Book Review on the Generalissimo

choi

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(A) Laura Tyson Li, The Final Triumph of Chiang Kai-shek. Washington Post,
Apr. 26, 2009 (available now; reviewing the next book).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/23/AR2009042303315.html
("Marshaling archival materials made newly available to researchers,
including about four decades' worth of Chiang's daily diaries and documents
from the Soviet era")

Note:
(a) General Joe "Vinegar" Stillwell called the Generalissimo "Peanut" and
American diplomats, and later Pres. Truman, called him "General Cash-My-
Check."
(b)
(i) For the noun "buffoon," see
Jester
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jester
("A jester, joker, jokester, fool, wit-cracker, prankster, or buffoon was a
person employed to tell jokes and provide general entertainment, typically
by a monarch. Jesters are stereotypically thought to have worn brightly
colored clothes and eccentric hats in a motley pattern. Their hats were
especially distinctive; made of cloth, they were floppy with three points (
liliripes) each of which had a jingle bell at the end. The three points of
the hat represent the donkey's ears and tail worn by jesters in earlier
times.")

(ii) Illustrations of a buffoon:
http://www.perfessorbill.com/
covers/buffoon.jpg

http://www.blackknightassociation.com/
Images/big%20buffoon.jpg


(B) Jay Taylor has authored at least two books:
(1) The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China (
2009).
http://www.amazon.com/Generalissimo-Chiang-Kai-shek-Struggle-Belknap/dp/0674033388/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240674664&sr=1-1

(2) The Generalissimo's Son: Chiang Ching-kuo and the Revolutions in China
and Taiwan (2000).
http://www.amazon.com/Generalissimos-Son-Chiang-Ching-kuo-Revolutions/dp/0674002873/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240674521&sr=1-2

My comment:
(a) Laura Tyson Li
http://www.lauratysonli.com/
whose home page showcases Madame Chiang Kai-shek, China's Eternal First Lady
(2007). While there (in the home page), please click "Author."
(b) It just happens that I am reading this book, which is under review. It
is odd: reading this book, I do not get the impression that Laura Tyson Li
has. What I get is not "triumph" but (i) that the Generalissimo was
personally non-corrupt, cruel, indecisive, a poor military strategist yet
occasionally foresighted (for example, he predicted Japan would invade
Southeast Asia, therefore antagonizing the Western powers and helping China'
s cause to survive Japanese invasion).

(I has not read Mr. Taylor's book about the son. However, I feel that DPP
recently is reinventing history when verbally assaulting the son on the
latter's birthday anniversary. I do not know if the son oversaw the killings
of people in Taiwan during White Terror--and probably few know. But the son
was benevolent and tolerant after 1960s, when he became a rising star and
when I had the faintest idea about him. Generally speaking, people in Taiwan
in those times genuinely liked him.)

(c) While it is true that Mr. Taylor "was a U.S. Foreign Service officer in
Hong Kong during the Cultural Revolution," Washington Post above, as far as
I can recall, the jacket of the book described Mr. Taylor as the China desk
officer at State Department. Click the "Jay Taylor's Resume" button in this
web site:
http://thegeneralissimo.net/

(d) Ms. Tyson Li wrote, "In 1927, he launched a bloody purge of the Chinese
Communist Party, which had been cooperating with Sun's Nationalist Party,
touching off decades of civil conflict." Indeed Jay Taylor did indicate that
the Civil War lasted from 1927 to 1949, for 22 years--a notion I obtain
from the book.


------------------Separately
Yesterday I was thinking of writing a posting about Mr. Taylor's book. (I
has not had any opportunity to read the book on the son, learning of its
existence only from this book). This is what I read yesterday in this book,
about US in 1950s wanted Two Chinas and Generalissimo's secret
correspondence with China's leadership during the Second Quemoy Crisis of
1958.
(a) p. 473: In the First Quemoy Crisis of 1954, "Chiang believed that with
adequate supplies the island [Quemoy/Kinmen] could withstand a long siege.
But without US air and naval intervention, he and the Americans knew the PLA
could eventually cut off the island's air and sea supply.

(b) p. 497: In 1958 "Zhou [Enlai] and Mao did in fact read Dulles'
statements as suggesting that American goal was to 'trade off Quemoy and
Matsu for Taiwan and Pescadores,' thus formalizing the separation of Taiwan
and the Mainland. Mao told his colleagues it was best to leave the offshore
islands in the hands of Chiang Kai-shek.

(c) p. 501: "But Dulles harangue, while it came to naught, did reaffirm for
Chiang that the Eisenhower administration was still hoping someday to
improve relations with Peking in the context of a Two-China solution.
Knowing that Mao was as opposed to such a policy as he was, he and his son
thus decided to try to convince Peking to end the still-festering Quemoy
crisis, which both leaders had been using for their own purposes. According
to a senior official [Qiao shi] of the People's Republic speaking privately
in 1994, Chiang at this time sent a message to Zhoou Enlai saying that if
PLA did not stop the fighting, he (Chiang) would have to 'do what the
Americans wanted'--withdrawal from the offshore islands--and over time this
move would threaten the indivisibility of China. * * * Years later, Zhou
confirmed the story, telling Henry Kissinger that in 1958 the United States
wanted Chiang to give up Quemoy so as to completely sever Taiwan and
Mainland. but the Taiwan and mainland leaders had cooperated to thwart the
efforts of Dulles. Chiang was not willing to do what Dulles wanted, Zhouo
said, and we advised him * * * not to withdraw [and then began] * * * firing
artillery shells on odd days.

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