沒有國民黨就沒有中國, Without the Kuomintang there would be no China, A Republic of China Story

[CELTICEMPIRE]

No more will China be humiliated by any foreign nation.

-Chiang Kai-shek, announcing the success of the Zhurong Project

Despite immense progress over the decades, China in the 1960s still had a lot of catching up to do if it wanted to be a superpower like the United States or the Soviet Union. One of the biggest disadvantages China had was that it possessed no nuclear weapons. This was a cause of much concern for China. The problem was compounded by the fact that both the US and USSR had (in secret at first) began to develop and test new nuclear weapons in violation of their previous agreements not to. War with the Soviet Union was always a possibility, even if it didn’t seem too likely. And if China went to war with the USSR, China’s major cities could be wiped out. By 1960, Chiang Kai-shek determined that China needed to have nuclear weapons.

Chiang first went to the US with his request for help in developing nuclear weapons. His requests were denied. China had scientists, but none that already had the knowledge necessary to create nuclear weapons. Thus, China’s nuclear program did not get very far. In 1961, this all changed. Several nuclear scientists defected from the Soviet Union to China. They had been recruited by the Juntong, and were lured by the promises of extra pay. Chinese scientists began to study under them. In 1962, the Zhurong Project was started, named after the Chinese god of fire. Throughout its existence, the scientists of the Zhurong project reported not to any military hierarchy, but Chiang Kai-shek himself. The Chinese and Russian scientists soon got to work outside the town of Delingha in Qinghai province.

(Zhurong)​

China unsurprisingly took great precautions to keep the project a secret. The Soviet Union was very well aware that some of its own scientists had defected. The Soviets were also aware that they had last been seen in either the East Turkestan Republic or Vladivostok. They knew China was doing something, and they even flew spy planes on reconnaissance missions over Xinjiang, where they believed nuclear tests would take place. They were unable to actually find the testing sites, however. Several years of hard work finally paid off, as China detonated its first nuclear weapon in September 1966. Chiang Kai-shek proudly announced to the world that China was now a nuclear power. Proponents of nuclear non-proliferation were disheartened while Chinese nationalists were overjoyed.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

The 1965 elections to the National Assembly saw the election of a National Assembly even more supportive of Chiang Kai-shek than before. Opposition parties lost seats and opposition to Chiang within the Kuomintang had been decimated. Chiang knew that his reelection was guaranteed. Of course, not everyone was happy about this. Some opponents of Chiang remained in office, and they were determined not to let him win reelection unopposed. Chiang, for his part, was fine with this as winning with 100% of the vote would contradict his claims that China was democratic. The dissidents rallied around Lei Chen, former member of the Legislative Yuan from Zhejiang and outspoken supporter of democracy. Lei Chen had once been a member of the Kuomintang, but was now an independent.

(Lei Chen)​

In the presidential elections of 1948, 1954, and 1960, a significant minority within the Kuomintang opposed Chiang Kai-shek’s reelection. This was not the case in 1960. With the anti-Chiang factions gone, every KMT member of the National Assembly backed Chiang. Some did so unenthusiastically, but they voted for him anyway. Many delegates who had once been affiliated with the New Guangxi or Yunnan Cliques went out of their way to tell other delegates of their support for Chiang, as their political futures depended on it. The leaders of the China Youth Party and the China Democratic Socialist Party backed Chiang’s reelection as well. The only opposition was token opposition from Independents. Chiang Kai-shek won reelection with over 2,900 delegates voting for him on the first ballot. Lei Chen improved on his 1960 performance as he was Chiang’s sole opponent this time.

Then there was the Vice-Presidential election. Sun Fo was similarly expected to win in a landslide. He Siyuan, Sun Fo’s main opponent in 1960, was in jail for having supported the coup attempt. Li Zhonghuang, National Assemblyman and Vice-Presidential candidate of the Yunnan Clique in 1960, announced he was supporting Sun’s reelection. Sun did receive a little more opposition than Chiang Kai-shek, however. In 1965, Civil War hero Du Yuming resigned from his post in the Army, feeling that Chiang Kai-shek did not appreciate his acheivements. He would run for Vice President. Newspaper editor and pro-Democracy activist Liang Shuming of Hebei was also a candidate. Both were independents formerly affiliated with the Kuomintang. In the end, Sun Fo also won reelection in a landslide, with over 90% of votes cast. The results surprised no one. Du Yuming went back to his hometown of Dujiawan [1] where he would write his memoirs and die in 1981.

(Left: Liang Shuming, Right: Du Yuming)

Presidential Election of 1966​

	Votes
Chiang Kai-shek (KMT-Zhejiang)	2950 (96.8%)
Lei Chen (I-Zhejiang)	95 (3.2%)

Vice Presidential Election of 1966​

	Votes
Sun Fo (KMT-Guangdong)	2,749 (90.3%)
Liang Shuming (I-Hebei)	155 (5.1%)
Du Yuming (I-Shaanxi)	141 (4.6%)

1: I don't know if a town with this name still exists, but he was born in an area now part of Yulin, Shaanxi.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

The 1940s saw the beginning of the Cold War. The 1950s saw the possibility of peace. The 1960s saw the Cold war began to heat up again. Both the United States and the Soviet Union began to secretly test nuclear weapons again, which soon became public knowledge. Both countries began to flex their muscles abroad as well. Most European colonies in Africa would gain their independence in the 60s, and they would all be courted by both the US and USSR. Latin America, East Asia, and the Middle East would also be contested between the two rivals. While the US competed with the USSR, China grew in power, and was increasingly active in global affairs. And at the same time, the influence of the European powers continued to shrink.

As the decade began, a presidential campaign in America was underway. Both parties saw contested primaries. As William Knowland was ineligible to run for reelection, the Republican Party was divided between Vice President Everett Dirksen, Senator Richard Nixon, and Governor Nelson Rockefeller. Everett Dirksen won, aided by Barry Goldwater who rallied conservatives behind his campaign. Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. was his running mate. Senator John F. Kennedy defeated Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson and Senator Hubert Humphrey in the Democratic primaries. Lyndon Johnson was nominated for Vice President. After an intense campaign, the Kennedy/Johnson ticket emerged victorious with 280 electoral votes and 49% of the popular vote. The Kennedy administration would pursue more progressive domestic policy and a pragmatic foreign policy.

(John F. Kennedy)​

The Kennedy administration’s foreign policy differed from that of his predecessor in several areas. He increased foreign aid, seeing aid as a means to combat Communism. America would pour aid into newly-independent African countries. While it was mostly humanitarian aid, military aid was sent as well. America would take an interest in Asia, with many seeing China as not doing enough to combat the spread of Communism in the continent. Military aid was already being sent to Vietnam under the Knowland administration, but this was expanded to include Laos, Burma, and the newly independent Malaysia. Often this was in coordination with China, but relations between the ROC and USA would not be as strong as they were during the 1950s. The two nations would find themselves at odds on certain foreign policy issues during the 1960s.

The Soviet Union saw decolonization as an opportunity. Now was the perfect time for Communism to prevail in the third world. The Soviet Union had a great interest in the Middle East, as its ability to project power in Europe and Asia were limited by the United States and China respectively. Soviet style Communism would always be a tough sell in the Islamic world, but there were regimes and movements willing to align themselves with the Soviets in order to oppose the west. The Soviet Union maintained close relations with Egypt under Gamel Abdul Nasser. It was around this time that the Soviet Union abandoned Israel and aligned itself with pro-Arab causes. This was in contrast with the United States, which continued to support Israel. Elsewhere in the Islamic world, the Soviet Union increased its influence in Indonesia and Afghanistan.

The continent that saw the most geopolitical change in the 1960s was Africa. British, French, and Belgian colonies were gaining independence. Sometimes the process was peaceful, and sometimes it was not. France tried to hold on to Algeria while it let most of its other colonies go, but Algeria too broke free. After independence, the Belgian Congo descended into Civil War. The United States and the Soviet Union backed different sides in the conflict. Both sides poured humanitarian as well as military aid into the newly independent nations of Africa in order to gain favor with the leaders and the people of these nations. Time would tell which side would end up victorious in the battle for the hearts and minds of Africans.

In the late 1950s, the Cold War gained a new front: space. The Soviets were the first to send an object into space. This made Americans afraid that one day the USSR might attack their country from space. The Soviets then put the first animal into space. The first human to go into space was from the Soviet Union as well. America couldn’t let the Soviet Union go unchallenged in this new frontier. An American space program was founded and funding for science was increased. John F. Kennedy was particularly keen on the competition with the Soviet Union. He pledged to put an American on the moon by the end of the decade. The Space Race was in full swing.

(The first object the Soviets sent into space)​

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

Mongolia is a nation that has kept its independence despite being nestled between two of the most powerful countries on earth. It had been a communist country since 1924. Mongolia had close ties with the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries. The Soviet Union helped develop the Mongolian economy and built some of its cities. Mongolia relied on the Soviet Union for military protection as well. Relations with China were not good. Even though China recognized Mongolian independence after the end of the Second World War, there was continued tension. Mongolia was banned from joining the Organization for East Asian Cooperation. This served to further isolate Mongolia and made the country more reliant on the Soviets.

(Mongolian Yurts)​

Mongolia is a big country with a small population. Large parts of the country are completely devoid of human habitation. The borders with Russia and China were not marked, with the exception of a few locations. Nomadic Mongols, whether they were citizens of the Mongolian People’s Republic or the Republic of China, would sometimes cross the border into the other country. While the Mongol nomads were usually peaceful, a much less peaceful group would be moving across the border. This group was made up of Chinese soldiers, but not soldiers of the Chinese Army. They were soldiers from the losing side of the Chinese Civil War who retreated into Mongolia. They would launch raids into China and retreat back into Mongolia. There were tens of thousands of them.

The Chinese Communists established several bases in Mongolia. The largest was Camp Mao Zedong in Sükhbaatar Province. They launched raids on all Chinese provinces that bordered Mongolia, but Xiang’an and Chahar were raided the most. There were some Communists stationed in the Soviet Union who raided into Heilongjiang and Nenjiang Provinces, but this was very rare as China guarded its border with the USSR more effectively. The various Chinese Communist bases would have their numbers increased by defectors from the Chinese Army. In 1959, a Communist raid captured the town of Abag Qi in Chahar, killing 50 Chinese soldiers and forcing many more to retreat. In 1960, Communists raided East Ujimqin Banner, also in Chahar. In 1962, an attempted raid on Erenhot in Suiyuan was defeated, and heavily losses were inflicted on the Communists.

The Communists increasingly took to disguising themselves as nomadic Mongols when crossing into China. Throughout the 1960s, this strategy allowed them to sabotage railroads and destroy other strategic targets. They were often aided by Communist insurgents or sympathizers active within China. China responded by placing much of Xing’an, Chahar, and Suiyuan under martial law. This in turn would cause the people in these provinces to turn against the Kuomintang. The Chinese military would deploy more troops to the border with Mongolia and built more fortifications. In addition, the Chinese military would sometimes chase the Chinese Communists across the border and kill them there. Mongolia and the Soviet Union responded by increasing their presence near the border with China. This resulted in some clashes between Chinese and Mongol or Soviet troops. Fortunately these clashes didn’t escalate into all-out war.

In Mongolia, opinions on the Chinese communists were mixed. They were fellow Communists, and they would help defend Mongolia in the case of a Chinese invasion. On the other hand, their presence in Mongolia could be used by China as a pretext for invasion. Mongolian Chairman Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal met with Deng Xiaoping, the leader of the Chinese Communists in Ulaanbaatar. Tsedenbal wanted the Chinese Communists to integrate into the Mongolian Army and end the raids into China, as they had done in North Korea. Deng Xiaoping was not eager to do this. They did work a compromise, however. Deng would send Communist soldiers to work in Mongolian factories, thus helping the Mongolian economy. Many Chinese Communists were happy to go to the settled areas of Mongolia. This was because they wanted to find women, and there were few women in the Communist bases.

(Left:yumjaagiin tsedenbal, Right: Deng Xiaoping)​

Mongolia was not the only place where Communists retreated to after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War. Some went to North Korea and the Soviet Union. All the Communists who went to North Korea and most of the ones who went to the Soviet Union were fully integrate into the respective countries’ armed forces within a few years. Some Chinese exiles would travel to other countries in the Eastern Bloc. Some got jobs as Chinese language instructors. Zhou Enlai travelled around the Communist world in order to drum up support for the Chinese exiles in Mongolia. While many Mongolians resented the Chinese in their country who were unlikely to leave any time soon, they had no choice. Mongolia was a Stalinist state that crushed all dissent.

(Zhou Enlai)​

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

Laos became independent from France at the same time as Vietnam and Cambodia. It was a monarchy under King Sisavang Vong and later Sisavang Vatthana. Its prime minister was Boun Oum. The country was an officially Buddhist state. It was a much smaller country than Vietnam, both in land area and population, and received a lot less attention than its eastern neighbor. Nevertheless, it still played an important role in the geopolitical struggle for Southeast Asia. Just like in Vietnam, attempts to avoid civil war failed. The Pathet Lao, which had fought against the French in the Indochina War, would fight against the new government as well. This war, just as the war in Vietnam, would involve outside powers.

(Sisavong Vatthana)​

The Pathet Lao was a group of Laotian Communists. They were, ironically, led by Souphanouvong, a member of the royal family. At first, the Pathet Lao agreed to be part of a coalition government. However, their representation in the new government was small. They had close ties with the Viet Minh in Vietnam, and the two groups helped each other. They were the smallest group represented in the Laotian parliament. The largest group was the monarchist faction led by Boun Oum. The second-largest faction was the neutralist faction led by Phetsarath Ratanavongsa. Boun Oum and Phetsarath Ratanavongsa were princes as well. Members of the Pathet Lao thought that they were being treated unfairly, and should have been given more representation in government. They organized anti-government protests.

(Souphanouvong)​

Tensions between the Pathet Lao and the government continued to rise. Eventually, civil war broke out as the Pathet Lao began their insurgency. They enjoyed some popular support, and were able to recruit followers among the Laotian people. However, unlike in Vietnam, there was no serious threat of Communists taking over the government, at least at first. This began to change as the Viet Minh increasingly ran across the border while retreating from Chinese offensives. They would use Laos as a staging ground for raids into Vietnam. It was widely believed that Vietnamese Communist leader Võ Nguyên Giáp was hiding somewhere in Laos. The Viet Minh increasingly fought alongside the Pathet Lao against the Laotian government. Large parts of the countryside were taken over. As a response, the United States began to send military and humanitarian aid to Laos. China sent some military aid.

(Pathet Lao soldiers)​

The Royal Lao Army was losing ground to the Pathet Lao and their Vietnamese allies. In 1963, the Laotian Army launched the Xiangkhouang campaign with the aim of removing all Communist forces from Xiangkhouang Province. After the six-month campaign, the army was able to control most of the province, but at a high cost. For every Communist guerilla fighter killed, the army lost three soldiers. Most of the Communist retreated to other provinces, and made gains against the army elsewhere. By 1965, Chinese and Vietnamese military leadership was convinced that the only way to defeat the Viet Minh was to go into Laos and defeat both the Viet Minh and the Pathet Lao. In 1966, King Sisavang Vatthana gave his permission for over 50,000 Chinese soldiers under the command of Xue Yue to enter the country.

(Xue Yue)​

The Chinese army would pursue and kill Communist guerillas. The Chinese Airforce bombed Pathet Lao targets. This had the unfortunate consequence of causing civilian casualties, and the bombing campaign inflamed anti-China sentiment among a large portion of the population. Nevertheless, the Chinese offensive, aided by Laos, was successful. By the end of 1967, the Pathet Lao had less than half the numbers they had two years earlier. The Pathet Lao would continue to wage their guerilla war against the Laotian government into the 1970s, the Chinese determined that the threat they posed was low enough that they withdrew troops from the country before then. Though the future of Laos was uncertain, it would never be a Communist country.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

The 1960s saw the rise of the Chinese corporation and the Chinese businessman. Though there were companies that were 100% private, the major companies were all government owned, either in part or in full. Many of these companies were founded and run by former politicians. The most famous of these companies was Minkuo Electronics, founded by former Premier H. H. Kung in 1951. For the first few years they mostly manufactured radios. But in 1956 the company opened its first television factory in Zhengzhou, Henan. In the late 1950s, many landlords were given shares in the company as compensation during land reform. Due to government subsidies and wages in China being low, Minkuo electronics was able to cheaply produce television sets, which is what the company became famous for.

(H. H. Kung)​

Minkuo Electronics would not turn a profit until 1960. In 1962, 80-year-old CEO H. H. Kung retired. T. V. Soong, who had just briefly served as ambassador to the United States, was given control of the company. Soong was the brother-in-law of both H. H. Kung and Chiang Kai-shek. Under Soong’s leadership, the company grew rapidly, as profit margins soared and new factories were built. More and more Chinese could afford a TV, even if the many still could not. By 1965, over 50,000,000 Chinese households had a television, with over 90% of them manufactured by Minkuo. Minkuo televisions would soon be exported, first to other countries in Asia, and then to the world. Minkuo electronics played an important role in Chinese diplomacy during the 20th century.

(T. V. Soong)​

Weng Wenhao, another former premier, returned to the world of business after leaving politics. He became the CEO of North China Petroleum, which extracted oil in China’s Northeastern provinces. His company’s oil wells were sometimes targeted by Communist insurgents within China, and they had to be heavily guarded by the army. Weng Wenhao’s previous career as a geologist helped him with his new position. China would not be among the world’s major oil producers, however. The number of miners in the country would dwarf the number of oil workers. There were gold mines, silver mines, aluminum mines, lead mines, zinc mines, tungsten mines, etc. However, iron and coal would be the most heavily mined resources in China by far.

(Weng Wenhao)​

Jingxing Zhengfeng Coal Mine Co., Ltd. was a major coal mining corporation based in Hebei Province. The corporation was founded as a government enterprise in 1912, but mining in the area went back to the Song Dynasty. During the chaotic period of the early Republic of China, ownership of the mines frequently changed hands. During the Second World War, the mines were occupied by Japan. After the resumption of the Chinese Civil War, the area was on the front lines of the fighting between the Nationalists and Communists. Thus, it wasn’t until the 1950s that China would be able to make money off of the mines again. Member of the Legislative Yuan Li Zhuchen became CEO in 1954.

(Left: Li Zhuchen, right: miners in Jingxing)​

Iron mines could be found throughout China, and were an important part of the Chinese economy in the mid-20th century. The iron mines were overwhelmingly located in the Northern part of the country. These mines had to be guarded by the army, not just to defend against local Communist insurgents, but also against the Chinese Communist exiles in Mongolia. The iron itself was shipped to factories to make steel. Miao Jiaming was China’s biggest steel magnate, owning steel mills across the country. In addition, he owned tin mines and banks in Southern China, particularly in his home province of Yunnan. While most of the prominent figures involved in state-run business were members of the Kuomintang, Miao was a political independent.

(Miao Jiaming)​

One of the early owners of the Jingxing Zhengfeng coal mines was Gao Xingqiao, a non-politician. He switched to real estate after the government confiscated the mines in 1918. He invested in shopping malls in Tianjin. His son, Gao Bohai, took over the family business in 1948. He expanded into hotels, and also owned movie sets and TV stations. They did a significant amount of business in places like the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, where there were large numbers of overseas Chinese. The Gao family would be an early example of successful businessmen who were not working in the government, making them an exception to the general trend of the times. Of course, they were not the only non-government businessmen in China. Several famous restaurant chains would be founded in the 1960s, though most of them would take a few decades to expand beyond their provinces and across the country.

(Tianjin Quanyechang, built in 1928, one of the many Gao family properties)​

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

We have always said that the violent militarism of Japan is our enemy, not the people of Japan. Although the armed forces of the enemy have been defeated and must be made to observe strictly all the terms of surrender, yet we should not for a moment think of revenge or heap abuses upon the innocent people of Japan. We can only pity them because they have been so sadly deceived and misled, and hope that they will break away from the wrong-doing and crimes of their nation. Let all our fellow citizens, soldiers and civilians remember this.

-Chiang Kai-shek, August 15, 1945

The Second World War was a defining moment in the history of China and Japan. For those eight years [1], Sino-Japanese relations would be at their absolute lowest. Fifteen million dead was the low estimate for the casualties in the war. Everyone in both countries knew someone who died. Understandably, this made relations between the two countries tense, even after the war ended. Though the anger was mutual, it was not equal. Japan inflicted much greater loss on China than China did on Japan. To this day, anti-Japanese sentiment is common in China, though it has died down in recent years. In the years immediately following Japan’s surrender, both countries were facing much more pressing concerns than their relationship with each other. Japan was being restructured under an American military occupation government and China was in the middle of a civil war.

As the Chinese Civil War was winding down, so was the American military government in Japan. In 1951, delegates from Allied nations met in San Francisco to discuss the terms for the official end of the war. In the treaty, Taiwan was officially handed over to the Republic of China (in practice the ROC had controlled the island for seven years and was going to keep it regardless of what the treaty said. South Sakhalin was given to the Soviet Union. China pushed its claims on the Diaoyu Islands [2] and demanded reparations from Japan. The CC Clique was adamant that Japan pay for the damage it inflicted on China. Chen Lifu, who had recently taken over the faction after the death of his brother, spoke incessantly of the need to punish Japan. In 1952, Chen Lifu was still Vice President of the Legislative Yuan and was at best the fifth most powerful man in China. He and his supporters would have little influence on the treaty (though this wouldn’t stop him from claiming otherwise during the 1970s).

(Diaoyu Islands)​

China was able to secure reparations, though it wasn’t able to secure a specific date for them. The Diaoyu Islands was a harder issue to solve. The United States, the Soviet Union, and Britain stood in China’s way. China was supported by India and a few other countries in East Asia and the Middle East. The Treaty would leave the fate of the islands undetermined. In 1952 group of men from Taiwan took a fishing boat to some of the Diaoyu Islands and planted the Chinese flag, though the flags were eventually taken down by the US Navy. They were acting under orders of Chen Lifu. Later that year, US President Harry Truman lost his bid for reelection, which caused a major foreign policy shakeup. Robert Taft indicated his willingness to give China the Diaoyu Islands. In 1954, his successor William Knowland finalized the transfer of the islands to China.

1952 saw the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan. The next two years would see the final executions of Japanese war criminals and some Manchukuo collaborators. The treatment of war criminals and traitors was uneven and some would call it arbitrary. Some collaborators received death sentences (Emperor Puyi would have been executed had he returned to China), others were given positions in the Chinese government. Chinese prosecutors were especially harsh on anyone involved in Unit 731. The final Japanese war criminal was put to death in Shenyang, Liaoning in 1955. At Shigeru Fujita’s trial, evidence of his use of torture, bacterial warfare, and forcing of civilians to clear minefields was brought up. Shigeru had spent nine years in the Soviet Union until he was handed over as part of Georgy Malenkov’s attempts to woo China.

(Shigeru Fujita)​

In 1952, China sent Dong Xianguang to be China’s first ambassador to Japan since 1938. Yoshizawa Kenji became the first Japanese ambassador to the Republic of China (excluding the Wang Jingwei regime) since 1940. The road to healing the relationship between the two countries had begun, but there was still friction. Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, who was supported by America, was a China hawk in the years leading up to the Second World War. There was also concern during the 1950s that Nobusuke Kishi might become prime minister, but that never happened. Nobusuke would have been tried and executed for war crimes if he had ever set foot in China again. In 1962, Japan finished paying war reparations to China. In 1968, 23 years after the end of the Second World War, Japan was admitted into the Organization for East Asian Cooperation.

(Shigeru Yoshida)​

1: World War II is thought of as an eight year war in China
2: Known today as the Senkaku Islands, they are administered by Japan

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

The 20th century could be described as an age of propaganda. While the regimes most associated with propaganda were Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, even democratic countries saw the value of propaganda. The Republic of China was no stranger to propaganda, before, during, or after Chiang Kai-shek’s presidency. Much of the propaganda was centered around the greatness of China and Chinese civilization. There were themes of working to create a better and more prosperous China. During the Second World War, resisting Japan was obviously a major theme in Chinese propaganda. In 1953, posters celebrating the victory over Communists were placed in every city. Chiang Kai-shek played an important role in propaganda, as a minor cult of personality sprung up around him.

(Propaganda poster featuring Chiang Kai-shek)​

Anti-Communism was the most common theme of Chinese propaganda during the Chiang Kai-shek years. Such propaganda had two purposes. First, it was to discourage Chinese citizens from becoming Communists. Second, it was to convince anti-Communist Chinese that it was Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang that stood between China and Communism. Communism was portrayed as a foreign ideology that would lead to the destruction of 5,000 years of Chinese culture. Chinese Communists were often portrayed as doing the bidding of Russians or Germans. The Communists’ nefarious agenda was always thwarted by the brave Chinese soldier, who proclaimed his loyalty to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. The Soviet Union was often attacked in Chinese propaganda, though not during times when China and the USSR were trying to improve relations.

Positive propaganda was important as well. It wasn’t enough to convince China that Communism was bad, the people needed to be convinced that Kuomintang and Chiang Kai-shek were good. Both were portrayed as responsible for the victory over Japan and the Communists. Chiang Kai-shek was portrayed as carrying on the legacy of Sun Yat-sen (something the Communists and other anti-KMT groups also claimed about themselves). Chiang Kai-shek often spoke of Sun’s Three Principles of the People. These principles are 民族 or nationalism, 民權 or democracy, and 民生 or people’s welfare (or socialism, depending on who you were talking to). Chinese Propaganda emphasized the success of land reform, the build-up of the navy, and other successes in the nation.

(Poster promoting the Three Principles of the People)​

Though posters remained a common form of propaganda, music and film played a huge role as well. In 1961, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Republic of China, the slogan Without the Kuomintang there would be no China, was made into a song. There was also the White Sun in the Sky song, which was a tribute to Chiang Kai-shek. It was used in the 1965 National Assembly elections but became more popular after Chiang’s death. In the 1960s, China produced movies on a much higher budget, and color films became much more common. A series of high-budget historical dramas were made during the decade, depicting the Wuchang Rebellion, the life of Sun Yat-sen, and the various wars that China fought in.

These movies were typically over three hours long and contained an intermission. They were inspired by American Epics like The Ten Commandments, a movie which was promoted by First Lady Soong Mei-ling. The subject of these films were not always pro-government propaganda, but they were more often than not. For every historical film that was set before the Sun Yat-sen, there were at least two set in or after. Even the movies that ostensibly had no connection to the Republic of China often had themes of resisting foreign (whether Mongol or British) imperialism. The most popular movie of that era was The Battle of Siping, released in 1966, which told the story of the 1946 battle that many historians believe was decisive for the Nationalists to win the war. The film follows a nationalist soldier played by pop singer Liu Chia-chang, a native of the Northeast who spoke in a Northeastern accent throughout most of the movie. The film has been criticized for omitting any mention of Du Yuming, the general who led the Nationalists at the actual battle of Siping and was on bad terms with Chiang Kai-shek at the time of the film’s production.

Propaganda efforts in China were overseen by two organizations. The first was the Government Information Office, which was overseen by the Executive Yuan. The Second was the Propaganda Department of the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang, which was overseen by the Kuomintang. During the 1960s, the KMT Propaganda Department began to focus increasingly on propaganda directed towards Mongols and Uyghurs. The Government Information Office was associated most of the domestic and foreign propaganda. The organization’s most famous director during the 1960s was James Shen, a Shanghai reporter and newspaper editor who also worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Wang Shijie. He was known for his strong support of Chiang Kai-shek, his pro-American sentiments, and his effective use of media.

(James Shen)​

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

Despite being authoritarian in practice, China was in theory a democracy. Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang claimed to be pro-democracy. After all, democracy was one of Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principle’s of the People. Excuses were given as to why China wasn’t a full democracy yet. The most common excuse was that there was an ongoing Communist insurgency in China. But as time went on, this excuse became less and less effective at satisfying the public. Anti-government violence was mostly confined to the far Northern parts of the country, with the exception of some Viet Minh who snuck into Southern China. There were increased demands for free and fair elections. Many of these demands came from within the Kuomintang. In order to prove to its own citizens that China was a democracy, the 1968 elections would be more democratic than the ones before.

The 1948 Chinese Constitution states that governors should be elected by the people. But due to the “special circumstances” that China had been in, governors continued to be appointed by Chiang Kai-shek. In 1968, it was determined that there would be elections. Chiang Kai-shek and Premier Guan Jiyu (Chen Cheng died in 1965) determined that only some provinces would hold free elections, and that provinces with high levels of violent anti-government activity would not. For most elections, voters would be given the choice between two or more hand-picked Kuomintang candidates. The point of this was to prepare for a transition to democracy where one party dominated. In some elections, non-KMT candidates were allowed to run. One ulterior motive for these elections was to gauge popular support for the Kuomintang. The idea was to see how much the KMT candidate would win by in deep-blue [1] territory.

In Shanghai, there was a mayoral election. Two KMT candidates were running; Louis C. Kung and Jiang Zemin. Kung’s father was H. H. Kung, one of the richest and well-connected men in China. Jiang Zemin ran on a campaign of increasing spending on public services. As the political establishment overwhelmingly backed Kung, he defeated Jiang 68-32%. Shanghai was located in Jiangsu, a province friendly to the KMT. Thus, it was a perfect place to test how popular opposition parties were there. The Kuomintang nominated Education minister Chang Chi-yun for governor, the China Youth Party nominated Zhu Yanfeng, and the China Democratic Socialist Party nominated Yang Yuzi. Zhang trounced his opponents, winning 62% of the vote to Zhu’s 23% and Yang’s 15%.

(Chang Chi-yun)​

Guangdong, the most populous province of China, was also a blue stronghold. Former ROC Marine Corps commander Luo Youlun, friend and advisor of Chiang Kai-shek, was the KMT candidate for governor. His opponent was journalist Li Weichen of the China Democratic Socialist Party. Luo defeated Li 73-27%. Li later became the ambassador to Indonesia as part of the KMT’s thank you to loyal opposition parties. The China Democratic Socialist Party put all its efforts into the Fujian Gubernatorial race. There the party ran its new leader Wang Shixian. They ran against long-time incumbent Dai Zhongyu. Dai won reelection 63-37%. This was the highest percentage of the vote the CDSP got in any of the 1968 elections. The election results in other Chinese provinces were similar.

(Left: Dai Zhongyu, Right: Wang Shixian)​

There were also elections for the Legislative Yuan. The Kuomintang was led by President of the Legislative Yuan Chen Lifu of Zhejiang. The China Democratic Socialist Party was led by Wang Shixian of Fujian. The China Youth Party was led by Chen Qitian of Hubei. There were also various independents. The Kuomintang dominated the elections, but opposition candidates performed well. KMT leadership expected the CDSP to be their strongest opposition, but the China Youth Party actually outperformed them, becoming the second largest party in the legislative Yuan. This was a combination of two factors. The first was that a lot of places where the CDSP would have been popular were areas where “special circumstances” prevented full democracy. Another reason was that the CYP was able to successfully energize businessmen and landlords who had gripes with the central government. In new Legislative Yuan would have 550 KMT, 93 CYP, 76 CDSP, 5 TIP [2], and 49 independent representatives.

1: Blue is the KMT's color. The CDSP is green and the CYP is yellow.
2: Tibet Improvement Party, the KMT affiliate in Tibet.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the youngest elected President of the United States. He was also America’s first Roman Catholic President. His presidency represented a departure from his two Republican predecessors. He saw a greater role for the US government, both at home and abroad. Despite his more progressive political views, he was every bit as much of an anti-Communist as Robert Taft or William Knowland. His set out to be a transformative president, and in this he was successful. He presided over a pivotal era of American history, and those years might have gone very differently with someone else at the helm. All along the way, he faced opposition, both from Republicans and from members of his own party.

(John F. Kennedy)​

Kennedy’s domestic agenda was one that was supported by mainstream of his party. His agenda was a mix of progressive domestic policy and tax cuts. Much of this was opposed by a minority in the Democratic Party, mostly from the South. Conservative Democrats joined forces with Republicans to block much of the president’s agenda. Kennedy claimed to be a supporter of civil rights, even if some doubted his sincerity. Most Republicans and Democrats agreed that Jim Crow laws were wrong, but a powerful minority within the Democratic Party, often called the Dixiecrats, blocked any civil rights bill that would bring meaningful change. The lack of progress on civil rights was causing trouble for Democrats, as Republicans won close to 40% of the black vote in the 1960 Presidential and 1962 midterm elections. One policy success for Kennedy was an increase in science funding and commitment to the space program. Part of this was in order to compete with the Soviet Union.

The US and USSR had reached a sort of détente in the 1950s, and the cold war kept from getting hot. Soviet expansion seemed to have been stopped as China, Iran, and Vietnam did not fall to Communism or Communist-adjacent ideologies. Isolationism had made a bit of a resurgence in the 1950s, but the events of the 1960s restrained that once dominant strain of American political thought. The Soviet Union was flexing its muscles abroad, and it seemed like America should do the same. In the Middle East, Iraq became a Soviet ally, while Egypt and Indonesia seemed to be leaning in that direction as well. To make matters worse, China was striking deals with Communist-friendly Indonesia.

There were also concerning developments closer to home. Under Kennedy’s predecessors, populist governments had come to power in places like Guatemala and Cuba. This was cause for some concern. Though Cuba was not a Communist country, it was on good terms with the Soviet Union. The 1960s saw full-blown Soviet-style Communist movements gain popularity in Latin America. Militant Communists took up arms against the Somoza regime in Nicaragua. The US sent both military and humanitarian aid to countries dealing with Communist insurgencies. Aid was given to Nicaragua, as well the newly independent Zaire. Even far away Laos was given aid. This helped make Laotians pro-American. America was sending them aid while China was causing collateral damage while hunting Communists. In Columbia, despite American aid, Communists rebels would gain ground. America sent military advisors in 1963 in response.

Some Democrats wanted to dump Lyndon Johnson from the ticket in 1964. In order to secure his place on the ticket, Johnson used his connections with Southern Senators to get parts of Kennedy’s agenda passed, mainly tax cuts and a watered-down civil rights bill. Kennedy would face minimal opposition at the 1964 Democratic Convention. On the Republican side, Senator Richard Nixon of California won the primaries easily. Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton was selected for his running mate. Nixon was a formidable opponent, but Kennedy emerged victorious, increasing his margins compared to 1960. Kennedy defeated Nixon 52.5%-46.7% in the popular vote, and 358-170-10 [1] in the Electoral College. Kennedy believed that this gave him a mandate.

(Richard Nixon)​

Fortunately for Kennedy, Democrats not only kept control of both houses, they even expanded their majority. But the issue of obstruction from within the party remained. This is where Lyndon Johnson made himself handy again. Whether for personal moral reasons or because he was positioning himself for his presidential campaign in 1968, Lyndon Johnson completely committed himself to a comprehensive civil rights bill. He pulled some levers and a bill would be voted on. The Civil Rights Act of 1965 ended de jure segregation in America. Among other things, it made racial discrimination in employment and service illegal. The bill was supported by Kennedy’s 1964 opponent Richard Nixon. The Civil Rights Act of 1965 is considered the greatest accomplishment of the Kennedy administration. In addition, Kennedy was able to pass bills increasing funding for education and healthcare for seniors.

(Lyndon Johnson)​

1: Mississippi and 3 faithless electors voted for Harry Byrd.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

When Georgy Malenkov assumed power upon the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953, his position was precarious. He faced two powerful rivals; Nikita Khrushchev and Lavrentiy Beria. At first, Malenkov and Beria worked together to block Khrushchev from taking power. But the two were not friends. As soon as Khrushchev was exiled to Yakutia in 1958, Malenkov was on the lookout for any political maneuvering on the part of Beria. Beria had his allies, and was working behind the scenes to gather support for an internal coup to remove Malenkov from power. Beria claimed that he was concerned that Malenkov was letting the Soviet Union fall behind the west. Meanwhile, Malenkov continued to fill the Politburo with loyalists.

(Georgy Malenkov)​

Malenkov saw envisioned himself as a peacetime leader. He had no desire for a confrontation with either the West or China. Stalin had led the country in war so Malenkov could lead it in peace. He had sought an end to the Cold War with US President Robert Taft. While he was unable to end the Cold War, he didn’t want to purposefully escalate it. He was a pragmatist. He wanted Communism to expand beyond the Eastern Bloc, but realized the Soviet Union’s limits. Latin America was considered off-limits. Communist governments springing up in the regions would be a welcome development, but the USSR would not go out of its way to support them. Likewise, Communist revolution in China was recognized as a lost cause.

Domestically, Malenkov envisioned economic reforms. He believed that if the economy was good, he would be seen as a good leader. He had to pursue economic reforms slowly, as to avoid giving hardliners within the party an excuse to oppose him. In particular, he wanted to increase the production of consumer goods. That was one area where the capitalist west was undeniably doing better than the Communist east. Malenkov hoped that his economic reforms would cause the third world to look up to the Soviet Union, not the United States. He was moderately successful, and the standard of living in the USSR increased during the 1960s. That era of Malenkov’s leadership is remembered fondly by many who were alive then.

Stalin was considered a hero in Malenkov’s Soviet Union, even if it was acknowledged that he made some mistakes. But those mistakes were, according to the official narrative, because people serving under Stalin were purposefully misleading him. Khrushchev was one such person who supposedly mislead Stalin. Malenkov began to claim that Beria mislead him too. He was eager to eliminate the last threat to his power. In 1963, Lavrentiy Beria was made to stand trial. He was accused of treason during WWII, as well as multiple cases of murder and rape. He pleaded with his accusers, explaining that he had protected Malenkov from Khrushchev, but it was to no avail. He was convicted and executed shortly afterwards. After this point, Malenkov was virtually unchallenged. He would create a cult of personality around himself, albeit one that was muted in comparison to his predecessor.

(Lavrentiy Beria, 1899-1963)​

During the 1960s, Malenkov sought to increase the number of Soviet allies. The Soviet Union courted favor with the new left-wing government in Japan. Communists in Afghanistan were also supported. Malenkov courted the Arab world by taking a strong stance against Israel and Zionism. This was in contrast with the US, where Republican and Democratic administrations supported Israel. Iraq and Egypt, especially the former, were increasingly pro-Soviet. Indonesia’s left-wing government fostered good relations with the Soviet Union (as well as China) and in 1965 there were unconfirmed rumors of a plan to build a Soviet Naval base there. The Soviet Union also funded Communists in the newly-independent Zaire. All of these things were causes of great concern for the United States and other capitalist countries.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

The Second World War left much of Europe in ruins. It was the responsibility of the US and USSR to rebuild a continent. Most of Western Europe fell into the pro-American camp and most of Eastern Europe fell into the pro-Soviet camp. There were also neutral countries. Both sides were concerned about ideological encroachment on their section of Europe. There was legitimate concern that a Communist takeover might occur in Italy or Greece. Likewise, the Soviets found that the people of Poland were particularly resistant to Communism. Germany and Austria were split into separate allied occupation zones. There were proposals to make both countries neutral. This was successful in Austria. Malenkov blamed America for the failure to establish a neutral Germany.

Britain and France were on the victorious side of the Second World War, but those countries were not in good shape after the war. Thus, both countries and their empires went into decline. Their influence would decrease while America’s influence increased. The election of an isolationist president in America resulted in a temporary reversal of American influence in Europe. Britain, France, Italy, Sweden, and West Germany expanded their armed forces in order to counter any possible Soviet incursions. But Taft died and his successors were more committed to European alliances. France and Britain did their fair share of fighting against Communists. France fought in Vietnam while Britain fought in Malaysia. Britain was also involved in a coup that brought down a pro-Soviet government in Iran. The rise of Communism or Soviet fellow-travelers in the Middle East became an increasing priority for Britain under Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden and beyond.

(Left: Winston Churchill, Right: Anthony Eden)​

The East was behind what Churchill called “The Iron Curtain.” While some enthusiastically embraced Communism, others saw the Soviets as no better than the Nazis they replaced. There were protests against local Communist governments in East Germany but they were put down by the Soviet Army. East Germany had to build a wall to keep its citizens from escaping into the West. Small-scale resistance to Communism was put down in other Eastern Bloc countries. In 1956, there were large-scale protests against the Stalinist government of Bolesław Bierut. Protesters had a variety of grievances. Striking workers were joined by conservative Catholics angry at the government’s anti-religion policies. The protests inspired protests in Hungary as well. Polish and Soviet soldiers brutally put down the protests, killing many. This response caused the Hungarian protests to fizzle out and the few who continued to protest were arrested.

(Bolesław Bierut)​

Poland under Bolesław Bierut and Hungary under Ernő Gerő both had governments that were aligned with Malenkov’s Soviet Union. The governments of East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Albania, and Bulgaria were similar. Other Communist leaders were more independent-minded. Yugoslavia was a classic example of this. The country was led by Joseph Broz Tito, a man who did not get along well with Stalin. Tito’s Yugoslavia got along better with Malenkov, but was still not a puppet state of the Soviets. In the 1960s, Yugoslavia pursued closer relations with China. Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej’s Romania traded heavily with both China and the West, despite otherwise being loyal to the Soviet Union. In the 1960s, his successor, Nicolae Ceaușescu would be more like Tito when it came to foreign policy.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

Before he fell and injured himself in 1970, a fact hidden from the public until after his death, Chiang Kai-shek was a well-traveled man. He had lived in Japan and visited the Soviet Union before becoming President of China. His youngest son, Chiang Wei-kuo, was adopted. His parents were Chiang Kai-shek’s friend Dai Jitao and a Japanese woman. Chiang Kai-shek was very pro-Soviet when he was in his 30s, and sent his older son, Chiang Ching-kuo, to study there. During the Second World War, Chiang Kai-shek visited India and Burma, and participated in the Cairo Conference in Egypt. During the 1950s, Chiang visited a few other countries in Asia, such as South Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam. In the 1960s, he travelled around the world more extensively.

In 1960, he began a tour of North America. He arrived in Vancouver, a city with a large overseas Chinese population that even had a branch of the Kuomintang present there. He met with Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. Chiang appreciated Diefenbaker’s opposition to racial discrimination and KMT operatives within Canada encouraged Chinese-Canadians to support him. He then went to visit Seattle and San Fransisco, giving speeches in Chinese to Chinese-American audiences along with T.V. Soong. He then visited New York and Washington DC, where he met with US President William Knowland, who had met with Chiang in China in 1959. He also met with Representative Walter Judd, a strong ally of the ROC in congress, and Vice President Everett Dirksen, who was China’s favorite candidate in the 1960 elections.

(John Diefenbaker)​

Chiang then moved on to Cuba. In 1959, the government had been toppled by a revolution. The new leader, Fidel Castro, took the Republic of China as an inspiration for a post-colonial future. Though he also had pro-Soviet sympathies, Chiang Kai-shek was willing to overlook that. He then went to Mexico to discuss trade with Adolfo Mateos. He then visited Guatemala and met Jacobo Árbenz. Though Árbenz enacted many leftist policies, and was not popular with the Americans, he was not a Communist. He had a lot in common with Chiang Kai-shek. In 1961, 5,000 Guatemalan students were given scholarships to study Chinese and other subjects. In the future Chiang would also go to Argentina and visit Juan Peron, another leader who was similar to Chiang Kai-shek.

(Jacobo Árbenz)​

Chiang visited Singapore in British Malaya to speak with Lim Chong Eu of the Malaysian Chinese Association, a political party aligned with the Kuomintang. Independence was coming soon, and Chiang Kai-shek hoped to send large numbers of Chinese immigrants to Malaysia in order to increase Chinese influence there. He visited Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. While in these countries, he got commitments from leaders there to treat Chinese minorities well. He also met with Chinese generals in Vietnam, including his son Chiang Wei-kuo, to discuss military strategy. Chiang was hopeful that all of Southeast Asia might fall under the Chinese sphere of influence. The May 5 Incident, the attempted Coup against Chiang Kai-shek, occurred right after he came back from Laos.

In 1965, Chiang went to London. He met with Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home. Chiang Kai-shek was in his late 70s, and Britain was the most powerful country on earth when he was born. Now, Chiang sat at the table with the Prime Minister as an equal. Chiang dined with British royalty in London. Chiang could speak a little English, and had some phrases and jokes memorized for the feast. His wife, Soong Mei-ling, spoke excellent English and was a great help for him when he visited English-speaking countries or hosted English-speaking guests. Chiang’s previous dislike of the British was fading away. Though Prince Philip enjoyed the company of the Chiangs, he also made a remark that was culturally insensitive. Soong Mei-ling decided not to translate it.

(Left: Alec Douglas-Home, Right: Queen Elizabeth II)​

Chiang’s other European visits were more controversial. In West Germany he gave a speech condemning Communism, where he was joined by Chiang Wei-kuo, his son who had served in the Wehrmacht [1]. He also met with Francisco Franco, a dictator who was compared to Chiang and vice-versa. He visited Rome where he met with Pope Paul VI and also Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro. China was helping Italy develop nuclear weapons. Chiang Kai-shek also visited Joseph Broz Tito in Belgrade and Nicolae Ceausescu in Bucharest. Tito and Ceausescu were criticized in much of the Communist world for meeting with an arch anti-Communist. Chiang Kai-shek was criticized by some of his own supporters like Chen Lifu for the visit.

(Francisco Franco)​

Chiang Kai-shek visited Africa once more when he visited Madagascar, where there was a significant Chinese community. He also visited Australia, where he pleaded with Australian leaders to end the White Australia policy, with no success. Chiang’s final trip abroad was in 1969, when he met with Georgy Malenkov in New Delhi, India. Shortly afterwards, he visited Tibet, where he met with Tibetan politicians as well as the Dalai Lama for the first and only time. In 1970, he visited Taiwan and met with two promising young Kuomintang leaders; Lee Teng-hui and Lin Yang-kang. He would return to Nanjing and spend the rest of his life in mainland China. For the rest of his presidency, any foreign visits would be conducted by Vice President Sun Fo, Foreign Minister James Shen, or Chiang Ching-kuo.

1: Chiang Wei-kuo was sent to Germany to study the German military. He was recalled shortly before the invasion of Poland.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

All throughout China’s history, the vast majority of its population has lived in the Eastern part of the country. Life in Western China was very different than life in the East. Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Xikang, Xinjiang, and the Tibet Autonomous Region had many differences with the Eastern provinces. The region had few urban areas. The region’s largest city was Lanzhou in Gansu, with a population of a little more than 800,000 as of the 1965 census. The region was ethnically distinct, with many Mongols, Tibetans, Hui, Uyghurs, and others. The religious landscape was different as well. There were many Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists. Linguistically, the West was distinct, as a large portion of the population was unable to speak Mandarin, or any Chinese dialect at all. As such, the West was generally not the main focus of the central government in Nanjing.

Tibet was even more sparsely populated than the rest of Western China. It had achieved de facto independence for forty years before being brought back under Chinese rule. Tibet was invaded by a Western Chinese general, Ma Bufang of Qinghai. Thubten Kunphela was installed as the first governor of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Kunphela was an ethnic Tibetan, as were most of the members of the new Tibetan government. The province would be ruled not by the Kuomintang, but by it’s Tibetan affiliate, the Tibet Improvement Party, which was led by Pandaatsang Rapga. As such, Tibetan culture was promoted. Few Han Chinese would move there.

(Thubten Kunphela)​

In order to show that the new pro-Chinese administration was not a Chinese puppet, the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region would recognize Tibetan holidays and celebrate famous historical Tibetans. In 1955, a statue of Jamphel Yeshe Gyaltsen was erected. Gyantsen the former regent for the Dalai Lama who appealed to the Kuomintang to overthrow the Tibetan government and died in 1947 after being tortured in prison. Tibetan schools weren’t even required to teach Mandarin at first, though the majority offered Mandarin classes and some required them. The Tibetan government pursued land reform separately, finishing shortly after the rest of China. This gave the Tibet Improvement Party a base of support among the former peasantry of Tibet.

The Tibet Improvement Party’s rule was virtually unchallenged until 1984, and all five members of the Legislative Yuan from Tibet would be members of the TIP until the 1990s. But not everyone was happy. There were occasional protests and riots against Chinese rule. The Dalai Lama was upset with losing his power, and was considering backing the failed coup against Chiang Kai-shek. By the late 60s, however, the Dalai Lama realized that opposing China was futile and that working within the system was the best option. Plenty of Tibetans were upset with the introduction of secularism as well. In 1957, the Tibetan National Party was founded, and was promptly banned by the authorities. Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa, former Tibetan finance minister, spent five years in prison for his support of Tibetan independence. After being released in 1963, he left China in order to be the voice of the Tibetan independence movement. He travelled across the world, promoting Tibetan independence and condemning the Chinese government.

(Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa)​

Xinjiang was China’s largest province by size, though far from its largest by population. Parts of the province were controlled by Mongolia, the Soviet Union, the East Turkestan Republic, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. In 1965, less than 20% of the province’s population was Han Chinese, with the rest being majority-Uyghur. There were many Kazakhs and Hui as well. Minorities in Xinjiang were in some cases allowed to have bilingual schools where both the native language and Mandarin were taught. Relations between the Han and Uyghurs or the Hui and Uyghurs were not always great. Though violence was not common in the early years, it was not unheard of. There were a large number of Hui soldiers in the province, a group that had historically been rivals of the Uyghurs.

Throughout the 1950s, the governor of Xinjiang Province was Burhan Shahidi. He was a born in Russia and was a Tatar, a very small minority group in China. He was firmly anti-Communist and firmly opposed to Xinjiang separatism. He aided Osman Batyr in his attempts to overthrow the government of East Turkestan. He oversaw the founding of the Academy of Central Asia in 1959, an organization with the original goal of undermining the Soviet Puppet State of East Turkestan. Of course, the Soviet Union and Mongolia tried to subvert the Chinese government in Xinjiang as well. In 1962, Shahidi was replaced by Yulbars Khan, an ethnic Uyghur with ties to Chen Lifu and the far-right faction of the KMT. He mostly continued Shahidi’s policies.

(Burhan Shahidi)​

The Provinces of Ningxia, Gansu, and Qinghai had the highest concentrations of the Hui minority, a Muslim Chinese ethnic group that overwhelmingly supported the KMT. These three provinces were unusual in that they were ruled by warlords longer than anywhere else in China. The most famous of the warlords was Ma Bufang, who commanded most of the Chinese forces in the western part of the country. He was also the governor of Qinghai. Ma Hongkui ruled Gansu and Ma Hongkui ruled Ningxia. These three governors all were placed in command of military forces, but unlike in the warlord era, they were integrated within the command structure of the Chinese army. The Chinese government would mostly leave them alone to govern their provinces until the 1990s.

(Ma Bufang)​

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

China experienced societal change in the years following the victory over Japan. After 1953, the country was mostly at peace. The conflicts China was engaged in were mostly on the frontiers, far away from where most of the population lived, or in other countries like Vietnam. This allowed for greater population as well as economic growth. The prevailing opinion was that things were getting better for China. Statistics on personal income, GDP, life expectancy, education, food consumption, and much more backed this opinion up. Parents could, for the most part, reasonably assume their children would have better lives than they had. Political freedom was lacking, but if anything, it was much better than what it had been in the past.

The growth of the Chinese economy lifted many into the upper and middle classes. In addition, some landlords benefitted greatly from being bought out by the government. Many nouveau riche moved to wealthy neighborhoods in Shanghai, Nanking, and Canton that became the envy of the nation. This, however, was the experience of a very small minority of the population. China was still a very poor country. This was especially the case the further away one got from the coasts or major cities. In many rural areas people lived in third-world conditions while the former landlord drove in a luxury foreign car he bought from the money he made off of shares in Minkuo Electronics. The people working in factories were better off, but were still generally poor.

People in rural areas moved to cities for a better life, even if it meant long working hours and poor working conditions. Hebei and Henan became major industrial centers, especially the cities of Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou, and Kaifeng. China was still a predominately rural country, as most of its citizens lived in the countryside. The population around the country was rapidly increasing. The 1965 Census showed that the country had over 77,000,000 [1] inhabitants, over 300 million more than India, making it by far the largest country in the world by population. While some celebrated this population growth, others were not as thrilled. Yang Chongrui, a doctor who was a former member of the Legislative Yuan from Hebei, was an advocate for contraception. Her advocacy was supported by some, but not by Chiang Kai-shek, who thought that more Chinese people was always a good thing.

(Yang Chongrui)​

China was a safer country in the 60s than it was in the 40s, but it was still far from being among the safest countries in the world. Just like, and exacerbated by, poverty, crime was rampant in 1960s China. Petty crimes were common, and so was organized crime. The government in Nanking enacted laws to try to combat organized crime, especially relating to drugs. Drug dealers were punished by death, but the law was enforced unevenly. In many of the provinces, government officials were making money off of drugs. The death penalty was applied to rival gangs and Southeast Asian drug dealers, while dealers working with local governments were unpunished. The government did achieve success in drastically reducing the drug trade in Jiangsu province, which contained both Nanking and Shanghai, however.

(Gangsters awaiting trial)​

During the 1960s, perhaps inspired by the Civil Rights movement, there were increased attempts to integrate minorities into Chinese life. The Kuomintang was opposed to any notion of Han Supremacy, but minorities often faced discrimination. Usually this was at the hands of Han Chinese, but sometimes it was at the hands of other minorities. Tibetans outside of Tibet faced discrimination by both the Han and the Hui. In 1969, the Legislative Yuan overwhelmingly passed the Racial Equality Act of 1969, prohibiting racial or ethnic discrimination. From 1965 to 1968, Guan Jiyu, a Manchu, served as Premier. Dao Weibo of the Dai nationality was appointed governor of Yunnan in 1966. Discrimination still persisted despite anti-discrimination efforts, however.

1: almost 50,000,000 more than OTL China.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

The story of Sino-Soviet relations is one full of ups and downs. Sometimes the two countries were allies, other times they were rivals. By the late 1960s, the two were rivals once more. China did not fight the Soviet Union (Chen Lifu’s proposal of arming and funding Kazakh, Kyrghiz, and Tajiki separatists were ignored), but it did fight against Soviet aligned countries or rebel groups. In Vietnam, the Soviet Union backed the Viet Minh, who likely would have taken over the entire country had China not intervened in support of its favored faction. The Soviet ally of Mongolia hosted Chinese Communist exiles who raided ROC territory. The Soviet ally of East Turkestan promoted Uygur separatism.

The war in Vietnam and Laos was winding down. In January 1968, Viet Minh leader Võ Nguyên Giáp was killed in Laos. Chinese troops began to withdraw from Vietnam and Laos. Chiang Kai-shek declared that the war had been a success. The last troops returned to China in 1969. From this point on, fighting the Viet Minh and Pathet Lao was mostly the responsibility of the Vietnamese and Laotian governments respectively. The Chinese air force would aid Vietnam and Laos on occasion. The Soviet Union had abandoned all attempts to aid either the Viet Minh or Pathet Lao years earlier. Instead, the Soviets courted favor with Cambodia and Indonesia instead. Chiang Kai-shek was not overly concerned with these developments.

(Võ Nguyên Giáp, 1911-1968)​

The Chinese Communists in Mongolia continued to launch raids into Chinese territory. The raids into Suiyuan, Chahar, and Xing’an provinces became less frequent as the decade went on, as the Chinese military presence on the border increased. The Chinese exiles turned their focus towards Xinjiang. At the same time, the East Turkestan government was sending agents into Xinjiang to foment rebellion. In 1966, the Kumul rebellion began in Northern and Eastern Xinjiang. The rebellion involved over 10,000 mostly Uyghur residents of Xinjiang, joined by volunteers from East Turkestan. The rebellion lasted until 1968, when it was crushed by Chinese general Ma Bufang. China was determined to bring the fight back to Mongolia and East Turkestan.

Both the East Turkestan and Xinjiang governments sought to subvert each other through propaganda. Both sides had a hard time making their case. The Communist government of East Turkestan had a hard time appealing to devout Muslim Uyghurs in China. The Chinese government had a hard time making the case for Chinese rule to Uyghurs. Nevertheless, both sides found people willing to work against their governments. In 1968, China sent Uyghur volunteers trained at the Academy of Central Asia into East Turkestan. Xinjiang Governor Yulbars Khan helped the volunteers. They intended to overthrow the Communist government, and they failed. Ehmetjan Qasim, the East Turkestani leader, celebrated the failure of the “reactionary imperialists.”

(Left: Yulbars Khan, Right: Ehmetjan Qasim)​

In 1967, Defense Minister He Yingqin formulated the New Mongolia Policy, which was approved by Chiang Kai-shek. The new policy was that forces of the Republic of China Army had the authorization to cross the border into Mongolia to fight Chinese Communists. The military was reluctant to actually cross the border, fearing that fighting in Mongolia might get China into a war with the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, Wu Heling, an ethnic Mongol who had previously been involved in the Mengkukuo government, formed the Mongolian Freedom Association. The Mongolian Freedom Association was made up of Mongols in China, including Mongolian defectors. Its goal was to overthrow the Communist government in Ulaanbaatar. Some of its members disguised themselves as nomads and destroyed a small Chinese Communist outpost in Ömnögovi Aimag. Chinese soldiers crossed into Mongolia and fought skirmishes with Chinese Communists in 1968.

(Wu Heling)​

Chiang Kai-shek and Georgy Malenkov had something in common. Neither man wanted the violence in East Turkestan, Mongolia, and Northern China to escalate further. Neither side was likely to gain much from continued fighting. The two agreed to meet in a neutral country in 1969. India was the perfect country to host such a meeting. It was politically stable and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was friendly towards both countries. The two men met to discuss terms to define the new relationship between the two countries. The East Turkestan Republic was a thorny issue. The USSR was determined to keep its puppet regime while China saw viewed the regime as occupying part of Xinjiang province. Nevertheless, China agreed to stop sending revolutionaries there. China also agreed to stop all incursions into Mongolia. The Soviet Union agreed to stop any support for Chinese revolutionaries and to reign in the Chinese exiles in Mongolia. In addition, China and the USSR would drop their opposition to North and South Korean membership in the UN respectively. Hopefully, the talks would lead to lasting peace, but neither leader was confident that it would.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

The 1960s saw many nations win their independence. The US, USSR, and other countries sought influence in these newly-independent nations. China was no different. It also sought to extend its influence abroad. And by the 1960s, it was powerful enough to influence more countries than just its neighbors. Africa was of particular interest. The continent had gone from having only a few of independent states in 1960 to having dozens by 1969. By the end of the decade, most of the continent was ruled by independent African countries. While most of these countries were voluntarily relinquished by European colonial powers, others had to fight long wars of independence. And even after independence, the violence continued in much of the continent.

Britain and France were the two main colonial powers in Africa. Combined, they ruled over the majority of the continent. Unlike Portugal, by 1960 they were willing to give independence to most of their colonies. Neither country was willing to abandon their economic or political influence on the continent, however. France would create the French Community, in which its former colonies would continue to have close ties with Paris. French colonies would be given the chance to approve or reject this in referendums. Algeria was not included in this, as France viewed it as core French territory. Guinea rejected the arrangement, and became independent in 1958. In 1959, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Shijie met with Guinean President Ahmed Sékou Touré. In 1962 Touré went to Nanking. Guinea was China’s first ally in Africa.

(Ahmed Sékou Touré)​

France accused China of interfering in the referendums, and France was right. Some Chinese agents were caught bribing people to oppose the French Community. China was particularly active in Madagascar. Madagascar had a large Chinese community, and the Kuomintang was active there. There were Chinese schools that taught Kuomintang ideology there. Still, Madagascar voters approved joining the French Community with 70% of votes in favor. In 1963, Chiang Kai-shek went to Madagascar, hoping to convince Philibert Tsiranana to align his country more with China than France. He was unsuccessful. China was successful in Algeria, where the anti-colonialist government of the country aligned itself with China. China also had an ally in Jean-Bédel Bokassa of the Central African Republic.

(Jean-Bédel Bokassa)​

Shen Qi, who had worked in propaganda, worked as ambassador to several African countries, including the Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and the Central African Republic. He continually pushed for greater involvement in Africa. China would send doctors and other professionals to African countries. In addition, thousands of African students would go to Chinese universities, many for free. There they would learn Mandarin and Kuomintang ideology. This would be done in conjunction with Chinese investment in African countries. Shen Qi argued that China would reap great long-term benefits, even if the benefits were not immediately apparent. Chiang Kai-shek supported Shen Qi’s efforts. In the 1970s, James Shen, the new foreign minister, was making regular visits to Africa.

(Shen Qi)​

China put efforts into the former British colonies as well. Kwame Nkruma had already fallen into the Soviet-aligned camp. Jomo Kenyatta was more favorable to China, however. In 1971, Vice President Sun Fo (who was anticipated to succeed Chiang Kai-shek soon) met with Kenyatta in Nairobi after his visit with Golda Meir in Israel. China’s close relations with Kenya put Somalia more firmly in the pro-Soviet camp. Despite China’s anti-colonialism, its relationship with South Africa during apartheid was complicated. China opposed Apartheid, but maintained good relations with South Africa during the 1960s. In the 1970s, China opposed Apartheid more loudly, but continued to trade with South Africa. On the other hand, China never had diplomatic relations with Rhodesia.

(Jomo Kenyatta)​

Britain and France, while being the most important colonial powers, were not the only colonial powers. Spain and Portugal still maintained their colonies well into the 1970s. China used threats of supporting anti-colonial movements in Africa in order to ensure their cooperation in Macao. China didn’t support Anti-colonial movements in Spanish Africa at all due to the good relationship between the two countries. Belgium would relinquish control of Congo (Congo-Léopoldville), Rwanda, and Burundi in 1960. Congo-Léopoldville almost immediately found itself in a civil war. Communist rebels, backed by the Soviet Union, threatened the regime of Joseph Kasa-Vubu. In response, both the United States and China (along with Belgium) supported the Congo-Léopoldville government. The United States was able to provide more aid than China, and thus Congo-Léopoldville was closer to the US during those years.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

In 1947, the crown jewel in the British crown broke off. India was now an independent country. It would immediately become the world’s largest democracy (and would remain so for most of the rest of the 20th century). It faced unique challenges upon independence, however. Much of the former British colony was now under the rule of Pakistan, which would be a constant rival of India. The partition of India had left many Hindus in Pakistan and Muslims in India, and religious tensions remained. India and Pakistan went to war, a war which ended in neither side getting what they wanted. India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was committed to keeping India a secular country, though not all saw things his way. In addition to secularism, Nehru would promote socialism (but not communism) as well.

(Jawaharlal Nehru)​

India, perhaps even more than China, represented a third way in the Cold War. Under Nehru, India would seek a middle approach in the economy and in foreign policy. The Indian economy would be different from both American capitalism and Soviet Communism. His vision for India was one where the public and private sector would exist side-by-side. India would receive aid from both the US and the USSR, and sought to maintain good relations with both. Nehru’s economic policies would continue to govern India after he was gone. The “License Raj” as it was called, a system of regulations on businesses in India, lasted until the 1980s. India did experience some economic growth during this period, but it was slow when compared to China or Japan.

India was an early leader within the non-aligned movement, consisting of countries that sided with neither the west nor the Communist world. Jawaharlal Nehru was at one time good friend of Chinese President Chiang Kai-shek, but later the two would have a falling out. Nehru was a strong supporter of democracy. By the 1950s, Nehru was convinced that Chiang was not a true supporter of democracy, and wrote to him to try to get him to change. He also protested China’s invasion and annexation of Tibet. This never led to any conflict, however, despite China claiming territory ruled by India. China would briefly support the Indian National Party, a secular nationalist party, to oppose the INC. The Indian National Party made no meaningful impact on Indian politics, and the party disbanded shortly after funding was cut in 1962. After that, China sought to maintain better relations with India. Nehru died in 1964, and his two successors, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi, were good friends of China.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

Chiang Kai-shek was getting old. He celebrated his 80th birthday on October 31, 1967. Chiang Kai-shek believed he had at least another ten years left of life. Nevertheless, planning for succession was important. He wanted his son to eventually become president, but there were many other powerful players in the Chinese government seeking that title as well. Chiang Kai-shek was considering not running for a fifth term in 1972. He fell and injured himself in the presidential palace in 1970. This made him lean further towards not running for reelection. The question now was who would succeed him. Who would the Kuomintang unify behind in 1972? The big-wigs in the KMT were all the subject of speculation. These men were mostly geriatric, not much younger than Chiang himself. Thus, they would likely be one-term presidents.

There was Defense Minister He Yingqin, born in 1890. He was a powerful figure in the Chinese government, and a trusted advisor of Chiang Kai-shek. There was another advisor, Zhang Qin born in 1889. He had served as Premier since 1968 (a position he also held from 1947-1948). Zhang was a strong supporter of democratization. Tao Xisheng, another trusted advisor, born in 1899, was a ghostwriter for Chiang Kai-shek. There were other members of the Kuomintang Central Committee. However, none of these men would succeed Chiang. There were two men, each considered by some to be the second most powerful man in China, who could become China’s next president. The first was Sun Fo, the son of Sun Yat-sen, born in 1891. He had served as Vice President since 1954. The second was Chen Lifu, leader of the CC Clique, born in 1900. He been President of the Legislative Yuan since 1954 (succeeding Sun Fo). He was friends with the Chiang family.

(Left: Sun Fo, Right: Chen Lifu)​

Chiang Kai-shek decided informed Sun Fo and KMT Secretary-General Chang Li-sheng that he did not plan on seeking a fifth term. Sun was informed that he was Chiang Kai-shek’s chosen successor. Chen Lifu was his choice for Vice President. Those two men would unite the vast majority of the KMT behind them. Shortly before the 1972 election, Chiang Kai-shek would appoint his son, Chiang Ching-kuo, as Premier. This meant that if Sun Fo and Chen Lifu both died between 1972 and 1978, Chiang Ching-kuo would become president. In the case that Sun Fo served his full term, he agreed to support Chiang Ching-kuo for president in 1978. Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling looked forward to enjoying retirement. But it was not to be. In 1971 Sun Fo was hospitalized and nearly died after having a heart attack. Citing health concerns, Sun Fo would not seek election as president or reelection as Vice President. Chiang Kai-shek would run for a fifth term.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

While China was much less politically restrictive than the Soviet Union, it still had a long way to go to be a fully free and democratic nation. Chiang Kai-shek was a dictator in all but name. Dissent was at times tolerated, but anything that was truly a threat to the regime would be crushed, though crushing dissent was milder than it was in the past. By the 1970s, China had mostly transitioned to arresting dissidents rather than killing them. Nevertheless, capital punishment was very much still in effect. In 1970, ten suspected Communists were executed in Zhangjiakou, Chahar. It was part of a wider campaign to root out Communists in Northern China. There were also cases of “disappearances” of proponents of independence for Xinjiang or Tibet.

A large source of opposition came from the far-left. Communism had been outlawed decades ago, but Communists remained. Communist rebels were a nuisance for the Chinese military and government. There was no chance of them taking over the country, but they were able to inflict damage on the ROC regime. From the 1950s to the 1990s, thousands of Chinese soldiers died fighting Communist rebels (with most of these casualties occurring before 1970). These rebels sometimes engaged in terrorism. High-profile supporters of the KMT and members of the Chinese government were attacked. But they were not the only victims. A series of bombings were carried out, targeting oil wells in the Northeast in 1958. Hundreds were killed. These sorts of attacks justified heavy-handed policies in parts of China, according to the government.

Communists were far from the only people to be on the receiving end of Chinese authoritarianism. Supporters of various separatist movements were arrested for “anti-China” activities. Huang Hua was arrested for his advocacy of Taiwanese independence, while Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa was arrested for his role in the Tibetan Independence movement. Others were arrested for protesting for democracy. In 1968, writer Li Ao was arrested after he called the government’s pro-democracy posturing farcical and his scathing critiques of Chinese government officials. Li Ao was a Chinese nationalist, but always despised the Kuomintang due to his father’s mistreatment by the party. He had a similar vision for China as the Kuomintang, but he decried authoritarianism and Chiang Kai-shek.

(prison for political prisoners)​