CHAPTER 18
w en   y i 1) u o
t h e Poet's f a r e w e i. l 337
The Fall of the Guomindang State
18.1    Wen Yiduo: The Poet's Farewell, 1946
Wen Yiduo (1899-1946) was one of twentieth-century China's most important poets. Some of his earliest poems, such as "The Laundryman's Song," were critical of the racial discrimination he experienced during his time as a student at the Art Institute in Chicago during the 1920s. In general, however, Wen Yiduo was largely apolitical prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. He led a reclusive scholarly lite, served as a professor of Chinese literature at Qinghua University in Peking, and concentrated on the study of Chinese and Western art, ancient poetry, and Chinese mythology.
After the outbreak of the war. Wen Yiduo followed Qinghua University when it moved to Changsha and then to Kunming in flight from the advancing Japanese. This long journey, much of it by foot, renewed Wen Yiduo's interest in art and drew him back to the realities of life tor the common people of China.
Toward the end of the war, disillusioned by the corruption of the Nationalist government, Wen became actively engaged in reform politics. He argued eloquently for democracy and mass mobilization to defeat the Japanese. As a writer, editor, and public speaker he often attacked the Guomindang, which nicknamed him "Wenyiduotu" (the added fu made Wen's name sound like the transliteration of a Russian name).
After the war, Wen Yiduo actively opposed the resumption of the civil war. He was outraged when his friend Li Gongpu, a longtime political opponent of the Guomindang and leading member of the Democratic League, was assassinated by Nationalist secret police on July 9, 1946. Six
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davs later, at a memorial service for Li Gongpu, Wen Yiduo delivered a ricry address attacking all tCWU (special service agents) in the audience and condemning the moral bankruptcy of the Chiang government. Returning to his home following this gathering. Wen was shot by government agents on a street corner not tar from his own doorstep.
Intellectuals throughout China were outraged by this cold-blooded political assassination. During the years of the civil war and later, Wen's manner of death was alluded to often by speakers eager to prove the despotic character ot the Guomindang. Reproduced below is the text of Wen Yiduo's final speech at Li's memorial service as it was recorded by a contemporary listener.
A few days ago, as we arc all aware, one of the most despicable and shameful events of history occurred here in Kunming. What crime did Mr. Li Congpu commit that would cause him to be murdered in such a vicious way? He merely used his pen to write a few articles, he used his mouth to speak out, and what he said and wrote was nothing more than what any Chinese with a conscience would say. We all have pens and mouths. If there is a reason tor it, why not speak out? Why should people be beaten, killed, or, even worse, killed in a devious way? [Applause]
Are there any special agents ICuomindang spies] here today? Stand up! If you are men, stand up! Come forward and speak? Why did you kill Mr. Li? [Enthusiastic applause] You kill people but refuse to admit it and even circulate false rumors that the murder happened because of some sexual scandal or as the result of Communists killing other Communists. Shameless! Shameless! [Applause| This is the shamelessness of the Guomindang but the glory belongs to Mr. Li. Mr. Li participated in Kunming's democratic movement for a number of years. Now he has returned to Kunming and sacrificed his own life. This is Mr. Li's glory, it is the glory of the people of Kunming!
Last year, at the time of the December 1st Incident, the young students of Kunming were slaughtered for demonstrating against the civil war and that was a case of the younger generation sacrificing its precious lives. Now, Mr. Li, striving tor democracy anil peace, has also suffered assassination by the reactionaries. Let me proudly say, an old comrade-in-arms has now sacrificed his precious life for my generation. Both of these incidents happened here in Kunming and this will be an eternal glory tor Kunming. | Applause]
After the news of the reactionary's assassination of Mr. Li spread, everyone was indignant and outraged. I certainly can't understand the heart of those shameless creatures; under these circumstances how can they fabricate false rumors to insult Mr. Li? But in fact it is very simple. The reason they are madly creating terror is because they themselves are in a panic! They are afraid! They create terror because they teel terrified!
Special agents, think about it, how many days are left for you?
.3 .3 8 j T h f.  Fall  of  the  OdOMiNDANG State
Do you really think that if you hurt a few or kill a few, that you can intimidate the whole people? In fact, you cannot beat all of the people or kill all of the people. For every Li Gongpu you kill, hundreds of millions of Li Gongpus will stand up! [Applause] In the future you will lose the support of hundreds of millions of people.
The reactionaries believe that they can reduce the number of people participating in the democratic movement and destroy its power through the terror of assassination. But let me tell you, our power is great, our power is enormous! | Applause] Look! All of these people today are our people and their power is our power. [Applausel
The power of the people will win and truth will live forever! [Applause] Throughout history, all who have opposed the people have been destroyed by the people! Didn't Hitler and Mussolini fall before the people? Chiang Kai-shek, you are so rabid, so reactionary, turn the pages of history, how many days do you think you have left? You're finished! It is over for you! ]Enthusiastic applause]
Bright days are coming for us. Look, the light is before us. Just as Mr. Li said as he was dying: "Daybreak is coming!" Now is that darkest moment before dawn. We have the power to break through this darkness and attain the light! The coming of our light marks the final moment for the reactionaries! jApplause|
Mr. Li's blood was not shed in vain! Mr. Li gave his life and we shall demand a price in return. We have this confidence and we must have this confidence. . ..
Reactionaries, you have seen one man fall but have you seen hundreds of millions stand up?
Justice can never be killed because truth lives forever! . . . [Applause]
To attain democracy and peace, we must pay a price. We are not afraid of making sacrifices. Each of us should be like Mr. Li. When we step through the door, we must be prepared never to return. |Long, enthusiastic applause)
18.2   General Marshall: The Mediator's View, 1947
After VJ (Victory over Japan) Day, the United States government was eager to bring about a coalition government uniting the Guomindang and the Chinese Communist party. General George Marshall, the wartime U.S. chief of staff, was sent to China by President Truman in mid-December 1945 to attempt to work out a cease-fire and the formation of a Political Consultative Conference (PCC) that might set in place the foundations for one national government and army. Initially, Marshall believed that both sides were receptive to the concept of a unity government; he was received
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cordially by Chiang and Mao and steps were already underway in January 1946 to build the PCC.
In the end, however, the decades of political opposition, civil war, and deep feelings of mutual suspicion foreordained the failure of the Marshall Mission. Intractable opponents to a unity government worked against Marshall in both the Nationalist and Communist camps. By the spring of 1946 armed clashes hail already broken out between the two parties. Marshall continued his attempts to forestall civil war during the summer of 1946 but by the end of that year he was obliged to acknowledge the futility of further American efforts to stave off war.
The statement below was released on January 7, 1947, just before Marshall's return to the United States. It reflected his conviction that efforts to unite the Nationalists and Communists were doomed by their intransigence and the lack of any moderate force in Chinese politics capable of acting as a buffer between them in a coalition government. When Marshall was, subsequently, appointed secretary of state, he adopted a wait-and-see policy for the United States that precluded an active search for solutions to the deepening crisis in China.
The greatest obstacle to peace|in China] has been the complete, almost overwhelming suspicion with which the Chinese Communist Party and the Guomindang regard each other.
On the one hand, the ieaders of the Government are strongly opposed to a communistic form of government. On the other, the Communists frankly state that they are Marxists and intend to work toward establishing a communistic form of government in China, though first advancing through the medium of a democratic form of government of the American or British type.
The leaders of the Government are convinced in their minds that the Communist-expressed desire to participate in a government of the type endorsed by the Political Consultative Conference last January had for its purpose only a destructive intention. The Communists felt, 1 believe, that the government was insincere in its apparent acceptance of the PCC resolutions for the formation of the new government and intended by coercion of military force and the action of secret police to obliterate the Communist Party. Combined with this mutual deep distrust was the conspicuous error by both parties of ignoring the effect of the fears and suspicions of the other party in estimating the reason for proposals or opposition regarding the settlement of various matters under negotiation. They each sought only to take counsel of their own fears. They both, therefore, to that extent took a rather lopsided view of each situation and were susceptible to every evil suggestion or possibility. . . .
1 think the most important factors involved in the recent breakdown of negotiations are these: On the side of the National Government, which is in effect
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The  Fall  of  the  GuoMINDANG St
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the Guomindang, there is a dominant group of reactionaries who have been opposed, in my opinion, to almost every effort I have made to influence the formation of a genuine coalition government. This has usually been under the cover of political or party action, but since the Party was the Government, this action, though subtle or indirect, has been devastating in its effect. They were quite frank in publicly stating their belief that cooperation by the Chinese Communist Party in the government was inconceivable and that only a policy of force could definitely settle the issue. This group includes military as well as political leaders.
On the side of the Chinese Communist Party there are, 1 believe, liberals as well as radicals, though this view is vigorously opposed by many who believe that the Chinese Communist Party discipline is too rigidly enforced to admit of such differences of viewpoint. Nevertheless, it has appeared to me that there is a definite liberal group among the Communist ideology in the immediate future. The dyed-in-the-wool Communists do not hesitate at the most drastic measures to gain their end as, for instance, the destruction of communications in order to wreck the economy of China and produce a situation that would facilitate the overthrow or collapse of the Government, without any regard to the immediate suffering of the people involved. They completely distrust the leaders of the Guomindang and appear convinced that every Government proposal is designed to crush the Chinese Communist Party. I must say that the quite evidently inspired mob actions of last February and March, some within .1 few blocks of where I was then engaged in completing negotiations, gave the Communists good excuse tor such suspicions.
However, a very harmful and immensely proactive phase of the Chinese Communist Party procedure has been in the character of its propaganda. I wish to state to the American people that in the deliberate misrepresentation and abuse of the action, policies and purposes of our Government this propaganda has been without regard for the truth, without any regard whatsoever for the facts, and has given plain evidence of a determined purpose to mislead the Chinese people and the world and to arouse a bitter hatred of Americans. It has been difficult to remain silent in the midst of such public abuse and wholesale disregard of facts, but a denial would merely lead to the necessity of daily denials, an intolerable course of action for an American official. In the interest of fairness, I must state that the Nationalist Government publicity agency has made numerous misrepresentations, though not of the vicious nature of the Communist propaganda. Incidentally, the Communist statements regarding the Anping incident1 which resulted in the death of three Marines and the wounding of twelve others were almost pure fabrication, deliberately representing a carefully arranged ambuscade of a Marine convoy with supplies for the main-
1. A clash between U.S. Marines and Communist troops thai occurred near Tianjin, on July 29, 1946.
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General  Marshall:  Mediator's  View I 341
tenance of Executive Headquarters and some UNRRA supplies, as a defence against a Marine assault. The investigation of this incident was a tortuous procedure of delays and maneuvers to disguise the true and privately admitted facts of the case.
Sincere efforts to achieve settlement have been frustrated time and again by extremist elements of both sides. The agreements reached by The Political Con-sultive Conference a year ago were a liberal and forward-looking charter which then offered China a basis for peace and reconstruction. However, irreconcilable groups within the Guomindang, interested in the preservation of their own feudal control of China, evidently had no real intention of implementing them. Though I speak as a soldier, I must here also deplore the dominating influence of the military. Their dominance accentuates the weakness of civil government in China. At the same time, in pondering the situation in China, one must have clearly in mind not the workings of small Communist groups or committees to which we are accustomed in America, but rather of millions of people and an army of more than a million men. ...
Between this dominant reactionary group in the Government and the irreconcilable Communists who, I must state, did not so appear last February, lies the problem of how peace and well-being are to be brought to the long-suffering and presently inarticulate mass of the people of China. The reactionaries in the Government have evidently counted on substantial American support regardless of their actions. The Communists by their unwillingness to compromise in the national interest are evidently counting on an economic collapse to bring about the fall ot the Government, accelerated by extensive guerrilla action against the long lines of rail communications—regardless of the cost of suffering to the Chinese people.
The salvation of the situation, as I see it, would be the assumption of leadership by the liberals in the Government and in the minority parties, a splendid group of men, but who as yet lack the political power to exercise a controlling influence. Successful action on their part under the leadership of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek would, I believe, lead to unity through good government.
In fact, the National Assembly has adopted a democratic constitution which in all major respects is in accordance with the principles laid down by the all-party Political Consultative Conference of last January. It is unfortunate that the Communists did not see fit to participate in the Assembly since the constitution that has been adopted seems to include every major point that they wanted.
Soon the Government in China will undergo major reorganization pending the coming into force of the constitution following elections to be completed before Christmas Day 1947. Now that the form for a democratic China has been laid down by the newly adopted constitution, practical measures will be the test. It remains to be seen to what extent the Government will give substance
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Chiang
Steps Down 343
to the form by a genuine welcome of all groups actively to share in the responsibility of government.
The first step will be the reorganization of the State Council and the executive branch ol Government to carry on administration pending the enforcement of the constitution. The manner in which this is done and the amount of representation accorded to liberals and to non-Guomindang members will be significant. It is also to be hoped that during this interim period the door will remain open for Communists or other groups to participate if they see fit to assume their share of responsibility for the future of China.
It has been stated officially and categorically that the period of political tutelage under the Guomindang is at an end. If the termination of one-party rule is to be a reality, the (iuomindang should erase t<> receive financial support from the Government.
1 have spoken very frankly because in no other way can I hope to bring the people of the United States to even a partial understanding of this complex problem. I have expressed all these views privately in the course of negotiations; they are well known, I think, to most of the individuals concerned. I express them now publicly, as it is my duty, to present my estimate of the situation and its possibilities to the American people who have a deep interest in the development of conditions in the Far East promising an enduring peace in the Pacific.
18.3   Chiang Stkps Do w n
Chiang Kai-shek was obliged to "retire" from office three times in his political career: in 1927, in 1931, and in 1949. In the first two cases, Chiang was forced by political opponents to retreat to his hometown of Fcnghua in Zhcjiang but was later able to defeat opponents and to place himself again at the helm of the Nationalist party.
In 1949, however, following the Manchurian campaign and the catastrophic defeat at Xu/.hou in November 1948, Chiang's army was broken and many of his erstwhile generals sat in Communist prisons. In the meantime, civil society, afflicted by runaway inflation and chronic shortages, was clearly beyond Nanjing's control. Under these circumstances, Chiang was again obliged to give up the leadership of the Nationalist government. This time he abdicated control to his vice president Li Zongren. I.i, a (Suangxi warlord and ancient political enemy, had, ironically, been instrumental in pushing Chiang from office at the time of his first "retirement" in 1927. After abandoning the presidency to Li, Chiang continued to move troops and economic resources to Taiwan but deliberately left Li Zongren out of the planning process. By now, Guomindang control of the
mainland was utterly fragmented and many civil and military personnel loyal to Nanjing actively searched for means to depart China.
After the fall of the mainland, Li Zongren departed for exile in the United States but Chiang Kai-shek proved a more long-lived feature of the Chinese political scene. Having evacuated some two million troops to Taiwan and other offshore islands, Chiang again took office as the president of the Republic of China on Taiwan on March 1, 1950, and would serve in this capacity until his death in 1975. The two documents reproduced here reflect the complex political maneuvering that took place on the eve of the Nationalist defeat and the sense of enormous confusion in the GMD camp prior to the transition to Communist power.
PRESIDENT C 11 I A NG'S  ST A T F MENT ON RETIREMENT (JANUARY 2 1,  19 4 9)
Since I issued my New Year message urging the restoration of peace, the entire nation, with one accord, has echoed its unreserved support. However, although more than two weeks have now elapsed, warfare has not yet drawn to a close and the ultimate aim of achieving peace has not been realized. Consequently an end to the people's suffering still is not in sight.
With the hope that the hostilities may be brought to an end and the people's suffering be relieved, I have decided to retire. As from Jan. 21, Vice-President Li Zongren will exercise the duties and powers of President in accordance with Article 49 of the Constitution which provides that "in the event the President, for any reason, is unable to perform his functions, his duties and powers shall be exercised by the Vice-President." I hope the entire nation, including both the military and civilian populations, as well as the various Government departments and agencies, will unreservedly, and with on heart, support Vice-President Li in order that a lasting peace may be achieved.
I have devoted my entire life to the work of the people's revolution, observing strictly the Three Principles of the People. From the fifteenth year of the Republic when we set out from Canton on the Northern Punitive Expedition to the time when national unity was achieved, I never tor a moment tailed to consider it my sacred duty to implement the principle of nationalism, give effect to the principle of democracy and improve the livelihood of the people.
At the same time, I have always realized that it is absolutely necessary to secure peace for the country before a sound foundation can be laid tor the improvement of the nation's political and economic life. That is why for more than twenty years, while I was sometimes forced to resort to military measures in dealing with domestic affairs, I have always been prepared to make personal sacrifices and concessions. The only exception was the war of resistance against