影像墨爾本

~蔣中正與他失去的中國~

This book “Chiang Kai-Shek and the China He Lost” by Jonathan Fenby is probably one of the best accounts of Chiang’s life pre-1949 which I have read. I have found research on this book prodigious, while also finding the book fluent and engaging while finding the author’s opinions and judgments are uniformly consistent.

I think Chiang Kai-Shek to this day remains one of the lesser known military dictators known outside of Asia, as his failure to win the Chinese civil war after the surrender of Japan resulted in his diminished status as his rivalry Mao prevailed with the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. The contrast in history could not be any harsher to Chiang, with Mao’s portrait still hanging on Tiananmen Square at the heart of Beijing, while Chiang’s body remain unburied  awaiting for the eventual return burial in the mainland. It seems without question that Mao was the victor at the end of the day, while Chiang lived out his days on Taiwan maintaining an authoritarian dictatorship and a ‘fantasy dream’ of reclaiming the mainland.

The book starts off describing his early childhood years and the influence of his mother that contributed to his Imperial-Confucian mentality and style which eventually failed in his quest to unite China under the KMT. The book then describes modern Chinese nationalism that was brought by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen during the first decade of the 20^th century and how Chiang was there at its inception. His “Northern Expedition” in 1926 achieved a semblance of national unification; however, Fenby (Author) resembles the “Northern Expedition” more like collaboration with the local warlords and thugs as many were offered huge bribes to join under the KMT banner. His association and collaboration with the Shanghai criminal underworld and local warlords also made it impossible for the central government to function, as real power were maintained at the hands of brutal gangs and warlords while Chiang was adept in negotiating with them. The “Nanking Decade” merely saw rampant corruption and nepotism that flourished during the Nanking Republic as associates such as the Soong and Kung families were reportedly amassed a fortune over US$500 Million through crony business transactions and shonky deals. At that time, it seemed that the Chiang, Soong and the Kung families ran China as it liked, with Chiang often turning a blind eye as long as it didn't affect his power base.

His failure was also a by-product of his character, his style based on Confucian thoughts of “listen and obey” and often dismissed consultation and immensely disliked disagreements. It is also for this reason that the government of Nanking failed China as a whole, as officials were picked by Chiang whom appeased him rather than those who had the skills and qualities to run the country. His proclamation as the “Generalissimo” of China was also distinctively flawed as he was merely a military amateur throughout his life, as he often sought Soviet, German and American military advisors which assisted him on military strategies and campaigns. Therefore, it was not surprising that his eventual flight escape to Taiwan was only a matter of time as his stubbornness and backwardness affected the cooperation and execution of military advice given by the Americans to beat the Communists.

The book also details his third wife Soong Mei-Ling and her importance as an asset to Chiang. Her elegance and charm greatly perplexed many Americans of great intelligence and perspicacity. Her presence as a First-Lady of China greatly influence America’s role in China after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. However, though a very intelligent and charming woman, Mei-Ling was also portrayed in the book as a calculating, manipulative and vindictive with a snobbish attitude. She too, was part of the corruption and cronyism that ran rampant at that time, and it was reportedly rumoured that after she died in 2003, she had once amassed assets of over a billion US Dollars.

In conclusion, despite all the negatives about Chiang, the Nationalist years during the Nanking decade did see China in trying to rid itself of warlordism, and correcting its image as the sick man of Asia as it attempted to phase China into a period of modernization after the Qing dynasty. However, if there was one legacy which today’s China resemble to that of Chiang’s, it is that all political power is reserved for the ruling party. In my opinion the book could have went on to describe about his brutal dictatorship in Taiwan, along with KMT perseuction and surpression over the unfortunate people of Taiwan. I also believe that due to his authoritarian stance in Taiwan over his 26 years of reign, his death in 1975 had partially contributed to the rise of the Taiwanese Independence movement and the growth of democracy in the independent island country. However, despite the book’s omission of his life after 1949, Chiang’s defeat in China pretty much rendered him as a historical footnote of Chinese history.