, he saw a schoolmate being bullied by another older and stronger boy. He left school early that day, intercepted the bully on his way home and gave him a sound beating. Later he was found out and punished, but he never breathed a word about why he had beaten the boy.
"Democracy's seeds were planted early in the mind of young Chiang. Once when a teacher spoke of the simple, thrifty life of the U.S. president, the other boys, accustomed to the extravagances of Chinese emperors, couldn't understand. Chiang Kai-shek stood up and said: 'It is not strange at all. The president, being also a man, should naturally live like anyone else.'
"Chiang Kai-shek was born at a time of commotion and war. Three years before his birth, China lost Vietnam to France as a result of the Sino-French war. Seven years after he was born, China suffered a humiliating defeat at the hand of Japan and had to cede Taiwan. Although his native Chikow village received the news a little late, the people were indignant. The young Chiang was deeply impressed by what he overheard from the talk of his mother and relatives. It was at this time that he began to hate the incompetent Manchu government and that the desire to overthrow it through revolution began to take form in his young mind.... "