|
On eBay Now...
K.C. WU CHINESE LEADER SIGNED PHOTO TAIWAN RARE CHINA AUTOGRAPH 吳國楨 KUOMINTANG For Sale
When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
K.C. WU CHINESE LEADER SIGNED PHOTO TAIWAN RARE CHINA AUTOGRAPH 吳國楨 KUOMINTANG:
$841.67
A VINTAGE ORIGINAL AND VERY RARE SIGNED PHOTO BY CHINESE POLITICAL LEADER K.C. WU MEASURING APPROXIMATELY 5 7/8 X 7 3/4 INCHESK. C. Wu (Chinese: 吳國楨; pinyin: Wú Gúozhēn; Wade–Giles: Wu Kuochen) (October 21, 1903 – June 6, 1984) was a Chinese political figure and historian. Among other offices, he served as Mayor of Shanghai and as Chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government.K. C. Wu (Chinese: 吳國楨; pinyin: Wú Gúozhēn; Wade–Giles: Wu Kuochen) (October 21, 1903 – June 6, 1984) was a Chinese political figure and historian. Among other offices, he served as Mayor of Shanghai and as Chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government.Contents1 Early life2 Early career and personal life3 Activities after leaving mainland China4 Notes5 Further readingEarly lifeWu was born in Central China and grew up in Beijing, where his father served in the military. He studied at both Tianjin Nankai High School, where Zhou Enlai was a classmate, and at Tsinghua University. In 1923, he earned a master\'s degree in economics from Grinnell College and, in 1926, a doctoral degree in political science from Princeton University.
Early career and personal lifeAfter returning to China in 1926, Wu began a career in government service, first as a tax collector in Hankow (today part of Wuhan) for Hsia Tou-yin, a local warlord. In 1931, he married Edith Huang, daughter of Gene T. Huang. They eventually had four children: Eileen Wu, Edith Wu, H.K. Wu and Sherman Wu.[1] In 1932, he became mayor of Hankow. When the Yangtze River appeared ready to flood in 1936, Wu oversaw the construction of a huge dike system which saved the city.[2]Wu with John M. Cabot (centre), US Consul General in Shanghai in 1948With the fall of Hankow to Japanese forces in October 1938 during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Wu and his family fled to Chungking. In 1939, Chiang Kai-shek appointed him as mayor of Chungking, a position he held until 1942. He served as vice minister of Foreign Affairs from 1943-1945, interacting with Zhou Enlai as part of the united front against the Japanese. After the end of World War II in 1945, K.C. Wu became mayor of Shanghai, serving in that role until the Chinese Communists conquered the city in 1949.[2] While mayor of Shanghai, Wu met the Chicago Tribune\'s Robert McCormick and his wife Maryland. As the situation in Shanghai became less stable, Wu sent his two daughters to live with the McCormicks in Illinois.[3]
Activities after leaving mainland ChinaFollowing the relocation of the Nationalist government to Taipei, Wu served as Governor of Taiwan from 1949 to 1953. Wu attempted to bring a greater degree of self-governance to the Taiwanese people, allowing for the election of certain local officials by popular vote. Wu also brought critics of Chen Yi into the government, and attempted to cut back on police brutality. Wu was opposed by many conservative members of the Nationalist government, including Chiang Ching-kuo and Chen Cheng. His liberal democratic ideas and critical moment of invasion of Communists do not go hand to hand[4]
Wu\'s conflict with the younger Chiang worsened. Wu submitted his resignation to the elder Chiang but it was rejected. In April 1952, an alleged assassination targeting Wu was suspected. In April 1953, he (successfully) resigned from his position as governor and on 24 May 1953 he hastily left Taiwan on a \"lecture tour\". Wu\'s family left for the United States, except one son who was not permitted to leave by the Chiangs. In 1954, a wave of accusations appeared in Taiwan alleging Wu\'s corruption. At the same time, the Chiangs moved to dismiss Wu\'s associates from government. They also formally expelled Wu from the Kuomintang.[5] Following his son\'s departure from Taiwan, Wu began to speak out against what he saw were serious problems with the Kuomintang government. That same year, Wu wrote an article in Look magazine entitled \"Your Money is Building a Police State in Taiwan\".[4] The war of words between Wu and Chiang\'s regime escalated further, including a resolution against him by the ROC\'s National Assembly. Later in 1954, a war of words also erupted between Wu and Hu Shih, who was also in the United States at the time.
At that time, the United States was attempting to forge an alliance with the Taiwan Central Government in order to secure a strong military chain to keep communism at bay. Thus, the idea of fighting the police state was low on the United States agenda. Following a lack of American response to his writings, K.C. Wu lived in the United States, where he served as professor of Chinese history at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia. During his time in the United States, he wrote various works, including a detailed analysis on Chinese culture in the context of mythology and early history in his book The Chinese Heritage.
Wu is remembered mainly for his vital role in the formation of a liberal modern Taiwan and his anti-communist beliefs typical of a member of Kuomintang, but he is also remembered for his brave anti-Kuomintang rhetoric and turbulent disagreements with the more Russian-styled Chiang Ching-kuo.
On March 17, 1954, K.C. Wu (吳國楨) was stripped of his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) membership and relieved of all his duties. Not that he was performing any of them — by then, he had resigned his post as governor of Taiwan and fled with his family to the US after a prolonged conflict with other party members, including Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), son of then-president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).
The move came after Wu noticed on a road trip in March 1953 that the front wheels of his car had been tampered with, which he saw as an assassination attempt. Two months later, he successfully left the country under the pretense of nursing a sickness and accepting an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Princeton University.A photo of K.C. Wu, former governor of Taiwan.Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
“I’m not coming back,” he reportedly told Judicial Yuan president Wang Chung-hui (王寵惠), who came to see him off at the airport.
GOING PUBLIC
Wu kept quiet at first — he was invited to speak at a Double Ten National Day gala in New York City, but only talked about supporting the Nationalists’ fight against Communism. But in November, reports surfaced accusing him of using government money to live a luxurious life in the US. He spent the next three months trying to clear his name, which garnered him more media attention.A photo of the article written by K.C. Wu for Look magazine in June 1954 that criticized Chiang Kai-shek.Photo: Han Cheung, Taipei Times
He started to reveal more — when asked by Chicago’s WGN-TV why he came to the US, he replied that it was for both health and political reasons. Before that, however, he had maintained that it was entirely due to his sickness.
“In the political climate of those times, this was essentially a public challenge to Taiwan’s government,” his biography published by the Liberty Times states. CBS sent a reporter to his house the next day, and “there was no going back.”
On Feb. 16, 1954, he completely opened up about his conflict with the government, one of the points being that they did not care to win the support of the Taiwanese as well as overseas Chinese.A photo from the 1945 final meeting between the Chinese Nationalist Party and the Chinese Communist Party. From left, US Ambassador to China Patrick J. Hurley, Chiang Ching-kuo, Chiang Kai-shek, Governor of Sichuan Province Chang Chun, K.C. Wu and Mao Zedong. Wu and Chiang were still close associates at the time.Liberty Times file photo
“We also need to win the support of free countries, especially the US. But if we don’t practice true democracy in our territories, this will not happen,” he said.
According to his biography, he then repeatedly told reporters in English, “The present government is too authoritarian.” These words made the major US newspapers.
This started a war of words between Wu and the KMT across the Pacific Ocean, leading up to his expulsion from the party.
SIMMERING FEUD
Wu had worked for the KMT since 1926 and was once a close associate of the Chiang family. He retreated to Taiwan with the KMT in 1949, and in 1950 he became governor after Chen Cheng’s (陳誠) resignation.
During this time, he clashed with other major KMT members over many issues, including greater self-governance for Taiwanese and increased democracy. The book Who’s Afraid of Wu Kuo-chen? (誰怕吳國楨?) by Yin Hui-min (殷惠敏) states that he even directly brought up the idea to Chiang Kai-shek of allowing multiple political parties.
“We have the best people on our side, where would we find able people to form an opposition party?” Chiang reportedly replied.
Wu had clashed with Chiang Ching-kuo while still in China, and this feud continued in Taiwan when he intervened in a mass arrest by Chiang’s special agents. Several more incidents took place over political arrests, and Wu further incurred Chiang’s wrath by refusing to provide funds to the anti-communist youth organization China Youth Corps (救國團), which he compared to communist and Nazi youth leagues in his biography.
Unable to carry out his political ideals and unhappy with the direction the Chiangs were going toward, Wu tried to resign several times, but to no avail. Chiang Kai-shek was intent on passing on power to his son, and was hoping that Wu would support him. Wu refused, and finally Chiang Kai-shek had no choice but to accept his resignation.
After his expulsion from the party, Wu only amped up his rhetoric, writing several letters to Chiang criticizing the government’s one-party rule, political intimidation through special agents and lack of press freedom among other issues.
He also accused Chiang of nepotism, saying that he “loves power more than his country, and loves his son more than his people.”
Probably most notable is the article he penned for Look magazine, titled Your Money has Built a Police State in Formosa, stating that Taiwan has turned into a “communist-type state.”
However, Wu’s efforts did not deter the US from continuing to support and provide funds to the KMT regime. As George H. Kerr writes in Formosa Betrayed, it was the height of the McCarthy Era and the US was more concerned about fighting communism, and “Wu’s voice was drowned in the clamor of more aid for Chiang.”Dr. K. C. Wu, the former mayor of Shanghai and Nationalist Chinese official who broke with Chiang Kai-shek in 1954 after calling Mr. Chiang\'s Government undemocratic, died yesterday at his home in Savannah, Ga. Dr. Wu was 80 years old.
Born Wu Kuo-cheng in Hubei province in central China, he was raised and educated in Peking.
He received a bachelor\'s degree from Grinnell College in Iowa in 1923 and a doctorate in political theory from Princeton University in 1926.
When he returned to China he joined the Kuomintang and served in many official positions, including as Mayor of Hankou, and, during World War II, as Mayor of Chongqing. After Mr. Chiang\'s forces fled the mainland, Dr. Wu was appointed the governor of Taiwan, and served as a minister without portfolio in the Nationalist government.
Left for U,S, in Protest
But in 1954 Dr. Wu immigrated to the United States and, in a much publicized letter, accused the government on Taiwan of abandoning democracy. He called on the Chinese Nationalist Assembly to enact reforms to return the party to the traditions of its founder, Sun Yat-sen, including an end of one- party rule on Taiwan, and the establishment of greater guarantees of individual rights.
Dr. Wu was expelled from the Kuomintang and never returned to mainland China or Taiwan, according to his wife, Edith. He spent the rest of his professional life writing, lecturing and teaching at Armstrong State College in Savannah, Georgia.
Dr. Wu is survived by his wife, Edith, his two daughters, Eileen Yu of Essex Fells, N.J., and Edith Li of Rumson, N.J., his two sons, -H. K. Wu, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Sherman Wu, of Milwaukee, Wis., and four grandchildren.editWu Guozhen (1903-June 6, 1984), Zi Zhizhi, was born in Hubei Jianshi. In 1914, he was admitted to Tianjin Nankai Middle School. After graduating from Nankai, Wu Guozhen attended Beijing Tsinghua School. After graduating in 1921, he went to the United States to study. After obtaining a master\'s degree in economics from Grinnell College, he received a doctorate in political science from Princeton University in 1926. After returning to China in 1926, he entered politics. On December 7, 1949, the Kuomintang government moved to Taipei. In April 1953, due to the \"Wu Guozhen Incident\", he resigned as \"Provincial Chairman\" and went to the United States with his wife. Employed by the Chicago Tribune as a consultant on Far East issues. In 1966, Wu Guozhen served as a professor at Armstrong University in Savannah, Georgia, USA until his retirement. [1] Author of the book \"Chinese Traditions\"; on June 6, 1984, he was invited back to the mainland for sightseeing, but died of illness before he could make the trip.Character RelationshipsError correction
Wife Huang Zhuo groupChinese nameWu GuozhenForeign nameWu GuozhenAliasWu ZhizhiCountry of CitizenshipChinaNationalityHan nationalitydate of birth1903Date of deathJune 6, 1984graduated schoolTsinghua University , Princeton UniversityOccupationpoliticianMajor achievementsShanghai Mayor ofthe Chinese Kuomintang Central Propaganda Ministerplace of birthHubei Jianshirepresentative work\"Chinese Tradition\"important eventsWu Guozhen Incidenttable of Contents1 Character life2 Early years3 Nankai years4 Study in the U.S.5 Scholar career6 battle of words7 After returning home8 Diplomatic activities9 Responding to the white paper10 Taiwan period11 Wu Guozhen Incident12 elderly life13 Drama marriage14 Character evaluationCharacter lifeeditWu GuozhenWu GuozhenWu Guozhen (1903-1984), Zi Zhizhi, was born in Hubei Jianshi.In his early years, he studied in Nankai Middle School and Tsinghua University . After graduation, he went to study in the United States and obtained a Ph.D.In 1926, after returning to China, he entered politics and served as the Director of Land and Finance of Hankou City .In 1928, he served as the Director of Finance of Hubei Province;In 1932, he became the mayor of Hankou.In 1939, he became the mayor of Chongqing .In 1942, the Chongqing Tunnel Massacre occurred and Wu Guozhen was removed from office.In 1943, he served as the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,In 1945, he became the Minister of Propaganda of the Chinese Kuomintang Central Committee.1946.2-1949.3, served as the mayor of Shanghai.In April 1949, he went to Taiwan and served as the \"Chairman\" and \"Executive Yuan\" political affairs committee member of Taiwan Province .On December 7, 1949, the Kuomintang regime moved to Taipei . On December 15, Wu Guozhen succeeded Chen Cheng as \" Chairman of Taiwan Province \" and \"Commander of Security\" and \" Member of the Executive Yuan .\"In April 1953, due to the \" Wu Guozhen Incident \", he resigned as \"Provincial Chairman\" and went to the United States with his wife. Employed by the Chicago Tribune as a consultant on Far East issues.In May 1953, because of political disagreements with the Chiang family and his sons in Taiwan, he \"applied for leave and went to the United States\" to engage in education and writing.In 1954, Chiang Kai-shek was ordered to revoke his political affairs committee position and expelled him from the Kuomintang.In 1966, Wu Guozhen served as a professor at Armstrong University in Savannah, Georgia, USA until his retirement. [1]In 1984, he was invited back to the mainland for sightseeing, but before he could make the trip, on June 6, Wu Guozhen died in the United States.Early yearseditIn 1903, Wu Guozhen was born in Jianshi County, Hubei Province Hongyan town cold water bucun (the former residence of Mr. Wu Guozhen and Mr. Wu Guozhen Wu shrine read the private school in 2009 also in recovery), an early age with any of the Department of the Army father military training Director Wu Jingming Living in Beijing.In 1914, Wu Guozhen, who was only 10 years old, was admitted to Tianjin Nankai Middle School.After graduating from Nankai, Wu Guozhen attended Beijing Tsinghua School. After graduating in 1921, he went to the United States to study. After obtaining a master\'s degree in economics from Grinnell College , he received a doctorate in political science from Princeton University in 1926 .Nankai yearseditWu\'s Ancestral HallWu\'s Ancestral Hall (4 photos)Both Wu Guozhen and his brother Wu Guobing studied in Tianjin Nankai Middle School. At that time, Wu Guozhen was only ten years old, and he was the youngest student in Nankai Middle School. When headmaster Zhang Boling inspected the student dormitory at night, he saw him kick the quilt off and served him Cover by.In 1914, Wu Guozhen was admitted to Tianjin Nankai Middle School with excellent grades. He soon became a friend of Jinlan with Zhou Enlai, who was only 16 years old. He once joined the \"Dedicated Music Group\" with Zhou Enlai as its chairman. The purpose of the association is: \"Take intellectual education as the main body, and end with morality, link the feelings of classmates, and make up for the shortcomings of education.\" Wu Shi was the director of the boy department of the association. After Zhou passed away, Wu Zaimei was very sad.In 1982, his son-in-law brought photos of Zhou Enlai\'s brother-in-law from China. He felt in his heart and wrote a poem: Seventy years of things, I have witnessed it today. Become a brother, and later a different master. Dragons and tigers change, ups and downs. Although the path is different, the purpose is the same as Kuang Fu. My ambition is unpaid, Junhua sprinkles the soil. Life is impermanent, tears break off Shapu. \"It expresses the deep thoughts of this close friend of classmates more than 60 years ago, and the hatred for his failure to reunite with Zhou Enlai in his lifetime.Zhou Enlai and Wu Guozhen, these two figures in the 20th century in China, in the words of Wu Guozhen\'s wife, Huang Zhuoqun, are \"different from classmates\". \"Classmates\" refer to Zhou and Wu who were the best middle school students in Nankai. \"Different paths\" refers to the political separation of the two of them.Wu Guozhen (right) and Zhou Enlai took a group photo at Nankai Middle SchoolWu Guozhen (right) and Zhou Enlai took a group photo at Nankai Middle SchoolZhou Enlai is not to say, if you open a resume of Wu Guozhen: Nankai graduated and admitted to Tsinghua University, and graduated from Tsinghua University to North America.In North America for five years, he received a Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University . After returning to China, he devoted himself to politics and joined the Kuomintang. Served as Secretary of Chiang Kai-shek\'s Attendant\'s Office and later mayor of Hankou City. When the Anti-Japanese War broke out, he served as the mayor of Chongqing, the capital. After the restoration, he was successively appointed as the head of the Propaganda Department of the KMT Central Committee and the mayor of Shanghai. After going to Taiwan, he also paid homage to the \"Chairman of Taiwan Province and Commander of Security.\" Such a resume of \"Sesame Blossom\" is naturally \"different\" from Zhou Enlai, one of the leaders of the CCP.Although later (1953) Wu Guozhen and Chiang Kai-shek, who pulled him out in one hand, also cut off their robes and left Taiwan to go to the United States to expose the party-state system of Jiang\'s father and son in North America, but this does not mean that he opposed Chiang and agreed with Zhou. As a liberal with a background of studying in the United States, his anti-Chiang is anti-authoritarian. Therefore, from the perspective of his life, he was anti-Jiang (in the second half of his life) and also anti-Communist (in his life), but not against the Zhou. Not only is it not the opposite, but \"the way is different\" but \"talks and talks\", and the friendship lasts forever.Study in the U.S.editWu Guozhen writes a poem behind the photo (1982)Wu Guozhen writes a poem behind the photo (1982)After graduating from Tsinghua University in 1921, Wu Guozhen was sent to the United States to study. He first studied at Grinnell University in the United States, majoring in economics and minoring in municipal administration. In the graduation exam, Wu Guozhen got A (the best grade) in all subjects, but he got a B+ in the ideological and political course (second only to A). Coincidentally, Wu Guozhen later served as the chief executive of various provinces and cities for most of his life, such as the mayor of Hankou in 1932, the mayor of Chongqing in 1939, and the mayor of Shanghai in 1946.During his stay in the United States, he had a great friendship with Guo Taizhen, the younger brother of Guo Taiqi, the National Government ambassador to the UK, and established close relationships with Song Ziwen and Soong Meiling, which provided an opportunity for returning to the country to enter politics in the future. After arriving in Taiwan in his later years, civil servant Wu Guozhen and military commander Sun Liren were both suspicious of Jiang and abandoned. Sun was placed under house arrest for Jiang\'s life, but Wu went to the United States safely under the care of Mrs. Jiang. In his later years, he still called Mrs. Jiang a \"very attractive and charming woman\" and \"Mrs. Jiang has been very good to me and my wife personally.\" During the war, there was even a rumor that Wu Guozhen had an affair with Soong Meiling among the senior Kuomintang leaders. Wu Guozhen and Song Ziwen are also very close to each other in the past. Even when the Song family and Chiang Kai-shek had a conflict, the Song family would think of asking Wu Guozhen to intervene.In 1926, Wu Guozhen returned to China after obtaining a doctorate in political science from Princeton University. Soon, Wu Guozhen entered official career and began his official career for nearly thirty years.Scholar careereditWu GuozhenWu GuozhenWu Guozhen first came to the United States and made a living by speaking and writing. He signed a three-year contract with the Chicago Tribune to write reviews for it, and he also traveled to various states in the United States to give lectures. Wu Guozhen also hopes to teach in an institution of higher learning. In fact, with Wu Guozhen\'s academic qualifications, experience and talents, he should be the target of many institutions of higher learning competing for employment. However, in the 1950s, many higher education institutions in the United States discriminated against Chinese. At the same time, some famous universities had so-called \"China Experts\", which controlled forums, manipulated publications, and rejected Chinese scholars for their own survival needs. With more than 30 Ph.D. titles, Hu Cheng came to the United States in April 1949. He originally planned to find a faculty in a university in the eastern United States to maintain his life. Due to human factors, he was excluded from the university forum. As a last resort, Hu Shi had to work as an administrator at the Gesde Oriental Library of Columbia University, with a monthly salary of US$300. He was very aggrieved by cataloging and sorting in the pile of old papers every day.In this context, Wu Guozhen\'s desire to find a teaching position in the university has never been realized. Until 1963, Wu Guozhen was invited to give a special lecture at Armstrong College in Georgia, USA. Wu Guozhen\'s character, ethics, moral standards and profound knowledge have left a deep impression on the principal of the school, Henry Asimo. Later, Armstrong changed from a three-year college to a four-year university. As there was a shortage of professors in history and philosophy, President Henry enthusiastically invited Wu Guozhen to teach at the school. In 1965, Wu Guozhen was invited to Armstrong University as a professor of Eastern history and philosophy, with an annual salary of more than 4,000 US dollars.battle of wordseditIn his second year of teaching at Armstrong University, Wu Guozhen fought a protracted pen and ink lawsuit with the magazine \" Asian Studies \". \"Asian Studies\" is the journal of the Asian Society of America. Its predecessor is the \"Far East Quarterly\" founded by John Fairbank and others. It is an authoritative publication for the study of Asia and China.When Wu Guozhen read books about Qing Dynasty local government published in the United States, he found that the contents of these books were not sufficient, and often contained errors. In order to clarify issues related to the nature, composition, functions, and personnel system of local governments in the Qing Dynasty, Wu Guozhen wrote an article \"Local Governments in the Era of Chinese Monarchy\" in English and posted it to \"Asian Studies\".Wu Guozhen himself has served as a local senior official for more than 20 years and has accumulated a lot of information on local government issues. In this article, he focused on the personnel system of the county-level local government during the Qing Dynasty, the responsibilities of county officials, and the local political situation at that time, and corrected the fallacies of certain American publications.The editor-in-chief of \"Asian Studies\" Karen invited two scholars to review this article. One of them believed that Wu Guozhen had not read major works on local government in the imperial era of China, such as the book \"Local Government in Qing Dynasty\" by Qu Tongzu published in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1962, and pointed out that Wu\'s academic papers did not cite The source of the data is listed in detail in the form of annotations or bibliographic references; another scholar believes that although Wu Guozhen’s paper puts forward different interpretations of the problem, it is only based on personal observation and understanding, rather than collected from research materials. Based on this, Karen returned the article with the review comments.However, Wu Guozhen refused to accept the reasons for rejecting the manuscript. He stated that in order to maintain the lofty status of academic research and enable the American academic community to obtain correct knowledge of Chinese history, it is necessary to clarify this issue. In the following two years, Wu Guozhen successively sent letters to Keren, the editor-in-chief of \"Asian Studies\", pointing out that Qu Tongzu\'s \"Local Government of the Qing Dynasty\" had contradictions in content. He suggested adding the relevant content of Qu Tongzu\'s book to Wu\'s criticism of Qu\'s work as the final commentary of his \"Local Government in the Era of Chinese Monarchy\".With Wu Guozhen pressing forward every step of the way, Karen asked his female secretary to get in touch with Wu. But Wu Guozhen is still unyielding, insisting on clarifying this issue. After many correspondences and discussions, Karen wrote a letter to Wu Guozhen, stating that he will not discuss or reply to Wu\'s article in the future.Later, Wu Guozhen went to the function again, all of which were returned intact. For this article, the two sides exchanged as many as 40 letters, which lasted for two years, and the post and telecommunications costs were consumed a lot. In fact, even if the manuscript is published, there is no remuneration. It only allows personal research experience to be given due attention. Unbearable, Wu Guozhen prepared to go to court to sue the Asia Society, but due to the expensive attorney fees, Wu\'s financial situation is really unbearable. In the end, Wu Guozhen had to publish a booklet at his own expense with the correspondence between him and the Asiatic Society, together with the article, titled \"Why Does the United States Not Understand Asian Affairs?\" \".After returning homeeditWu GuozhenWu GuozhenHe returned to China after obtaining his doctorate in 1927. He was highly regarded by Chiang Kai-shek, and served successively as Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the National Government, Director of the Hubei Provincial Taxation Bureau, Secretary of Chiang Kai-shek\'s Attendant\'s Office, Mayor of Chongqing Municipality, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Propaganda Department of the Kuomintang Central Committee, and Mayor of Shanghai.In October 1938, the Japanese army captured Hankou and Wu Guozhen\'s family fled to Chongqing.In 1939, Wu Guozhen became the mayor of Chongqing. In 1942, the Chongqing Tunnel Massacre occurred and Wu Guozhen was removed from office.In 1943, Wu Guozhen became the undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in 1945 he became the Minister of Propaganda of the Chinese Kuomintang Central Committee.After Jiang went down the field, Wu Guozhen moved around with Jiang. As his staff, he made suggestions and served in the office of the President of the Chinese Kuomintang established on August 1, 1949. However, Wu Guozhen also took special actions against Taiwan’s politics, and this also planted him. The distant cause of Chen Cheng \'s dissatisfaction with Wu.After the Kuomintang fled from Taiwan, in order to win the favor and support of the United States, in December 1949, Chiang Kai-shek appointed Wu Guozhen to replace Chen Cheng as the chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government and commander of security.Diplomatic activitieseditMayor of Shanghai Wu Guozhen and Dr. Milton ReynoldsMayor of Shanghai Wu Guozhen and Dr. Milton ReynoldsIn December 1942, when our country formed an alliance with Britain and the United States to resist the fascism of Japan, Germany and Italy , and diplomatic activities were very frequent, Wu Guozhen was appointed as the political secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nationalist Government, and concurrently served as secretary of Chiang Kai-shek\'s attendant office.At that time, Minister of Foreign Affairs Song Ziwen was based in the United States, and Wu Guozhen shouldered the important task of assisting Song Ziwen in managing wartime diplomacy. He was once a temporary foreign minister. During the period, he participated in a series of important diplomatic activities such as the signing of the New Treaty between China and the United States and the United Kingdom, the formation of the United Nations, and the acquisition of international military and political assistance. He participated in major diplomatic reception tasks such as receiving US Vice President Wallace’s visit to China. Responsible for handling the daily diplomatic activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and witnessed China\'s diplomatic activities for the support of the United States and Britain and its status as a major power during the war.In August 1945, Wu Guozhen was instructed to sign the \"Exclusive Agreement to Recover the French Lease in Guangzhou Bay\" in Chongqing as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the National Government and Dai Litang, the charge d\'affaires of the French interim government in China, announcing the end of the history of France\'s forced lease of Guangzhou Bay.Responding to the white papereditOn August 5, 1949, the U.S. government published a white paper on \"Sino-U.S. Relations\", which attributed all the responsibility for losing the mainland to the corruption and incompetence of the Kuomintang regime and the Chiang Kai-shek clique. This greatly impacted the political situation in Taiwan and the relationship between the United States and Chiang Kai-shek, and it is said to have put the last \"nail\" in the coffin of the Kuomintang.The public sentiment in the Kuomintang is agitated, and many people advocate open debate with the US authorities. Wu Guozhen presided over the seminar of the diplomatic group and put forward three \"response\" policies: First, the white paper is over. After that, the US policy and strategy towards China will definitely change. It is advisable to keep a calm attitude towards this; second, the KMT should follow In a short period of time, the implementation of reforms in certain areas and the performance of certain military capabilities in areas that are more capable of combat are the indispensable conditions for the success of all current propaganda. Third, when public opinion has justified the facts accused in the white paper, The Kuomintang and the \"government\" should not be blocked, but they all have unanimous views whether they are justified or criticized. These opinions were adopted by Chiang Kai-shek.On August 16, the Nationalist Government issued a statement approved by Chiang personally. On the one hand, it expressed its \"serious objections\" to many issues in the \"White Paper\" and \"will make a detailed statement on it at an appropriate time.\" It is emphasized that the two countries should not influence the \"traditional friendship\" and \"common goals\" between the two countries due to past debates, and hope that the United States will abandon its previous suspicions and continue to aid China. This action stabilized the relationship between the United States and Chiang Kai-shek at the time, and gradually stabilized the Kuomintang\'s rule in Taiwan.Taiwan periodeditOn December 7, 1949, the Nationalist Government moved to Taipei.Wu Guozhen inspected TaitungWu Guozhen inspected TaitungOn December 15th, Jiang Zhongzheng appointed Wu Guozhen to replace Chen Cheng as Chairman of Taiwan Province, Commander of Security, and Administrative Member of the Executive Yuan , in order to use Wu Guozhen\'s image of \"Mr. Democracy\" to \"strive for US aid.\"During Wu Guozhen\'s presidency of Taiwan Province, he was committed to promoting local autonomy for Taiwanese and agricultural reforms, allowing certain local officials to be elected by universal suffrage, and trying to reduce the abuse of police power. However, after the outbreak of the Korean War, the United States changed its full support to the National Government and gave US aid , and Wu Guozhen\'s status was therefore reduced, and there were constant conflicts with Jiang Jingguo and Peng Mengji \'s spy system. Wang Zhefu, general manager of Taiwan Match Company, was arrested innocently, and Wu ordered the release. Taiwan’s deputy security commander Peng Mengji executed Chiang Ching-kuo’s order and insisted on not letting people go and sentenced to death first; due to Wu’s opposition, Chiang Kai-shek came forward and was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. Wu Guozhen is no longer able to work with Jiang Jingguo. Jiang Zhongzheng once sent Huang Bodu to send a message to Xu to be the president of the executive. He wants Wu to cooperate well with Jiang Jingguo, and he is willing to be the president and chairman of the province. But Wu refused, and went to Sun Moon Lake with his wife, claiming that he would not go down unless he resigned.In the early 1950s, with the strengthening of US-Taiwan relations, Wu Guozhen was used by Chiang Kai-shek to show goodwill to the United States and to promote relations. Therefore, in the fight for power between Wu and Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Kai-shek began to openly favor Jiang Jingguo and reject Wu Guozhen. .On August 7, 1950, Wu Guozhen\'s head was published on the cover of Time Magazine .On Easter 1952 , Wu Guozhen descended from Sun Moon Lake and ate at the \"Wuxi Hotel\" in Taichung. After the meal, he went downstairs and saw the driver surnamed Bao\'s face pale; the place where the front wheel of Wu\'s car was connected to the main shaft was suspected to have loose screws.Under this circumstance, Wu Guozhen felt that he had become a thorn in the eyes of the Chiang and his sons, and it was difficult to continue to gain a foothold in Taiwan. In April 1953, he resigned as chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government on the grounds of \"ill health\" and went to the United States. But the old and young children were kept as hostages and were not allowed to travel.In November 1953, Chiang Kai-shek suddenly removed Wang Shijie from the post of Secretary General of the \"Presidential Palace\" on charges of \"conspiracy and fraud, failing to fulfill his duties\". The relationship between Wang and Wu Guozhen is very close. After the Wang stepped down, it was reported from Taiwan that he had authorized Wu Guozhen to buy foreign exchange for 120,000 US dollars without authorization. It was in fact alluding to Wu \"fleeing abroad with capital,\" and the Taiwan authorities asked him to return to Taiwan as soon as possible. Wu Guozhen thought this was a deliberate frame-up by the Jiang family and his son, so he refused to return to Taiwan and wrote to the Kuomintang to refute the rumor. After receiving no reply from the KMT, Wu again wanted to publish a clarification advertisement in Taiwanese newspapers, but none of the Taiwanese newspapers actually agreed to publish it. Therefore, Wu Guozhen decided to attack Jiang\'s father and son.In April 1953, Wu Guozhen resigned as the provincial chairman, and Chiang Kai-shek appointed Yu Hongjun to succeed Wu Guozhen. On May 24, 1953, Wu and his wife left for the United States. Jiang Jingguo and Chen Cheng saw them off at the airport. In 1954, Chiang Kai-shek was ordered to revoke his political affairs committee and expelled him from the Kuomintang.Wu Guozhen IncidenteditIn November 1953, Chiang Kai-shek suddenly removed Wang Shijie from the post of Secretary General of the \"Presidential Palace\" on charges of \"conspiracy and fraud, failing to fulfill his duties\".Letter of resignation to Chiang Kai-shekLetter of resignation to Chiang Kai-shekThe relationship between Wang and Wu Guozhen is very close. After the Wang stepped down, it was reported from Taiwan that he had authorized Wu Guozhen to buy foreign exchange for 120,000 US dollars without authorization. It was in fact alluding to Wu \"fleeing abroad with capital,\" and the Taiwan authorities asked him to return to Taiwan as soon as possible. Wu Guozhen thought this was a deliberate frame-up by the Jiang family and his son, so he refused to return to Taiwan and wrote to the Kuomintang to refute the rumor. After receiving no reply from the KMT, Wu again wanted to publish a clarification advertisement in Taiwanese newspapers, but none of the Taiwanese newspapers actually agreed to publish it. Therefore, Wu Guozhen decided to attack Jiang\'s father and son.On February 7, 1954, Wu Guozhen accepted an exclusive interview with a U.S. TV station, criticizing the KMT’s “one-party dictatorship”, saying that if democracy is not implemented quickly, Taiwan will not be able to gain support from Western countries such as the United States; and that he left the United States entirely because of his relationship with Chiang The political opinions of the father and son were inconsistent and unacceptable.As soon as this statement was made, it caused a huge response in the United States. A week later, Wu again accepted an interview with a reporter from a US news agency, accusing Chiang Kai-shek of nepotism, rejection of dissidents, and arbitrary behavior; the Kuomintang suppressed speech, engaged in spy politics, and demanded a thorough investigation of the Kuomintang’s funding sources.Chiang Kai-shek became angry when he heard this. In addition to organizing public opinion on the island to carry out encirclement and suppression, he issued an order in the name of \"President\" on March 17, accusing Wu Guozhen of \"betraying the country, slandering the government, dividing the national army, and instigating the government and the people, as well as the overseas Chinese and the motherland.\" \"Relationships, ill-intentioned\", collected 13 indictments, announced that Wu Guozhen was relieved of all posts and expelled from the party; the crime of \"illegal dereliction of duty\" will be thoroughly investigated.The Taiwan authorities also requested the US government to extradite Wu Guozhen back to Taiwan, but the US refused.Regarding the roles played by the Chiang and his sons in the Wu Guozhen case, Li Zongren , who is far away across the ocean, commented: \"Mr. Jiang has ruled the mainland for 20 years and failed to implement the Three People\'s Principles . After arriving in Taiwan, he enforced autocracy internally and propagated against the mainland.\" Tolerate any criticism, this is \"lifting a rock and hitting one\'s own feet.\"Before leaving Taiwan and returning to the United States , Hu Shi, a Taiwanese liberal democrat, commented on the case: “Former Taiwan Provincial Chairman Wu Guozhen’s criticism of the government may be good for the country. If part of what Wu said is true, then we should not be wronged. It was out of the mouth of Wu Guozhen and refused to consider it.\" [2]elderly lifeeditAfter the \"Wu Guozhen Incident\" came to an end, Wu Guozhen was hired by the Chicago Tribune as a consultant on Far East issues. In 1966, Wu Guozhen in Georgia Savannah Armstrong University (Armstrong Atlantic State University) any Eastern history and philosophy professor until retirement. During the United States, Wu Guozhen author of various books, including a detailed analysis of \"Chinese mythology and early history of the traditional Chinese \" ( Chinese Heritage ) book.In 1972, US President Nixon visited China. After the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States in 1979, Wu Guozhen paid more attention to the economic construction of the mainland. Through reading newspapers and talking with people visiting the mainland, I learned that China has implemented a reform and opening policy and made rapid progress, which has gradually changed its views on the Communist Party and the People\'s Government.In 1982, the eldest son-in-law Yu Yiyuan returned to China for sightseeing. After returning home, he gave a detailed introduction to his father-in-law about what he had seen and heard in the mainland and the hospitality of the relevant parties. He also brought back a photo of Wu Guozhen and Zhou Enlai in Nankai Middle School. Wu Guozhen was deeply moved by seeing things and thinking about people .In the following year, the eldest son Wu Xiuguang and his wife visited the mainland again. The relevant authorities specially arranged for them to go sightseeing in Wuhan, Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and other places, and visited Wu Guozhen\'s relatives and friends.In the spring of 1984, Deng Yingchao and Yang Jingren jointly invited Wu Guozhen to return to China for sightseeing and participate in the 35th anniversary celebration of New China. Wu Xinran agreed. He re-read \" Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping \" and was full of confidence in China\'s future. He said: \"I have read \"Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping\" three times, and I admire this person very much. China will continue to develop its economy according to the current progress, and the next century , Will stand on top of the United States and Japan.\" [3]Regrettably, just as he was looking forward to returning to the embrace of his homeland after more than 30 years away, he suddenly died of illness at his Savannah apartment in Georgia, USA , at the age of 81.Drama marriageeditWu Guozhen and his familyGroup photo of Wu Guozhen with his family [4]In 1929, Wu Guozhen served as the Finance Director of Hankou City. One day, when he passed by a photo studio, he saw a graceful picture of a young girl in the window.Wu Guozhen was fascinated at once, but I don\'t know whose lady she is. When he saw that the picture of this girl was put together with that of Yang Naimei , a movie star with a lesser reputation at the time, he had an idea and thought about it.Wu Guozhen pretended to be very angry, walked into the photo studio, and asked the boss: \"How can you put the photos of other ladies\' daughters and movie stars together to attract customers?\" Then Wu asked again: \"Do you know Know that this young lady is a prestigious female son?\" The boss saw Wu Guozhen in a suit and leather shoes, with the municipal government\'s round badge hanging on his chest. Knowing that he was an official, he quickly replied: \"Yes, I know! She is the eldest lady of the Huang director of the Hanyang Iron Factory.\"The director of Huang Huang Jintao also studied in the United States in his early years. Ms. Huang is Huang\'s eldest daughter, Huang Zhuoqun, who was studying at the Shanghai Chinese and Western Girls\' School at the time. Because of her natural beauty, she was known as the school\'s flower. When Huang returned to Hankou on holiday, he took a photo in this photo studio, which was printed and enlarged privately by the boss, and displayed in the window to attract customers. As a result, Wu Guozhen’s attention was drawn.Later, under the arrangement of Wu Guozhen\'s brother, Wu Guozhen and Huang Zhuoqun met, and the two fell in love at first sight.In 1930, the two married in a church in the Hankou Concession. The marriage between Wu Guozhen and Huang Zhuoqun is very happy, and the two have lived together for a lifetime.Half a century later, Wu Guozhen has settled in the United States. One of his neighbors once commented on Huang Zhuoqun: \"Mrs. Wu is beautiful and virtuous, and capable of writing, painting, and versatile. In addition to doing housework, she can still sprout bean sprouts, make tofu, and steam. Mantou. The most admirable thing is that she can sew suits herself , with exquisite craftsmanship and generous style, not inferior to professional tailors.Character evaluationeditWu Guozhen on the cover of American Time MagazineWu Guozhen on the cover of American Time MagazineIn modern Chinese history, Wu Guozhen is the only person who has served successively as governors of the four major provinces and cities in China. In 1933, Wu Guozhen served as the mayor of Hankou and devoted himself to municipal construction. He once presided over the construction of the riverside embankment and the riverside avenue, and made active contributions to the defense of Wuhan during the war. In 1939, Wu served as the mayor of Chongqing, the capital of the wartime, and implemented the three \"equal emphasis\" programs of sparse construction, urban and rural, and heart and material, and actively built air-raid shelters to reduce the loss of Japanese military aircraft bombing Chongqing. In 1946, he served as the special mayor of Shanghai. He tried his best to control the budget, ban the black market and profiteers, and tried to stabilize the financial economy that was on the verge of collapse. In 1949, he was re-elected as Chairman of Taiwan Province and Commander of Security, and assisted the Chiang family to stabilize Taiwan\'s rule.Wu Guozhen was able to serve as governor of China\'s important provinces and cities four times, first of all because he was highly favored and trusted by Chiang Kai-shek. After returning from the United States in the autumn of 1926, Wu Guozhen first served as a professor at the Shanghai Political School, and was later recommended by Zhang Qun to serve in politics. In 1932, he was appointed as personal secretary by Chiang Kai-shek. His talent was highly appreciated by Chiang. Although Wu did not hold this post for a long time, he formed a close relationship with Chiang Kai-shek and became an important reason for his repeated use and central appointment. .Secondly, Wu\'s talents and talents displayed during his four terms as governors of provinces and cities are also appreciated by all parties.On the eve of the founding of New China, the famous diplomat Yan Huiqing went to Beijing to participate in the negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. Yan appreciated Wu Guozhen very much. He said to Mao Zedong: \"You only want to do things that are good for China. Now we have a very good Mayor of Shanghai, but You listed him as the first-class war criminal.\"At that time, Wu Guozhen ranked 17th in the list of civil war criminals announced by the Communist Party of China. Mao Zedong replied: \"It doesn\'t matter at all. Look at General Fu Zuoyi. He is also a first-class war criminal, but he has come to our side. You go back and tell Wu Guozhen. If you want him to stay there, since you like him, we let him stay in Shanghai. Be the mayor.\"Under Zhou Enlai\'s arrangement, a few days later, the underground CCP sent someone to contact him, but unfortunately it was not accepted by Wu Guozhen, who insisted on the anti-communist 怡利電二審逆轉勝The Kuomintang (KMT) (Chinese: 中國國民黨; pinyin: Zhōngguó Guómíndǎng; lit. \'Chinese Nationalist Party\'), often referred to in English as the Nationalist Party of China or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China throughout its historical periods in both the Chinese mainland as well as Taiwan, which was reorganized and transitioned to the current form since 1919. The KMT was the dominant ruling party of the Republic of China on the mainland from 1928 and 1949. In the 1950s, the party, defeated in the Chinese Civil War, was exiled from the mainland and became the ruling party of Taiwan. It remained the sole legal ruling party in Taiwan under the Dang Guo system, until political reforms were enacted in the 1990s. The KMT is currently the main opposition political party in the Legislative Yuan. It is also one of the two major political parties in contemporary Chinese history, the other being the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The predecessor of the Kuomintang, the Revolutionary Alliance (Tongmenghui), was one of the major forces leading to the overthrow of the imperial Qing dynasty, the subsequent revolt in 1911, and the proclamation of the new Republic. The Nationalist Party was founded by Song Jiaoren and Sun Yat-sen shortly after the Xinhai Revolution of 1911. Sun was the provisional President of the Republic of China, but he ceded the presidency to military commander Yuan Shikai. Yuan\'s death in 1916 led to the nation\'s disintegration in the Warlord Era. Sun delegated Chiang Kai-shek to found and train the National Revolutionary Army against the Beiyang Government; Chiang subsequently launched the Northern Expedition unifying most of China and established the capital at Nanjing in 1927. During the subsequent Nanjing decade, China achieved substantial economic growth and social progression, but the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) was disastrous, as well as the 1938 Yellow River flood orchestrated by the regime, making them vastly unpopular. During the Chinese Civil War (1945–1949), the corruption of the KMT, as well as hyperinflation as a result of trying to fight the civil war, caused mass unrest throughout the Republic and popular sympathy for the communists, resulting in the ultimate victory of Communist Party of China on mainland. The KMT retreated to the island of Taiwan, where it continued to remain as an authoritarian one-party state after the February 28 incident. The Nationalist government based in Taipei continued to represent China in the United Nations until 1971.
After almost 40 years of martial law under the KMT\'s suppression of opposition and the White Terror, in the late 1980s, Taiwan initiated political reforms and ceased to be a single-party state under President Chiang Ching-kuo, Chiang Kai-shek\'s son. Democratic reforms beginning in the 1990s under President Lee Teng-hui loosened the KMT\'s grip on power. Nevertheless, the KMT remains one of Taiwan\'s main political parties, with Ma Ying-jeou, elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012, being the seventh and eighth KMT candidate to win the office of the presidency. In both the 2016 and 2020 elections, the KMT was defeated by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the general and presidential elections, a party that was previously classified as illegal by the KMT. The latter gained control of both the parliament and the presidency, with the DPP\'s Tsai Ing-wen being elected incumbent president.
The party\'s guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, advocated by Sun Yat-sen. The KMT is a member of the International Democrat Union. Along with the People First Party, New Party and other minor parties, the KMT plays a pivotal role in the Pan-Blue Coalition, which favors China-friendly policy and supports eventual unification with the mainland under the conditions of mutual understanding and democratization of China. However, the KMT has moderated its stance by advocating the status quo over cross-strait relations, and it rejects the proposal of \"One country, two systems\" formulated by the PRC to be applied to Taiwan. The KMT holds to its own one-China policy, which regards there is only one China by the definition of the ROC constitution, but it views the Republic of China rather than the People\'s Republic of China as the legitimate government under the 1992 Consensus. To ease tensions with the PRC, during the presidency of Ma Ying-jeou, the KMT had endorsed the Three Noes policy, namely no unification, no independence and no use of military force, as the solution to sidestep difficult political controversy and normalize the cross-strait relation.[16]Contents1 History1.1 Founding and Sun Yat-sen era1.2 Under Chiang Kai-shek in Mainland China1.3 In Taiwan since 19451.4 Current issues and challenges1.4.1 Party assets1.4.2 Cross-strait relations2 Supporter base3 Organization3.1 Leadership3.1.1 Current Central Committee Leadership3.1.2 Legislative Yuan leader (Caucus leader)3.2 Party organization and structure3.2.1 Standing committees and departments4 Ideology in mainland China4.1 Chinese nationalism4.2 New Guangxi Clique4.3 Socialism and anti-capitalist agitation4.4 Confucianism and religion in its ideology4.4.1 Education4.5 Soviet-style military5 Parties affiliated with the Kuomintang5.1 Malaysian Chinese Association5.2 Tibet Improvement Party5.3 Vietnamese Nationalist Party5.4 Ryukyu Guomindang5.5 Hong Kong Pro-ROC camp6 Sponsored organizations7 Policy on ethnic minorities8 Stance on separatism9 Election results9.1 Presidential elections9.2 Legislative elections9.3 Local elections9.4 National Assembly elections10 See also11 References12 Further reading13 External linksHistoryMain article: History of the KuomintangFounding and Sun Yat-sen era
The Revolutionary Army attacking Nanjing in 1911
The KMT reveres its founder, Sun Yat-sen, as the \"Father of the Nation\"The KMT traces its ideological and organizational roots to the work of Sun Yat-sen, a proponent of Chinese nationalism and democracy who founded the Revive China Society at the capital of the Republic of Hawaii, Honolulu, on 24 November 1894.[17] In 1905, Sun joined forces with other anti-monarchist societies in Tokyo, Empire of Japan, to form the Tongmenghui, a group committed to the overthrow of the Qing dynasty and the establishment of a republic, on 20 August 1905.
The group planned and supported the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 and the founding of the Republic of China on 1 January 1912. However, Sun did not have military power and ceded the provisional presidency of the republic to Yuan Shikai, who arranged for the abdication of Puyi, the last Emperor, on 12 February.
On 25 August 1912, the Nationalist Party was established at the Huguang Guild Hall in Peking, where the Tongmenghui and five smaller pro-revolution parties merged to contest the first national elections.[18] Sun was chosen as the party chairman with Huang Xing as his deputy.
The most influential member of the party was the third ranking Song Jiaoren, who mobilized mass support from gentry and merchants for the Nationalists to advocate a constitutional parliamentary democracy. The party opposed constitutional monarchists and sought to check the power of Yuan. The Nationalists won an overwhelming majority in the first National Assembly election in December 1912.
However, Yuan soon began to ignore the parliament in making presidential decisions. Song Jiaoren was assassinated in Shanghai in 1913. Members of the Nationalists, led by Sun Yat-sen, suspected that Yuan was behind the plot and thus staged the Second Revolution in July 1913, a poorly planned and ill-supported armed rising to overthrow Yuan, and failed. Yuan, claiming subversiveness and betrayal, expelled adherents of the KMT from the parliament.[19][20] Yuan dissolved the Nationalists, whose members had largely fled into exile in Japan, in November and dismissed the parliament early in 1914.
Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor in December 1915. While exiled in Japan in 1914, Sun established the Chinese Revolutionary Party on 8 July 1914, but many of his old revolutionary comrades, including Huang Xing, Wang Jingwei, Hu Hanmin and Chen Jiongming, refused to join him or support his efforts in inciting armed uprising against Yuan. To join the Revolutionary Party, members had to take an oath of personal loyalty to Sun, which many old revolutionaries regarded as undemocratic and contrary to the spirit of the revolution. As a result, he became largely sidelined within the Republican movement during this period.
Sun returned to China in 1917 to establish a military junta at Canton to oppose the Beiyang government but was soon forced out of office and exiled to Shanghai. There, with renewed support, he resurrected the KMT on 10 October 1919, under the name Kuomintang of China (中國國民黨) and established its headquarters in Canton in 1920.
In 1923, the KMT and its Canton government accepted aid from the Soviet Union after being denied recognition by the western powers. Soviet advisers—the most prominent of whom was Mikhail Borodin, an agent of the Comintern—arrived in China in 1923 to aid in the reorganization and consolidation of the KMT along the lines of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, establishing a Leninist party structure that lasted into the 1990s. The Communist Party of China (CPC) was under Comintern instructions to cooperate with the KMT, and its members were encouraged to join while maintaining their separate party identities, forming the First United Front between the two parties. Mao Zedong and early members of the CPC also joined the KMT in 1923.Venue of the 1st National Congress of Kuomintang in 1924Soviet advisers also helped the KMT to set up a political institute to train propagandists in mass mobilization techniques, and in 1923 Chiang Kai-shek, one of Sun\'s lieutenants from the Tongmenghui days, was sent to Moscow for several months\' military and political study. At the first party congress in 1924 in Kwangchow, Kwangtung, (Guangzhou, Guangdong) which included non-KMT delegates such as members of the CPC, they adopted Sun\'s political theory, which included the Three Principles of the People: nationalism, democracy and people\'s livelihood.
Under Chiang Kai-shek in Mainland China
Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Kuomintang after Sun\'s death in 1925
KMT flag displayed in Lhasa, Tibet in 1938When Sun Yat-sen died in 1925, the political leadership of the KMT fell to Wang Jingwei and Hu Hanmin, respectively the left-wing and right-wing leaders of the party. However, the real power was in the hands of Chiang Kai-shek, who was in near complete control of the military as the superintendent of the Whampoa Military Academy. With their military superiority, the KMT confirmed their rule on Canton, the provincial capital of Kwangtung. The Guangxi warlords pledged loyalty to the KMT. The KMT now became a rival government in opposition to the warlord Beiyang government based in Peking.[21]
Chiang assumed leadership of the KMT on 6 July 1926. Unlike Sun Yat-sen, whom he admired greatly and who forged all his political, economic, and revolutionary ideas primarily from what he had learned in Hawaii and indirectly through British Hong Kong and the Empire of Japan under the Meiji Restoration, Chiang knew relatively little about the West. He also studied in Japan, but he was firmly rooted in his ancient Han Chinese identity and was steeped in Chinese culture. As his life progressed, he became increasingly attached to ancient Chinese culture and traditions. His few trips to the West confirmed his pro-ancient Chinese outlook and he studied the ancient Chinese classics and ancient Chinese history assiduously.[21] In 1923, after the formation of the First United Front, Sun Yat-sen sent Chiang to spend three months in Moscow studying the political and military system of the Soviet Union. Although Chiang did not follow the Soviet Communist doctrine, he, like the Communist Party, sought to destroy warlordism and foreign imperialism in China, and upon his return established the Whampoa Military Academy near Guangzhou, following the Soviet Model.[22]
Chiang was also particularly committed to Sun\'s idea of \"political tutelage\". Sun believed that the only hope for a unified and better China lay in a military conquest, followed by a period of political tutelage that would culminate in the transition to democracy. Using this ideology, Chiang built himself into the dictator of the Republic of China, both in the Chinese mainland and after the national government relocated to Taiwan.[21]
Following the death of Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek emerged as the KMT leader and launched the Northern Expedition to defeat the northern warlords and unite China under the party. With its power confirmed in the southeast, the Nationalist Government appointed Chiang Kai-shek commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA), and the Northern Expedition to suppress the warlords began. Chiang had to defeat three separate warlords and two independent armies. Chiang, with Soviet supplies, conquered the southern half of China in nine months.
A split erupted between the Chinese Communist Party and the KMT, which threatened the Northern Expedition. Wang Jing Wei, who led the KMT leftist allies, took the city of Wuhan in January 1927. With the support of the Soviet agent Mikhail Borodin, Wang declared the National Government as having moved to Wuhan. Having taken Nanking in March, Chiang halted his campaign and prepared a violent break with Wang and his communist allies. Chiang\'s expulsion of the CPC and their Soviet advisers, marked by the Shanghai massacre on 12 April, led to the beginning of the Chinese Civil War. Wang finally surrendered his power to Chiang. Joseph Stalin ordered the Chinese Communist Party to obey the KMT leadership.[citation needed] Once this split had been healed, Chiang resumed his Northern Expedition and managed to take Shanghai.[21]The National Revolutionary Army soldiers marched into the British concessions in Hankou during the Northern ExpeditionDuring the Nanking Incident in March 1927, the NRA stormed the consulates of the United States, United Kingdom (UK) and Empire of Japan, looted foreign properties and almost assassinated the Japanese consul. An American, two British, one French, an Italian and a Japanese were killed.[23] These looters also stormed and seized millions of dollars worth of British concessions in Hankou, refusing to hand them back to the UK.[24] Both Nationalists and Communist soldiers within the army participated in the rioting and looting of foreign residents in Nanking.[25]
NRA took Peking in 1928. The city was the internationally recognized capital, even when it was previously controlled by warlords. This event allowed the KMT to receive widespread diplomatic recognition in the same year. The capital was moved from Peking to Nanking, the original capital of the Ming dynasty, and thus a symbolic purge of the final Qing elements. This period of KMT rule in China between 1927 and 1937 was relatively stable and prosperous and is still known as the Nanjing decade.
After the Northern Expedition in 1928, the Nationalist government under the KMT declared that China had been exploited for decades under the unequal treaties signed between the foreign powers and the Qing Dynasty. The KMT government demanded that the foreign powers renegotiate the treaties on equal terms.[26]
Before the Northern Expedition, the KMT began as a heterogeneous group advocating American-inspired federalism and provincial autonomy. However, the KMT under Chiang\'s leadership aimed at establishing a centralized one-party state with one ideology. This was even more evident following Sun\'s elevation into a cult figure after his death. The control by one single party began the period of \"political tutelage\", whereby the party was to lead the government while instructing the people on how to participate in a democratic system. The topic of reorganizing the army, brought up at a military conference in 1929, sparked the Central Plains War. The cliques, some of them former warlords, demanded to retain their army and political power within their own territories. Although Chiang finally won the war, the conflicts among the cliques would have a devastating effect on the survival of the KMT. Muslim Generals in Kansu waged war against the Guominjun in favor of the KMT during the conflict in Gansu in 1927–1930.[27]The KMT in Tihwa, Sinkiang in 1942
Nationalist soldiers during the Second Sino-Japanese WarAlthough the Second Sino-Japanese War officially broke out in 1937, Japanese aggression started in 1931 when they staged the Mukden Incident and occupied Manchuria. At the same time, the CPC had been secretly recruiting new members within the KMT government and military. Chiang was alarmed by the expansion of the communist influence. He believed that to fight against foreign aggression, the KMT must solve its internal conflicts first, so he started his second attempt to exterminate CPC members in 1934. With the advice from German military advisors, the KMT forced the Communists to withdraw from their bases in southern and central China into the mountains in a massive military retreat known as the Long March. Less than 10% of the communist army survived the long retreat to Shaanxi province, but they re-established their military base quickly with aid from the Soviet Union.
The KMT was also known to have used terror tactics against suspected communists, through the use of a secret police force, who were employed to maintain surveillance on suspected communists and political opponents. In The Birth of Communist China, C.P. Fitzgerald describes China under the rule of the KMT thus: \"the Chinese people groaned under a regime Fascist in every quality except efficiency.\"[28]
Zhang Xueliang, who believed that the Japanese invasion was a greater threat, was persuaded by the CPC to take Chiang hostage during the Xi\'an Incident in 1937 and forced Chiang to agree to an alliance with them in the total war against the Japanese. However, in many situations the alliance was in name only; after a brief period of cooperation, the armies began to fight the Japanese separately, rather than as coordinated allies. The New Fourth Army Incident, where the KMT ambushed the New Fourth Army with overwhelming numbers and decimated it, effectively ended collaboration between the CPC and the KMT.
While the KMT army sustained heavy casualties fighting the Japanese, the CPC expanded its territory by guerrilla tactics within Japanese occupied regions, leading some[who?] claims that the CPC often refused to support the KMT troops, choosing to withdraw and let the KMT troops take the brunt of Japanese attacks.[citation needed][29]The retrocession of Taiwan in Taipei on 25 October 1945Japan surrendered in 1945, and Taiwan was returned to the Republic of China on 25 October of that year. The brief period of celebration was soon shadowed by the possibility of a civil war between the KMT and CPC. The Soviet Union declared war on Japan just before it surrendered and occupied Manchuria, the north eastern part of China. The Soviet Union denied the KMT army the right to enter the region but allowed the CPC to take control of the Japanese factories and their supplies.
Full-scale civil war between the Communists and the Nationalists erupted in 1946. The Communist Chinese armies, the People\'s Liberation Army (PLA), previously a minor faction, grew rapidly in influence and power due to several errors on the KMT\'s part. First, the KMT reduced troop levels precipitously after the Japanese surrender, leaving large numbers of able-bodied, trained fighting men who became unemployed and disgruntled with the KMT as prime recruits for the PLA. Second, the KMT government proved thoroughly unable to manage the economy, allowing hyperinflation to result. Among the most despised and ineffective efforts it undertook to contain inflation was the conversion to the gold standard for the national treasury and the Chinese gold yuan in August 1948, outlawing private ownership of gold, silver and foreign exchange, collecting all such precious metals and foreign exchange from the people and issuing the Gold Standard Scrip in exchange. As most farmland in the north were under CPC\'s control, the cities governed by the KMT lacked food supply and this added to the hyperinflation. The new scrip became worthless in only ten months and greatly reinforced the nationwide perception of the KMT as a corrupt or at best inept entity. Third, Chiang Kai-shek ordered his forces to defend the urbanized cities. This decision gave CPC a chance to move freely through the countryside. At first, the KMT had the edge with the aid of weapons and ammunition from the United States (US). However, with the country suffering from hyperinflation, widespread corruption and other economic ills, the KMT continued to lose popular support. Some leading officials and military leaders of the KMT hoarded material, armament and military-aid funding provided by the US. This became an issue which proved to be a hindrance of its relationship with US government. US President Harry S. Truman wrote that \"the Chiangs, the Kungs and the Soongs (were) all thieves\", having taken $750 million in US aid.[30]
At the same time, the suspension of American aid and tens of thousands of deserted or decommissioned soldiers being recruited to the PLA cause tipped the balance of power quickly to the CPC side, and the overwhelming popular support for the CPC in most of the country made it all but impossible for the KMT forces to carry out successful assaults against the Communists.
By the end of 1949, the CPC controlled almost all of mainland China, as the KMT retreated to Taiwan with a significant amount of China\'s national treasures and 2 million people, including military forces and refugees. Some party members stayed in the mainland and broke away from the main KMT to found the Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang, which still currently exists as one of the eight minor registered parties of the People\'s Republic of China.
In Taiwan since 1945
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: \"Kuomintang\" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)See also: North–South divide in Taiwan
The former KMT headquarters in Taipei City (1949–2006), whose imposing structure, directly facing the Presidential Office Building, was seen as a symbol of the party\'s wealth and dominanceIn 1895, Formosa (now called Taiwan), including the Penghu islands, became a Japanese colony via the Treaty of Shimonoseki following the First Sino-Japanese War.
After Japan\'s defeat at the end of World War II in 1945, General Order No. 1 instructed Japan to surrender its troops in Taiwan to Chiang Kai-shek. On 25 October 1945, KMT general Chen Yi acted on behalf of the Allied Powers to accept Japan\'s surrender and proclaimed that day as Taiwan Retrocession Day.
Tensions between the local Taiwanese and mainlanders from Mainland China increased in the intervening years, culminating in a flashpoint on 27 February 1947 in Taipei when a dispute between a female cigarette vendor and an anti-smuggling officer in front of Tianma Tea House triggered civil disorder and protests that would last for days. The uprising turned bloody and was shortly put down by the ROC Army in the February 28 Incident. As a result of the 28 February Incident in 1947, Taiwanese people endured what is called the \"White Terror\", a KMT-led political repression that resulted in the death or disappearance of over 30,000 Taiwanese intellectuals, activists, and people suspected of opposition to the KMT.[31]
Following the establishment of the People\'s Republic of China (PRC) on 1 October 1949, the commanders of the People\'s Liberation Army (PLA) believed that Kinmen and Matsu had to be taken before a final assault on Taiwan. The KMT fought the Battle of Guningtou on 25–27 October 1949 and stopped the PLA invasion. The KMT headquarter was set up on 10 December 1949 at No. 11 Zhongshan South Road.[32] In 1950, Chiang took office in Taipei under the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion. The provision declared martial law in Taiwan and halted some democratic processes, including presidential and parliamentary elections, until the mainland could be recovered from the CPC. The KMT estimated it would take 3 years to defeat the Communists. The slogan was \"prepare in the first year, start fighting in the second, and conquer in the third year.\" Chiang also initiated the Project National Glory to retake back the mainland in 1965, but was eventually dropped in July 1972 after many unsuccessful attempts.
However, various factors, including international pressure, are believed to have prevented the KMT from militarily engaging the CPC full-scale. The KMT backed Muslim insurgents formerly belonging to the National Revolutionary Army during the KMT Islamic insurgency in 1950–1958 in Mainland China. A cold war with a couple of minor military conflicts was resulted in the early years. The various government bodies previously in Nanjing, that were re-established in Taipei as the KMT-controlled government, actively claimed sovereignty over all China. The Republic of China in Taiwan retained China\'s seat in the United Nations until 1971.
Until the 1970s, the KMT successfully pushed ahead with land reforms, developed the economy, implemented a democratic system in a lower level of the government, improved relations between Taiwan and the mainland and created the Taiwan economic miracle. However, the KMT controlled the government under a one-party authoritarian state until reforms in the late 1970s through the 1990s. The ROC in Taiwan was once referred to synonymously with the KMT and known simply as Nationalist China after its ruling party. In the 1970s, the KMT began to allow for \"supplemental elections\" in Taiwan to fill the seats of the aging representatives in the National Assembly.
Although opposition parties were not permitted, the pro-democracy movement Tangwai (\"outside the KMT\") created the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on 28 September 1986. Outside observers of Taiwanese politics expected the KMT to clamp down and crush the illegal opposition party, though this did not occur, and instead the party\'s formation marked the beginning of Taiwan\'s democratization.[33]
In 1991, martial law ceased when President Lee Teng-hui terminated the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion. All parties started to be allowed to compete at all levels of elections, including the presidential election. Lee Teng-hui, the ROC\'s first democratically elected president and the leader of the KMT during the 1990s, announced his advocacy of \"special state-to-state relations\" with the PRC. The PRC associated this idea with Taiwan independence.
The KMT faced a split in 1993 that led to the formation of the New Party in August 1993, alleged to be a result of Lee\'s \"corruptive ruling style\". The New Party has, since the purging of Lee, largely reintegrated into the KMT. A much more serious split in the party occurred as a result of the 2000 Presidential election. Upset at the choice of Lien Chan as the party\'s presidential nominee, former party Secretary-General James Soong launched an independent offer, which resulted in the expulsion of Soong and his supporters and the formation of the People First Party (PFP) on 31 March 2000. The KMT candidate placed third behind Soong in the elections. After the election, Lee\'s strong relationship with the opponent became apparent. To prevent defections to the PFP, Lien moved the party away from Lee\'s pro-independence policies and became more favorable toward Chinese reunification. This shift led to Lee\'s expulsion from the party and the formation of the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) by Lee supporters on 24 July 2001.Pan-blue supporters at a rally during the 2004 presidential electionPrior to this, the party\'s voters had defected to both the PFP and TSU, and the KMT did poorly in the December 2001 legislative elections and lost its position as the largest party in the Legislative Yuan. However, the party did well in the 2002 local government mayoral and council election with Ma Ying-jeou, its candidate for Taipei mayor, winning reelection by a landslide and its candidate for Kaohsiung mayor narrowly losing but doing surprisingly well. Since 2002, the KMT and PFP have coordinated electoral strategies. In 2004, the KMT and PFP ran a joint presidential ticket, with Lien running for president and Soong running for vice-president.
The loss of the presidential election of 2004 to DPP President Chen Shui-bian by merely over 30,000 votes was a bitter disappointment to party members, leading to large scale rallies for several weeks protesting alleged electoral fraud and the \"odd circumstances\" of the shooting of President Chen. However, the fortunes of the party were greatly improved when the KMT did well in the legislative elections held in December 2004 by maintaining its support in southern Taiwan achieving a majority for the Pan-Blue Coalition.
Soon after the election, there appeared to be a falling out with the KMT\'s junior partner, the People First Party and talk of a merger seemed to have ended. This split appeared to widen in early 2005, as the leader of the PFP, James Soong appeared to be reconciling with President Chen Shui-Bian and the Democratic Progressive Party. Many PFP members including legislators and municipal leaders have since defected to the KMT, and the PFP is seen as a fading party.
In 2005, Ma Ying-jeou became KMT chairman defeating speaker Wang Jin-pyng in the first public election for KMT chairmanship. The KMT won a decisive victory in the 3-in-1 local elections of December 2005, replacing the DPP as the largest party at the local level. This was seen as a major victory for the party ahead of legislative elections in 2007. There were elections for the two municipalities of the ROC, Taipei and Kaohsiung in December 2006. The KMT won a clear victory in Taipei, but lost to the DPP in the southern city of Kaohsiung by the slim margin of 1,100 votes.
On 13 February 2007, Ma was indicted by the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office on charges of allegedly embezzling approximately NT$11 million (US$339,000), regarding the issue of \"special expenses\" while he was mayor of Taipei. Shortly after the indictment, he submitted his resignation as KMT chairman at the same press conference at which he formally announced his candidacy for ROC President. Ma argued that it was customary for officials to use the special expense fund for personal expenses undertaken in the course of their official duties. In December 2007, Ma was acquitted of all charges and immediately filed suit against the prosecutors. In 2008, the KMT won a landslide victory in the Republic of China Presidential Election on 22 March 2008. The KMT fielded former Taipei mayor and former KMT chairman Ma Ying-jeou to run against the DPP\'s Frank Hsieh. Ma won by a margin of 17% against Hsieh. Ma took office on 20 May 2008, with Vice-Presidential candidate Vincent Siew, and ended 8 years of the DPP presidency. The KMT also won a landslide victory in the 2008 legislative elections, winning 81 of 113 seats, or 71.7% of seats in the Legislative Yuan. These two elections gave the KMT firm control of both the executive and legislative yuans.
On 25 June 2009, President Ma launched his offer to regain the KMT leadership and registered as the sole candidate for the charimanship election. On 26 July, Ma won 93.87% of the vote, becoming the new chairman of the KMT,[34] taking office on 17 October 2009. This officially allowed Ma to be able to meet with Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, and other PRC delegates, as he was able to represent the KMT as leader of a Chinese political party rather than as head-of-state of a political entity unrecognized by the PRC.[35]
On 29 November 2014, the KMT suffered a heavy loss in the local election to the DPP, winning only 6 municipalities and counties, down from 14 in the previous election in 2009 and 2010. Ma Ying-jeou subsequently resigned from the party chairmanship on 3 December and replaced by acting Chairman Wu Den-yih. Chairmanship election was held on 17 January 2015 and Eric Chu was elected to become the new chairman. He was inaugurated on 19 February.[36]
Current issues and challengesParty assetsAs the ruling party on Taiwan, the KMT amassed a vast business empire of banks, investment companies, petrochemical firms, and television and radio stations, thought to have made it the world\'s richest political party, with assets once estimated to be around US$2–10 billion.[37] Although this war chest appeared to help the KMT until the mid-1990s, it later led to accusations of corruption (often referred to as \"black gold\").
After 2000, the KMT\'s financial holdings appeared to be more of a liability than a benefit, and the KMT started to divest itself of its assets. However, the transactions were not disclosed and the whereabouts of the money earned from selling assets (if it has gone anywhere) is unknown. There were accusations in the 2004 presidential election that the KMT retained assets that were illegally acquired. During the 2000–2008 DPP presidency, a law was proposed by the DPP in the Legislative Yuan to recover illegally acquired party assets and return them to the government. However, due to the DPP\'s lack of control of the legislative chamber at the time, it never materialized.
The KMT also acknowledged that part of its assets were acquired through extra-legal means and thus promised to \"retro-endow\" them to the government. However, the quantity of the assets which should be classified as illegal are still under heated debate. DPP, in its capacity as ruling party from 2000 to 2008, claimed that there is much more that the KMT has yet to acknowledge. Also, the KMT actively sold assets under its title to quench its recent financial difficulties, which the DPP argues is illegal. Former KMT chairman Ma Ying-Jeou\'s position is that the KMT will sell some of its properties at below market rates rather than return them to the government and that the details of these transactions will not be publicly disclosed.Kuomintang public service center in Shilin, TaipeiIn 2006, the KMT sold its headquarters at 11 Zhongshan South Road in Taipei to Evergreen Group for NT$2.3 billion (US$96 million). The KMT moved into a smaller building on Bade Road in the eastern part of the city.[38]
In July 2014, the KMT reported total assets of NT$26.8 billion (US$892.4 million) and interest earnings of NT$981.52 million for the year of 2013, making it one of the richest political parties in the world.[39]
In August 2016, the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee is set up by the ruling DPP government to investigate KMT party assets acquired during the martial law period and recover those that were determined to be illegally acquired.[40]
Cross-strait relationsIn December 2003, then-KMT chairman (present chairman emeritus) and presidential candidate Lien Chan initiated what appeared to some to be a major shift in the party\'s position on the linked questions of Chinese reunification and Taiwan independence. Speaking to foreign journalists, Lien said that while the KMT was opposed to \"immediate independence\", it did not wish to be classed as \"pro-reunificationist\" either.[citation needed]
At the same time, Wang Jin-pyng, speaker of the Legislative Yuan and the Pan-Blue Coalition\'s campaign manager in the 2004 presidential election, said that the party no longer opposed Taiwan\'s \"eventual independence\". This statement was later clarified as meaning that the KMT opposes any immediate decision on unification and independence and would like to have this issue resolved by future generations. The KMT\'s position on the cross-strait relations was redefined as hoping to remain in the current neither-independent-nor-united situation.[citation needed]
However, there had been a warming of relations between the Pan-Blue Coalition and the PRC, with prominent members of both the KMT and PFP in active discussions with officials on the mainland. In February 2004, it appeared that the KMT had opened a campaign office for the Lien-Soong ticket in Shanghai targeting Taiwanese businessmen. However, after an adverse reaction in Taiwan, the KMT quickly declared that the office was opened without official knowledge or authorization. In addition, the PRC issued a statement forofferding open campaigning in the mainland and formally stated that it had no preference as to which candidate won and cared only about the positions of the winning candidate.[citation needed]
In 2005, then-party chairman Lien Chan announced that he was to leave his office. The two leading contenders for the position included Ma Ying-jeou and Wang Jin-pyng. On 5 April 2005, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou said he wished to lead the opposition KMT with Wang Jin-pyng. On 16 July 2005, Ma was elected KMT chairman in the first contested leadership in the KMT\'s 93-year history. Some 54% of the party\'s 1.04 million members cast their ballots. Ma garnered 72.4% of the vote share, or 375,056 votes, against Wang\'s 27.6%, or 143,268 votes. After failing to convince Wang to stay on as a vice chairman, Ma named holdovers Wu Po-hsiung, Chiang Pin-kung and Lin Cheng-chi (林澄枝), as well as long-time party administrator and strategist John Kuan as vice-chairmen. All appointments were approved by a hand count of party delegates.[citation needed]Lien Chan (middle) and Wu Po-hsiung (second left) and the KMT touring the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing, People\'s Republic of China when the Pan-Blue coalition visited the mainland in 2005On 28 March 2005, thirty members of the KMT, led by vice-chairman Chiang Pin-kung, arrived in mainland China. This marked the first official visit by the KMT to the mainland since it was defeated by communist forces in 1949 (although KMT members including Chiang had made individual visits in the past). The delegates began their itinerary by paying homage to the revolutionary martyrs of the Tenth Uprising at Huanghuagang. They subsequently flew to the former ROC capital of Nanjing to commemorate Sun Yat-sen. During the trip, the KMT signed a 10-points agreement with the CPC. The proponents regarded this visit as the prelude of the third KMT-CPC cooperation, after the First and Second United Front. Weeks afterwards, in May 2005, Chairman Lien Chan visited the mainland and met with Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China. This marked the first meeting between leaders of the KMT and CPC after the end of Chinese Civil War in 1949. No agreements were signed because incumbent Chen Shui-bian\'s government threatened to prosecute the KMT delegation for treason and violation of ROC laws prohibiting citizens from collaborating with CPC.[citation needed]
Supporter baseSupport for the KMT in Taiwan encompasses a wide range of social groups but is largely determined by age. KMT support tends to be higher in northern Taiwan and in urban areas, where it draws its backing from big businesses due to its policy of maintaining commercial links with mainland China. As of 2020 only 3% of KMT members are under 40 years of age.[41]
The KMT also has some support in the labor sector because of the many labor benefits and insurance implemented while the KMT was in power. The KMT traditionally has strong cooperation with military officers, teachers, and government workers. Among the ethnic groups in Taiwan, the KMT has stronger support among mainlanders and their descendants, for ideological reasons, and among Taiwanese aboriginals. The support for the KMT generally tend to be stronger in majority-Hakka and Mandarin-speaking counties of Taiwan, in contrast to the Hokkien-majority southwestern counties that tend to support the Democratic Progressive Party.
The deep-rooted hostility between Aboriginals and (Taiwanese) Hoklo, and the Aboriginal communities effective KMT networks, contribute to Aboriginal skepticism towards the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Aboriginals\' tendency to vote for the KMT.[42] Aboriginals have criticized politicians for abusing the \"indigenization\" movement for political gains, such as aboriginal opposition to the DPP\'s \"rectification\" by recognizing the Taroko for political reasons, with the majority of mountain townships voting for Ma Ying-jeou.[43] In 2005 the Kuomintang displayed a massive photo of the anti-Japanese Aboriginal leader Mona Rudao at its headquarters in honor of the 60th anniversary of Taiwan\'s retrocession from Japan to the Republic of China.[44]
On social issues, the KMT does not take an official position on same-sex marriage, though most members of legislative committees, mayors of cities, and the most recent presidential candidate (Han Kuo-yu) oppose it. The party does, however, have a small faction that supports same-sex marriage, consisting mainly of young people and people in the Taipei metropolitan area. The opposition to same-sex marriage comes mostly from Christian groups, who wield significant political influence within the KMT.[45]
Organization
KMT headquarters in Taipei City before the KMT Central Committee moved in June 2006 to a much more modest Bade building, having sold the original headquarters to private investors of the EVA Airways Corporation
KMT Kinmen headquarters office in Jincheng Township, Kinmen County
KMT Building in Vancouver\'s Chinatown, British Columbia, Canada
KMT branch office in Pingzhen District, Taoyuan City
The KMT maintains offices in some of the Chinatowns of the world and its United States party headquarters are located in San Francisco Chinatown, on Stockton Street directly across the Chinese Six Companies
KMT Eastern U.S. headquarters is in New York Chinatown
KMT office of Australasia in Sydney, AustraliaLeadershipThe Kuomintang\'s constitution designated Sun Yat-sen as party president. After his death, the Kuomintang opted to keep that language in its constitution to honor his memory forever. The party has since been headed by a director-general (1927–1975) and a chairman (since 1975), positions which officially discharge the functions of the president.
Current Central Committee LeadershipFurther information: List of leaders of the Kuomintang and List of Secretaries-General of the KuomintangPosition Name(s)Chairman Johnny ChiangVice Chairman VacantSecretary-General Lee Chien-lungDeputy Secretaries-General Lee Yen-Hsiu [zh] (Full Time), Ko Chih-en, Hsieh Lung-chieh [zh], Yen Kuan-heng, Kwei-Bo Huang [zh]Policy Committee Executive Director Lin Wei-chou [zh]Organizational Development Committee [zh] Director Yeh Shou-shan [zh]Culture and Communications Committee [zh] Director Wang Yu-Min [zh]Administration Committee Director Chiu Da-chan [zh]Party Disciplinary Committee [zh] Director Yeh Ching-Yuan [zh]Institute of Revolutionary Practice Director Lo Chih-chiangLegislative Yuan leader (Caucus leader)Hong Yuh-chin [zh] (1 February 1999 – 1 February 2004)Tseng Yung-chuan (1 February 2004 – 1 December 2008)Lin Yi-shih (1 December 2008 – 1 February 2012)Lin Hung-chih (1 February 2012 – 31 July 2014)Alex Fai [zh] (31 July 2014 – 7 February 2015)Lai Shyh-bao (7 February 2015 – 7 July 2016)Liao Kuo-tung (7 July 2016 – 29 June 2017)Lin Te-fu [zh] (29 June 2017 – 14 June 2018)Johnny Chiang (14 June 2018 – 2019)Tseng Ming-chung (2019 – 2020)Lin Wei-chou [zh] (2020 – present)Party organization and structureThe KMT is organized as such:[46]
National CongressParty chairmanVice-ChairmenCentral Committee [zh]Central Steering Committee for WomenCentral Standing CommitteeSecretary-GeneralDeputy Secretaries-GeneralExecutive DirectorStanding committees and departmentsPolicy CommitteePolicy Coordination DepartmentPolicy Research DepartmentMainland Affairs DepartmentInstitute of Revolutionary Practice, formerly National Development InstituteKuomintang Youth LeagueResearch DivisionEducation and Counselling DivisionParty Disciplinary CommitteeEvaluation and Control OfficeAudit OfficeCulture and Communications CommitteeCultural DepartmentCommunications DepartmentKMT Party History InstituteAdministration CommitteePersonnel OfficeGeneral OfficeFinance OfficeAccounting OfficeInformation CenterOrganizational Development CommitteeOrganization and Operations DepartmentElections Mobilization DepartmentCommunity Volunteers DepartmentOverseas DepartmentYouth DepartmentWomen\'s DepartmentIdeology in mainland ChinaMain article: History of the KuomintangChinese nationalismThe KMT was a nationalist revolutionary party that had been supported by the Soviet Union. It was organized on the Leninist principle of democratic centralism.[10]
The KMT had several influences upon its ideology by revolutionary thinking. The KMT and Chiang Kai-shek used the words feudal and counterrevolutionary as synonyms for evil and backwardness, and they proudly proclaimed themselves to be revolutionaries.[47][48] Chiang called the warlords feudalists, and he also called for feudalism and counterrevolutionaries to be stamped out by the KMT.[49][50][51][52] Chiang showed extreme rage when he was called a warlord, because of the word\'s negative and feudal connotations.[53] Ma Bufang was forced to defend himself against the accusations, and stated to the news media that his army was a part of \"National army, people\'s power\".[54]
Chiang Kai-shek, the head of the KMT, warned the Soviet Union and other foreign countries about interfering in Chinese affairs. He was personally angry at the way China was treated by foreigners, mainly by the Soviet Union, Britain, and the United States.[50][55] He and his New Life Movement called for the crushing of Soviet, Western, American and other foreign influences in China. Chen Lifu, a CC Clique member in the KMT, said \"Communism originated from Soviet imperialism, which has encroached on our country.\" It was also noted that \"the white bear of the North Pole is known for its viciousness and cruelty\".[52]
The Blue Shirts Society, a fascist paramilitary organization within the KMT that modeled itself after Mussolini\'s blackshirts, was anti-foreign and anti-communist, and it stated that its agenda was to expel foreign (Japanese and Western) imperialists from China, crush Communism, and eliminate feudalism.[56] In addition to being anticommunist, some KMT members, like Chiang Kai-shek\'s right-hand man Dai Li were anti-American, and wanted to expel American influence.[57]
KMT leaders across China adopted nationalist rhetoric. The Chinese Muslim general Ma Bufang of Qinghai presented himself as a Chinese nationalist to the people of China, fighting against British imperialism, to deflect criticism by opponents that his government was feudal and oppressed minorities like Tibetans and Buddhist Mongols. He used his Chinese nationalist credentials to his advantage to keep himself in power.[58][59]
The KMT pursued a sinicization policy, it was stated that \"the time had come to set about the business of making all natives either turn Chinese or get out\" by foreign observers of KMT policy. It was noted that \"Chinese colonization\" of \"Mongolia and Manchuria\" led \"to a conviction that the day of the barbarian was finally over\".[60][61][62]
New Guangxi CliqueThe KMT branch in Guangxi province, led by the New Guangxi Clique of Bai Chongxi and Li Zongren, implemented anti-imperialist, anti-religious, and anti-foreign policies. During the Northern Expedition, in 1926 in Guangxi, Muslim General Bai Chongxi led his troops in destroying most of the Buddhist temples and smashing idols, turning the temples into schools and KMT headquarters. Bai led an anti-foreign wave in Guangxi, attacking American, European, and other foreigners and missionaries, and generally making the province unsafe for non-natives. Westerners fled from the province, and some Chinese Christians were also attacked as imperialist agents.[63]
The leaders clashed with Chiang Kai-shek, which led to the Central Plains War where Chiang defeated the clique.
Socialism and anti-capitalist agitationMain articles: Socialist ideology of the Kuomintang and Canton Merchant Volunteers Corps UprisingThe KMT had a left wing and a right wing, the left being more radical in its pro-Soviet policies, but both wings equally persecuted merchants, accusing them of being counterrevolutionaries and reactionaries. The right wing under Chiang Kai-shek prevailed, and continued radical policies against private merchants and industrialists, even as they denounced communism.[citation needed]
One of the Three Principles of the People of the KMT, Mínshēng, was defined as socialism by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. He defined this principle of saying in his last days \"its socialism and its communism\". The concept may be understood as social welfare as well. Sun understood it as an industrial economy and equality of land holdings for the Chinese peasant farmers. Here he was influenced by the American thinker Henry George (see Georgism) and German thinker Karl Marx; the land value tax in Taiwan is a legacy thereof. He divided livelihood into four areas: food, clothing, housing, and transportation; and planned out how an ideal (Chinese) government can take care of these for its people.[citation needed]
The KMT was referred to having a socialist ideology. \"Equalization of land rights\" was a clause included by Dr. Sun in the original Tongmenhui. The KMT\'s revolutionary ideology in the 1920s incorporated unique Chinese Socialism as part of its ideology.[64]
The Soviet Union trained KMT revolutionaries in the Moscow Sun Yat-sen University. In the West and in the Soviet Union, Chiang was known as the \"Red General\".[65] Movie theaters in the Soviet Union showed newsreels and clips of Chiang, at Moscow Sun Yat-sen University Portraits of Chiang were hung on the walls, and in the Soviet May Day Parades that year, Chiang\'s portrait was to be carried along with the portraits of Karl Marx, Lenin, Stalin, and other socialist leaders.[66]
The KMT attempted to levy taxes upon merchants in Canton, and the merchants resisted by raising an army, the Merchant\'s volunteer corps. Dr. Sun initiated this anti-merchant policy, and Chiang Kai-shek enforced it, Chiang led his army of Whampoa Military Academy graduates to defeat the merchant\'s army. Chiang was assisted by Soviet advisors, who supplied him with weapons, while the merchants were supplied with weapons from the Western countries.[67][68]
The KMT was accused of leading a \"Red Revolution\" in Canton. The merchants were conservative and reactionary, and their Volunteer Corp leader Chen Lianbao was a prominent comprador trader.[67]
The merchants were supported by the foreign, western Imperialists such as the British, who led an international flotilla to support them against Dr. Sun.[68] Chiang seized the western supplied weapons from the merchants, and battled against them. A KMT General executed several merchants, and the KMT formed a Soviet inspired Revolutionary Committee.[69] The British Communist party congratulated Dr. Sun for his war against foreign imperialists and capitalists.[70]
In 1948, the KMT again attacked the merchants of Shanghai. Chiang Kai-shek sent his son Chiang Ching-kuo to restore economic order. Ching-kuo copied Soviet methods, which he learned during his stay there, to start a social revolution by attacking middle-class merchants. He also enforced low prices on all goods to raise support from the proletariat.[71]
As riots broke out and savings were ruined, bankrupting shop owners, Ching-kuo began to attack the wealthy, seizing assets and placing them under arrest. The son of the gangster Du Yuesheng was arrested by him. Ching-kuo ordered KMT agents to raid the Yangtze Development Corporation\'s warehouses, which was privately owned by H.H. Kung and his family. H.H. Kung\'s wife was Soong Ai-ling, the sister of Soong Mei-ling who was Ching-kuo\'s stepmother. H.H. Kung\'s son David was arrested, the Kung\'s responded by blackmailing the Chiang\'s, threatening to release information about them, eventually he was freed after negotiations, and Ching-kuo resigned, ending the terror on the Shanghainese merchants.[72]
The KMT also promotes government-owned corporations. KMT founder Sun Yat-sen, was heavily influenced by the economic ideas of Henry George, who believed that the rents extracted from natural monopolies or the usage of land belonged to the public. Dr. Sun argued for Georgism and emphasized the importance of a mixed economy, which he termed \"The Principle of Minsheng\" in his Three Principles of the People.
\"The railroads, public utilities, canals, and forests should be nationalized, and all income from the land and mines should be in the hands of the State. With this money in hand, the State can therefore finance the social welfare programs.\"[73]
The KMT Muslim Governor of Ningxia, Ma Hongkui, promoted state-owned monopolies. His government had a company, Fu Ning Company, which had a monopoly over commerce and industry in Ningxia.[74]
Corporations such as CSBC Corporation, Taiwan, CPC Corporation, Taiwan and Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation are owned by the state in the Republic of China.
Marxists also existed in the KMT. They viewed the Chinese revolution in different terms than the CPC, claiming that China already went past its feudal stage and in a stagnation period rather than in another mode of production. These Marxists in KMT opposed the CPC ideology.[75]
Confucianism and religion in its ideology
From left to right, KMT members pay tribute to the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Beijing in 1928 after the success of the Northern Expedition: Generals Cheng Jin, Zhang Zuobao, Chen Diaoyuan, Chiang Kai-shek, Woo Tsin-hang, Yan Xishan, General Ma Fuxiang, Ma Sida and General Bai ChongxiThe KMT used traditional Chinese religious ceremonies. According to the KMT, the souls of party martyrs were sent to heaven. Chiang Kai-shek believed that these martyrs still witnessed events on Earth.[76][77][78][79]
The KMT backed the New Life Movement, which promoted Confucianism, and it was also against westernization. KMT leaders also opposed the May Fourth Movement. Chiang Kai-shek, as a nationalist, and Confucianist, was against the iconoclasm of the May Fourth Movement. He viewed some western ideas as foreign, as a Chinese nationalist, and that the introduction of western ideas and literature that the May Fourth Movement wanted was not welcome. He and Sun Yat-sen criticized these May Fourth intellectuals for corrupting morals of youth.[80]
The KMT also incorporated Confucianism in its jurisprudence. It pardoned Shi Jianqiao for murdering Sun Chuanfang, because she did it in revenge since Sun executed her father Shi Congbin, which was an example of filial piety to one\'s parents in Confucianism.[81] The KMT encouraged filial revenge killings and extended pardons to those who performed them.[82]
EducationThe KMT purged China\'s education system of Western ideas, introducing Confucianism into the curriculum. Education came under the total control of state, which meant, in effect, the KMT, via the Ministry of Education. Military and political classes on KMT\'s Three Principles of the People were added. Textbooks, exams, degrees and educational instructors were all controlled by the state, as were all universities.[83]
Soviet-style militaryChiang Ching-kuo, appointed as KMT director of Secret Police in 1950, was educated in the Soviet Union, and initiated Soviet style military organization in the Republic of China Armed Forces, reorganizing and Sovietizing the political officer corps, surveillance, and KMT activities were propagated throughout the whole of the armed forces. Opposed to this was Sun Li-jen, who was educated at the American Virginia Military Institute.[84] Chiang Ching-kuo then arrested Sun Li-jen, charging him of conspiring with the American CIA of plotting to overthrow Chiang Kai-shek and the KMT, Sun was placed under house arrest in 1955.[85][86]
Parties affiliated with the KuomintangMalaysian Chinese Association
Malaysian Chinese AssociationThe Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) was initially pro-ROC and mainly consisted of KMT members who joined as an alternative and were also in opposition to the Malayan Communist Party, supporting the KMT in China by funding them with the intention of reclaiming the Chinese mainland from the communists.[87]
Tibet Improvement PartyMain article: Tibet Improvement PartyThe Tibet Improvement Party was founded by Pandatsang Rapga, a pro-ROC and pro-KMT Khampa revolutionary, who worked against the 14th Dalai Lama\'s Tibetan Government in Lhasa. Rapga borrowed Sun Yat-sen\'s Three Principles of the People doctrine and translated his political theories into the Tibetan language, hailing it as the best hope for Asian peoples against imperialism. Rapga stated that \"the Sanmin Zhuyi was intended for all peoples under the domination of foreigners, for all those who had been deprived of the rights of man. But it was conceived especially for the Asians. It is for this reason that I translated it. At that time, a lot of new ideas were spreading in Tibet,\" during an interview in 1975 by Dr. Heather Stoddard.[88] He wanted to destroy the feudal government in Lhasa, in addition to modernizing and secularizing Tibetan society. The ultimate goal of the party was the overthrow of the Dalai Lama\'s regime, and the creation of a Tibetan Republic which would be an autonomous Republic within the ROC.[89] Chiang Kai-shek and the KMT funded the party and their efforts to build an army to battle the Dalai Lama\'s government.[90] The KMT was extensively involved in the Kham region, recruiting the Khampa people to both oppose the Dalai Lama\'s Tibetan government, fight the Communist Red Army, and crush the influence of local Chinese warlords who did not obey the central government.
Vietnamese Nationalist PartyMain article: Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng
Vietnamese Kuomintang
People\'s Action Party of VietnamThe KMT assisted the Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang party which translates literally into Chinese (越南國民黨; Yuènán Guómíndǎng) as the Vietnamese Nationalist Party.[91][92] When it was established, it was based on the Chinese KMT and was pro Chinese.[93][94] The Chinese KMT helped the party, known as the VNQDD, set up headquarters in Canton and Yunnan, to aid their anti imperialist struggle against the French occupiers of Indo China and against the Vietnamese Communist Party. It was the first revolutionary nationalist party to be established in Vietnam, before the communist party. The KMT assisted VNQDD with funds and military training.
The VNQDD was founded with KMT aid in 1925, they were against Ho Chi Minh\'s Viet Nam Revolutionary Youth League.[95] When the VNQDD fled to China after the failed uprising against the French, they settled in Yunnan and Canton, in two different branches.[96][97] The VNQDD existed as a party in exile in China for 15 years, receiving help, militarily and financially, and organizationally from the Chinese KMT.[98] The two VNQDD parties merged into a single organization, the Canton branch removed the word \"revolutionary\" from the party name. Lu Han, a KMT official in Nanjing, who was originally from Yunnan, was contacted by the VNQDD, and the KMT Central Executive Committee and Military made direct contact with VNQDD for the first time, the party was reestablished in Nanjing with KMT help.[95]
The Chinese KMT used the VNQDD for its own interests in south China and Indo China. General Zhang Fakui (Chang Fa-kuei), who based himself in Guangxi, established the Viet Nam Cach Menh Dong Minh Hoi meaning \"Viet Nam Revolutionary League\" in 1942, which was assisted by the VNQDD to serve the KMT\'s aims. The Chinese Yunnan provincial army, under the KMT, occupied northern Vietnam after the Japanese surrender in 1945, the VNQDD tagging alone, opposing Ho Chi Minh\'s communist party.[99] The Viet Nam Revolutionary League was a union of various Vietnamese nationalist groups, run by the pro Chinese VNQDD. Its stated goal was for unity with China under the Three Principles of the People, created by KMT founder Dr. Sun and opposition to Japanese and French Imperialists.[100][101] The Revolutionary League was controlled by Nguyen Hai Than, who was born in China and could not speak Vietnamese. General Zhang shrewdly blocked the Communists of Vietnam, and Ho Chi Minh from entering the league, as his main goal was Chinese influence in Indo China.[102] The KMT utilized these Vietnamese nationalists during World War II against Japanese forces.[103]
A KMT left-winger, General Chang Fa-kuei, worked with Nguyen Hai Than, a VNQDD member, against French Imperialists and Communists in Indo China.[104] General Chang Fa-kuei planned to lead a Chinese army invasion of Tonkin in Indochina to free Vietnam from French control, and to get Chiang Kai-shek\'s support.[105] The VNQDD opposed the government of Ngo Dinh Diem during the Vietnam War.[106]
After the Fall of Saigon in 1977 the party dissolved and was refounded in 1991 as People\'s Action Party of Vietnam.
Ryukyu GuomindangOn 30 November 1958, the establishment of the Ryukyu Guomindang took place. Tsugumasa Kiyuna headed its predecessor party, the Ryukyuan separatist Ryukyu Revolutionary Party which was backed by the Kuomintang in Taiwan.[107]
Hong Kong Pro-ROC campThe Pro-ROC camp is a political alignment in Hong Kong. It pledges allegiance to the Republic of China.
One of these members, the 123 Democratic Alliance, dissolved in 2000 due to the lack of financial support from the Taiwan government, after the 2000 Taiwan presidential election.[108]
Sponsored organizations
Taipei Grand MosqueMa Fuxiang founded Islamic organizations sponsored by the KMT, including the China Islamic Association (中國回教公會).[109]
KMT Muslim General Bai Chongxi was Chairman of the Chinese Islamic National Salvation Federation.[110] The Muslim Chengda school and Yuehua publication were supported by the Nationalist Government, and they supported the KMT.[111]
The Chinese Muslim Association was also sponsored by the KMT, and it evacuated from the mainland to Taiwan with the party. The Chinese Muslim Association owns the Taipei Grand Mosque which was built with funds from the KMT.[112]
The Yihewani (Ikhwan al Muslimun a.k.a. Muslim brotherhood) was the predominant Muslim sect backed by the KMT. Other Muslim sects, like the Xidaotang were also supported by the KMT. The Chinese Muslim brotherhood became a Chinese nationalist organization and supported KMT rule. Brotherhood Imams like Hu Songshan ordered Muslims to pray for the Nationalist Government, salute KMT flags during prayer, and listen to nationalist sermons.
Policy on ethnic minoritiesThe KMT considers all minorities to be members of the Chinese nation. Former KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek considered all the minority peoples of China, including the Hui, as descendants of Yellow Emperor, the Yellow Emperor and semi mythical founder of the Chinese nation. Chiang considered all the minorities to belong to the Chinese Nation Zhonghua Minzu and he introduced this into KMT ideology, which was propagated into the educational system of the Republic of China, and the Constitution of the ROC considered Chiang\'s ideology to be true.[113][114][115] In Taiwan, the President performs a ritual honoring the Yellow Emperor, while facing west, in the direction of the Chinese mainland.[116]
The KMT kept the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission for dealing with Mongolian And Tibetan affairs. A Muslim, Ma Fuxiang, was appointed as its chairman.[117]
The KMT was known for sponsoring Muslim students to study abroad at Muslim universities like Al-Azhar University and it established schools especially for Muslims, Muslim KMT warlords like Ma Fuxiang promoted education for Muslims.[118] KMT Muslim Warlord Ma Bufang built a girls\' school for Muslim girls in Linxia City which taught modern secular education.[119]
Tibetans and Mongols refused to allow other ethnic groups like Kazakhs to participate in the Kokonur ceremony in Qinghai, but KMT Muslim General Ma Bufang allowed them to participate.[120]
Chinese Muslims were among the most hardline KMT members. Ma Chengxiang was a Muslim KMT member, and he refused to surrender to the Communists.[121][122]
The KMT incited anti-Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang sentiments among Chinese Muslims and Mongols, encouraging for them to topple their rule during the Central Plains War.[123]
Masud Sabri, a Uyghur was appointed as Governor of Xinjiang by the KMT, as was the Tatar Burhan Shahidi and the Uyghur Yulbars Khan.[124]
The Muslim General Ma Bufang also put KMT symbols on his mansion, the Ma Bufang Mansion along with a portrait of party founder Dr. Sun Yatsen arranged with the KMT flag and the Republic of China flag.
General Ma Bufang and other high ranking Muslim Generals attended the Kokonuur Lake Ceremony where the God of the Lake was worshipped, and during the ritual, the Chinese national anthem was sung, all participants bowed to a Portrait of KMT founder Dr. Sun Yat-sen, and the God of the Lake was also bowed to, and offerings were given to him by the participants, which included the Muslims.[125] This cult of personality around the KMT leader and the KMT was standard in all meetings. Sun Yat-sen\'s portrait was bowed to three times by KMT party members.[126] Dr. Sun\'s portrait was arranged with two flags crossed under, the KMT flag and the flag of the Republic of China.
The KMT also hosted conferences of important Muslims like Bai Chongxi, Ma Fuxiang, and Ma Liang. Ma Bufang stressed \"racial harmony\" as a goal when he was Governor of Qinghai.[127]
In 1939, Isa Yusuf Alptekin and Ma Fuliang were sent on a mission by the KMT to the Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt, Turkey and Syria to gain support for the Chinese War against Japan, they also visited Afghanistan in 1940 and contacted Muhammad Amin Bughra, they asked him to come to Chongqing, the capital of the Nationalist Government. Bughra was arrested by the British in 1942 for spying, and the KMT arranged for Bughra\'s release. He and Isa Yusuf worked as editors of KMT Muslim publications.[128] Ma Tianying (馬天英) (1900–1982) led the 1939 mission which had 5 other people including Isa and Fuliang.[129]
Stance on separatismThe KMT is anti-separatist. During its rule on mainland China, it crushed Uyghur and Tibetan separatist uprisings. The KMT claims sovereignty over Outer Mongolia and Tuva as well as the territories of the modern People\'s Republic and Republic of China.[130]
KMT Muslim General Ma Bufang waged war on the invading Tibetans during the Sino-Tibetan War with his Muslim army, and he repeatedly crushed Tibetan revolts during bloody battles in Qinghai provinces. Ma Bufang was fully supported by President Chiang Kai-shek, who ordered him to prepare his Muslim army to invade Tibet several times and threatened aerial bombardment on the Tibetans. With support from the KMT, Ma Bufang repeatedly attacked the Tibetan area of Golog seven times during the KMT Pacification of Qinghai, eliminating thousands of Tibetans.[131]
General Ma Fuxiang, the chairman of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission stated that Mongolia and Tibet were an integral part of the Republic of China, arguing:
Our Party [the Guomindang] takes the development of the weak and small and resistance to the strong and violent as our sole and most urgent task. This is even more true for those groups which are not of our kind [Ch. fei wo zulei zhe]. Now the people of Mongolia and Tibet are closely related to us, and we have great affection for one another: our common existence and common honor already have a history of over a thousand years. [...] Mongolia and Tibet\'s life and death are China\'s life and death. China absolutely cannot cause Mongolia and Tibet to break away from China\'s territory, and Mongolia and Tibet cannot reject China to become independent. At this time, there is not a single nation on earth except China that will sincerely develop Mongolia and Tibet.[132]
Under orders from Nationalist Government of Chiang Kai-shek, the Hui General Ma Bufang, Governor of Qinghai (1937–1949), repaired Yushu airport to prevent Tibetan separatists from seeking independence.[citation needed] Ma Bufang also crushed Mongol separatist movements, abducting the Genghis Khan Shrine and attacking Tibetan Buddhist Temples like Labrang, and keeping a tight control over them through the Kokonur God ceremony.[125][133]
During the Kumul Rebellion, the KMT 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army) crushed a separatist Uyghur First East Turkestan Republic, delivering it a fatal blow at the Battle of Kashgar (1934). The Muslim General Ma Hushan pledged allegiance to the KMT and crushed another Uyghur revolt at Charkhlik Revolt.[citation needed]
During the Ili Rebellion, the KMT fought against Uyghur separatists and the Soviet Union, and against Mongolia.[citation needed]
Election resultsPresidential electionsElection Candidate Running mate Total votes Share of votes Outcome2020 Han Kuo-yu Chang San-cheng (Black-nill.png independent) 5,522,119 38.6% Defeated Red X2016 Eric Chu Wang Ju-hsuan (Black-nill.png independent) 3,813,365 31.0% Defeated Red X2012 Ma Ying-jeou Wu Den-yih 6,891,139 51.6% Elected Green tick2008 Ma Ying-jeou Vincent Siew 7,658,724 58.4% Elected Green tick2004 Lien Chan James Soong (LogoPFP.svg PFP) 6,423,906 49.8% Defeated Red X2000 Lien Chan Vincent Siew 2,925,513 23.1% Defeated Red X1996 Lee Teng-hui Lien Chan 5,813,699 54.0% Elected Green tick1948 Chiang Kai-shek Li Zongren 2,430 90.03% Elected Green tick
K.C. WU CHINESE LEADER SIGNED PHOTO TAIWAN RARE CHINA AUTOGRAPH 吳國楨 KUOMINTANG $841.67
K. C. Wu Signed Hand Written Letter Mounted on Cardboard Formed Modern Taiwan $399.00
K. C. Wu Signed Time Magazine Cover Mounted on Cardboard Formed Modern Taiwan $399.00
|
