A rival nationalist government formed on the island of Taiwan following the Chinese Civil War in 1949. This separation from the communist controlled mainland China has been a source of International tension ever since. Here, Victor Gamma looks at how and why mainland China separated from Taiwan. He continues the series by looking at the Chinese Civil War and how China and Taiwan grew apart.
Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong meeting in 1945 in Chongqing, China.
Initially the political left (communist) & right (nationalist) wings of the KMT continued to cooperate in the United Front. But it wasn’t long before the conflict which would ultimately lead to the current China-Taiwan conflict began. On May 30, 1925, a crowd of Chinese students in Shanghai staged an anti-foreign protest at the International Settlement at Shanghai. The incident turned deadly when the Shanghai Municipal Police opened fire on the protesters. This sparked outrage throughout China, including the Canton/Hong Kong Strike. The CCP reaped the greatest benefit from these events and attracted many members. Conservatives and moderates grew alarmed at the growing power of the leftists. Right and left also clashed over policy: the left pushed the strike while the Nationalists wanted to end the strike because much of their financial support was coming from foreign trade. Moreover, Chiang was trying to consolidate his control in anticipation of the coming campaign to unify China and did not want political disunity in the ranks. For this reason, as well as suspicion of a possible communist take-over of the Nationalist movement, on March 20, in what is called the Canton Coup, he purged communist elements from the Nationalist army. Chiang moved to limit the fallout from the purge by taking actions to conciliate the Soviets and the remaining leftists. He still desired Soviet support as well as help from the CCP for the campaign fight against the warlords.
Shortly thereafter, Chiang launched his long - awaited campaign against the warlords. By March, 1927 Chiang had taken Nanjing. Here the fall of the city was accompanied by widespread looting and rioting with foreign warships bombarding the city. This led to conflict between Nationalists and communists. Chiang believed that the Russians and communists instigated the riots and stirred up anti-foreign feelings deliberately to increase their own power and weaken the KMT. Therefore, on April 12, 1927 he ordered the violent purging of communists in Shanghai. This marked the official beginning of all-out war against the communists and the start of the Chinese Civil War. In addition to Nanjing, the nationalist government had moved to Wuhan. Here leftists took control, acting largely independent of Chiang’s authority. By April the Wuhan government had gone beyond that to actually acting against Chiang. They issued a series of edicts reducing Chiang’s authority. They also began to construct a parallel government in KMT territory. Chiang clearly could not move forward against the warlords and felt it necessary to halt his advance in order to deal with the communists. This marks a pattern which appeared throughout Chiang’s career; no matter how great the problem, he always placed the communists or internal threats as his greatest threat and would cease all other operations to deal with them. And so in the spring of 1927, he halted the anti-warlord campaign and violently turned on the communists. He began with a purge of communists in Shanghai.
On August 1, 1927, the Communist Party launched an uprising in Nanchang against the Nationalist government in Wuhan. Around 20,000 communist members of the Kuomintang revolted and took over the city of Nanchang. This incident is called the Nanchang uprising. It resulted in the formation of the People Liberation Army and is still celebrated today as “Army Day.” Ultimately, however, the communists withdrew into a remote location to rebuild their strength. Chiang launched several offensives in an attempt to destroy the communists once and for all, but they managed to elude his pursuing armies to reach the safety of a remote city in Shaanxi Province called Yenan. Once settled in their new base, the communists carried an intensive training and indoctrination program to “correct unorthodox tendencies,” mold the peasantry into the communist model and become an effective force.
Anti-communism
Scholars have debated the reasons that Chiang turned on the communists. There are multiple reasons. Chiang was a reformer but also a traditionalist. Although recognizing the need for modernization, he was deeply connected to the past. He was, in fact, a neo-Confucianist. He was an ardent admirer of Tseng Guo Fan, the 19th century paragon of Confucian virtue. In addition to that, like Chiang, Tseng also was involved in leading the government forces in restoring unity to China through quelling the Taiping Rebellion. One of Tseng’s superiors said “Taiping Rebellion is a disease of the heart, Russia is a disease of the elbow and axilla, England is a disease of skin; We should exterminate Taiping first, then Russia and England.” Chiang repeated this phrase almost word for word in an interview years later, substituting “Taiping” with “communist” - “Remember, the Japanese are a disease of the skin, but the communists are a disease of the soul.” He was alarmed at ideologies that he felt threatened traditional Chinese culture. Chiang had a chance to observe a communist regime up close when he was in Russia for training and rejected it as an appropriate system of government for China. He felt it to be an alien ideology that undermined Chinese traditions. He attempted to unify China both politically and ideologically. Part of his ideological effort would become the “New Life Movement.” This would be a civic campaign that promoted confucian values as well as cultural reform. It was partly launched as a counter to communist ideology. He also was not interested in sharing power. He believed one of China’s greatest needs at this time was one leader firmly in control. The communists had demonstrated that they would not submit to Chiang. One of the first objectives the communists focused on when they gained power in Wuhan during the Northern Expedition, for instance, was an attempt to strip Chiang of his power.
World War II
The state of civil war continued until 1937, when the Japanese invasion forced the two sides into the Second United Front for the duration of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937- 45) Although technically allies in the struggle against Japan, the Front never functioned as a firm alliance, even at times resembling more a hostile competition than an alliance. In practice, though, cooperation between the two factions was minimal. Chiang, in fact, instead of an aggressive strategy against the Japanese, hoarded his forces for the post-war showdown with the communists.
At the end of World War II, although technically on the winning side, the Nationalists were psychologically the losers in the eyes of many Chinese, especially peasants. They were seen as putting more energy into trying to exterminate the communists than fighting the rapacious foreign invader. Some even blamed Chiang for Japanese depredations by using forces against his internal political foes that could have been used against the Japanese. Chiang, in fact, had to be forced at gunpoint to agree to the Second United Front in the first place. Even before the guns fell silent in 1945, he had lost the war for the hearts and minds of the peasants, who were 90% of the population. His alliance with the mercantile and landowning class helped tie Chiang to conservatism. He had little understanding of the plight of the peasants. His communist rivals, meantime, worked feverishly and brilliantly to build a powerful following, based largely on peasant support. This included a military force that numbered into the 600,000 range by 1945. While Chiang’s Nationalist movement was riddled with corruption and lack of real reform, the communists won the hearts and minds of vast numbers through the training, land reform and fierce, consistent commitment to the struggle against Japan and whatever injustice the peasants had been traditionally subjected to.
In 1945 both Nationalist and communist forces accepted the surrender of Japanese forces. Sovereignty had been restored, but not unity. Both Chiang and Mao knew that the long-awaited showdown was about to commence. After a brief period of post-war cooperation, the old animosities erupted into civil war again. This time, the communists were the winners. The Nationalists retreated to Taiwan but never surrendered, just as the communists had refused to surrender despite a succession of defeats in the late 1920’s and 1930’s.
After the Civil War
For some time after the Nationalists fled to Taiwan both sides insisted that they were only the official government of China. A strict policy of no contact followed. Chiang reformed the corrupt Nationalist Party and, with American aid, set Taiwan on the path of economic modernization and growth. After Chiang’s death in 1975, political reforms also took place. By the 1990’s, Taiwan was not only an economic powerhouse but full-fledged democracy. Meanwhile, Taiwan has largely given up its claim to the mainland. In 1991 Taiwan declared that the war with the PRC was over.
In 2000 Taiwan transitioned to a multi-party democracy when the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidency. Although the KMT is still important, it now shares power with other parties. The DPP backs full independence so Beijing viewed the election results with alarm. The PRC backed up its disapproval with the "anti-secession law." The law flatly states that Beijing will use force if Taiwan "secedes" by declaring full independence. The DPP returned to power as Tsai Ing-wen, became Taiwan's first female president in 2016. More importantly for the mainland, she is a firm supporter of independence. In words that are sure NOT to warm the heart of Beijing, Tsai declared "Choosing Tsai Ing-wen... means we choose our future and choose to stand with democracy and stand with freedom."
China has offered a "one country, two systems" scenario in which Taiwan would enjoy significant autonomy while still under Beijing's control. The mainland also would promise not to use force in resolving the issue. Taiwan turned down the proposal.
Differences
Why doesn't Taiwan want to be under Beijing's control? it has seemed that the two Chinas have drawn closer together, for example beginning in the 1970s the mainland began economic reforms thus it seemed was becoming more similar to Taiwan. However, the mainland did not change the political one-party state and authoritarian regime which is not a democracy. Taiwan, along with the whole world, watched the 1989 Tiananmen square massacre. Hong Kong was promised a "one country, two systems" arrangement in 1997 as China prepared to take back the British Colony. Included was a 50 year promise that Hong Kong would enjoy its capitalist system as well as political freedoms. In 2020, though, Beijing cracked down on basic freedoms with a Security Act that allows the government to punish or silence critics or dissenters. As of this writing, well over a hundred individuals have been arrested for political reasons. Taiwan at one time was an authoritarian dictatorship, it has now diverged even more from communism, evolving into now a free market and a genuine democracy.
This contemporary dispute reflects China's painful journey from its time-honored ways of old to modernity. A struggle for stability and prosperity and self-respect consumed that nation in the 20th Century. This journey involved the fundamental question of how China should be organized: the nationalist/traditionalist view - which eventually evolved into today's democratic Taiwan, and the communist (with a semi-capitalist economy) vision, now ruling the mainland. These two paths represent the right and left ideologically, one which looked to the West and its liberal traditions and traditional Chinese culture and the other which turned to distinctly antiliberal doctrines of Marx and hostility towards the past. These two approaches struggled over who's vision would succeed. In a sense, then, this struggle has never truly ended and continues to threaten global stability. The world watches to see how far Beijing will go in achieving its goal of one China.
What do you think of the China and Taiwan separation? Let us know below.
Now read Victor’s article on the explosive history of the bikini here.
References
CHIANG ATTACKS WARLORDS AND REDS - 11. Chiang Attacks Warlords and Reds
Timeline: Taiwan’s road to democracy - Timeline: Taiwan's road to democracy | Reuters
