Chiang Kai-Shek (Part 3)

May 23, 2022

Once World War 2 ended in 1945 civil war resumed between the Nationalists and Communists in China. The Soviet Union occupied northern China and northern Korea, arming the Korean communists and installing their puppet government under Kim Il-Sung. The USSR also re-armed Mao Zedong’s Chinese communist forces. The US landed troops in northern China as well, rearming Chiang’s army.

It was not long, however, before the massive corruption within the Nationalist forces, coupled with inflation, began to separate peasant allegiance from Chiang Kai-Shek. Mao’s communist troops told the peasants what they wanted to hear, and even in the West many Europeans and Americans saw the communists as “agrarian reformers.” Some entire divisions of the Nationalist army went over to the communist side, and by 1949 Chiang knew that his military had lost the mainland due to low morale, corruption, battlefield losses, and loss of popular support in the Western media and governments.

Chiang fled to the island of Taiwan in December of 1949 and established his seat of power in the city of Taipei. He still had some forces in remote areas of China who fought on against the communists (most notably, Muslim troops loyal to the Nationalists), but for the most part his control extended only to Taiwan and a few small islands.

He was “elected” and “reelected” by his national assembly to four six-year terms as President of the Republic of China. He died in 1975 at the age of 87.

Throughout his rule, Chiang was an autocrat. Although the people on Taiwan enjoyed freedom of religion, freedom of travel, and a booming free enterprise economy (a reversal of Chiang’s previous hatred of capitalism), the people were not allowed to criticize the government.

After his death, the Republic of China moved away from autocratic rule, and today the people there enjoy a freely elected government with complete freedom of speech and freedom of the press.