Chiang Kai-shek: A Controversial Figure in Taiwan
Chiang Kai-shek, who ruled Taiwan with an iron fist for almost three decades until his death in 1975, is a controversial figure in the island nation. His brutal regime saw at least 140,000 people imprisoned and 3,000 to 4,000 people executed, as per The Guardian. However, Chiang is also credited with modernizing Taiwan and helping to secure its independence from China.
Born in Xikou town in China’s coastal province of Zhejiang, Chiang came from a salt merchant family. As a young man, he studied classical literature but never took the civil service exam. Instead, he went to Japan to study tactics and military strategy. There, he became familiar with Sun Yat-sen and the republican Revolutionary Alliance.
When he returned from Japan, Chiang took on warlord Yuan Shikai. In the meantime, he became closer to Sun. As per History.com, Chiang joined the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, or KMT) in 1918. He succeeded Sun, who founded the party, as its leader in 1925. Chiang then purged Chinese communists from the party and successfully unified China. In 1928, Chiang was sworn in as China’s leader.
Chiang continued to crack down on communists and moved China’s capital to Nanjing. In 1946, China witnessed the outbreak of civil war. Mao Zedong’s Communist forces defeated Chiang in 1949, rose to power, and formed the People’s Republic of China. Chiang and his followers, meanwhile, fled to Taiwan, where they formed a government in exile.
Chiang re-established the Whampoa Military Academy in Taiwan in 1950, which he had originally founded in Guangdong province in 1924. He received support from the United States and put Taiwan on the path to modernization. In 1955, the US signed a declaration guaranteeing it would come to China’s aid. Many nations continued to acknowledge Chiang’s regime as the real Chinese government until his death.
Chiang was succeeded by his son Chiang Ching-kuo. The younger man then removed martial law from Taiwan and put it on the path to self-rule. Chiang’s legacy continues to be debated by experts in Taiwan. Some point to his brutal regime and repression of dissidents, while others point to all the good he did for Taiwan economically. His KMT party continues to exist to this very day.
The decision by Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to remove Chiang’s statues has sparked controversy. Some have accused the DPP of attempting to “de-sinicise” Taiwan by tearing down statues of Chiang. The late dictator is a living reminder of Taiwan’s cultural and historical links with China.
