The Republic of China in Taiwan (2-volume set): An Unexpected Country + Chiang Ching-kuo's Taiwan Era

Accidental State: Chiang Kai-shek, the United States, and the Making of Taiwan, The Chiang Ching-kuo Era: The Republic of China on Taiwan in the Cold War

An Unexpected Country: Chiang Kai-shek, the United States, and the Making of Modern Taiwan

Is the establishment of the Republic of China in Taiwan a man-made factor or a historical necessity?
Or is it just a series of accidental events and unintentional historical coincidences?

"An Accidental Country" explores the formation of the "Republic of China in Taiwan" and the evolving role of the United States throughout this historical process. The existence of two Chinese regimes on both sides of the Taiwan Strait—one controlling mainland China, the other controlling the Taiwan Strait—is often understood as the inevitable outcome of the Chinese Civil War. Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang, defeated by Mao Zedong, fled to Taiwan and established a rival state to the Chinese Communist Party, creating the thorny international dilemma of "two Chinas." "An Accidental Country" challenges this conventional wisdom, offering readers a fresh perspective on the creation and shaping of modern Taiwan.

Taiwan's political status has been fraught from the outset. The island was ceded to Japan after the First Sino-Japanese War. During World War II, the Allies promised Chiang Kai-shek that Taiwan would be returned to China after Japan's defeat. As the Chinese Civil War turned against the Kuomintang, American policymakers reassessed their support for Chiang Kai-shek, leading to the rise of the "Taiwan trusteeship" theory. Cold War tensions and fears of Taiwan falling into Communist hands further recalibrated Washington's policy. However, US support for the Republic of China (ROC), with Taiwan as its last stronghold, remained equivocal. Taiwan, a nation that existed, albeit without full sovereignty, had to strive for a place on the international stage.

Drawing on archival materials in both Chinese and English, including artifacts from President Chiang Kai-shek, Kuomintang (KMT) history, Chiang Kai-shek's personal diaries, T.V. Soong's papers, and documents from the U.S. State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency, author Lin Xiaoting attempts to depict an alternative historical perspective on this crucial period in the history of the Republic of China in Taiwan, recounting this period of history beyond the commonly accepted framework. This book argues that the historical process by which the Republic of China and the Kuomintang (KMT) system of government emerged in Taiwan was far more complex and complex than previously acknowledged, incorporating numerous historical factors and causal interactions previously overlooked. This process is attributable to numerous factors, including the little-known, impromptu, unplanned, and deeply personal policymaking and planning during and after World War II, as well as historical accidents and coincidences. The historical formation of the "Republic of China in Taiwan" also fully demonstrates the complex and crucial roles played by numerous figures in the US government and the public. It also explores how US geopolitical strategy in the Asia-Pacific region, from the post-World War II period to the early Cold War, was closely intertwined with the collapse of the Kuomintang regime and its internal power struggles.

In just ten years, from 1945 to 1954, Taiwan went from a Japanese colony to a province of postwar China, and then from a remote island to the last territorial stronghold of the nearly extinct Republic of China (ROC) and the last stronghold of power for the Kuomintang government. Taiwan's rise to the center of anti-communism in the ROC was a historical process characterized by accident, fortuitousness, and profound drama and uncertainty. At the Cairo Conference in 1943, when the Allied powers of China, the United States, and Britain met to discuss the future of Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, no one could have foreseen the dramatic transformation that would unfold in just over a decade. Throughout this process, the United States' role, from government organizations down to numerous individuals, included policy planning and formulation, numerous bold assumptions and advice that were once shelved, and its "erroneous" inferences about the situation in the Chinese Civil War. These actions and inactions all had a profound impact on Taiwan's political future and played a crucial role in shaping the critical moments of the "Republic of China in Taiwan." The formation of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan after 1949, a state separate from mainland China ruled by the Communist Party, was a process inextricably linked to political shifts within the KMT government, the Chinese Civil War, and the geopolitical strategies and decisions of international powers in East Asia after the onset of the Cold War.

Entering the 21st century, the ups and downs of cross-strait relations have become one of the major factors influencing the international political landscape in East Asia. From the low point in cross-strait relations caused by the Democratic Progressive Party's first term in office, to the rapid development of cross-strait relations during the Kuomintang's return to power, to the uncertainty about the future of bilateral relations brought about by the DPP's second term in office, facing the world situation, today, we are re-exploring how the pattern of separation between the two sides of the strait came into being more than half a century ago, how the Republic of China was shaped on the island of Taiwan, and how the United States played its role in this historical process. The discussions in each chapter of this book will help us think about and answer these important questions.

Chiang Ching-kuo's Taiwan Era: The Republic of China and Taiwan during the Cold War

Chiang Ching-kuo's political career and path to power from 1949 to 1988,
It is a microcosm of the development of the Republic of China in Taiwan in all aspects.

In February 2020, the Hoover Archives at Stanford University officially opened Chiang Ching-kuo's diaries to the public. This marked another significant event, following the release of Chiang Kai-shek's diaries in 2006, that garnered significant attention from the Chinese community and academic circles worldwide. For over three decades since Chiang Ching-kuo's death on January 13, 1988, while serving as President of the Republic of China, his historical status and evaluation have sparked considerable debate and debate. Based on extensive archival materials in Chinese and English, including new material from Chiang Ching-kuo's diaries and newly declassified archives from Taiwan, the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom, this book reveals Taiwan's tortuous journey from authoritarian rule to political localization and democratization, beginning in the 1970s, as the international political landscape underwent fundamental shifts and the Nationalist government lost its legitimate position as the representative of "China."

This book, comprised of three sections and ten chapters, examines Chiang Ching-kuo and his political career after the Republic of China (R.O.C.) government's 1949 relocation to Taiwan from a comprehensive perspective, encompassing military intelligence, political work, the White Terror, diplomacy, the Taiwanese independence movement, democratization, localization, livelihood and economic development, and cross-strait relations. This historical journey reveals how the KMT, after its defeat in the Chinese Civil War and its forced retreat from mainland China, managed to maintain its footing amidst the turbulent times and capitalize on the Cold War's bipolar international dynamics to maintain the legitimacy of its rule in Taiwan.

The first of three chapters explores Chiang Ching-kuo's relationship with Taiwan's military intelligence, military political work, national security, and operations behind enemy lines, as well as his three-decade-long love-hate relationship with US intelligence agencies—primarily the CIA—from the early 1950s to the numerous controversies that arose after he assumed power in the 1970s. Chiang Ching-kuo's political career in Taiwan began with intelligence, espionage, operations behind enemy lines, and military political work. He was entrusted with overseeing intelligence work and could not evade his political responsibility for the White Terror of the 1950s. Looking back more than half a century, perhaps we would be more interested in understanding Chiang Ching-kuo's inner thoughts during his involvement.

The second part, comprised of four chapters, explores Chiang Ching-kuo and Taiwan's foreign relations after 1949. The development of secret diplomacy between Taiwan and the Soviet Union, and Chiang Ching-kuo's role in it, is a key focus of the book. Serious disagreements between the Chinese and Soviet Communist parties began in the 1960s, leading to a deterioration in relations between the two sides. Simultaneously, the US government and the public sought to improve relations with Beijing, negatively impacting US-Taiwan relations. Consequently, driven by their respective interests, Taipei and Moscow gradually drew closer, establishing channels of contact and exploring the possibility of cooperation. Thus, during the Cold War, underground exchanges between the Republic of China government and the Soviet Union took place, with Chiang Ching-kuo, who had studied in the Soviet Union as a young man, playing a key role. What was the real reason behind the Nationalist government's bold diplomatic adventure, risking potential backlash from Washington and violating decades of ideological dogma and propaganda? What were the true intentions of Chiang Kai-shek and his son? What was the dynamic of Taiwan-Soviet relations after Chiang Ching-kuo assumed power in the 1970s? These questions remain unanswered and are the focus of this article.

The three chapters of Part Three explore Chiang Ching-kuo's connection to Taiwan's livelihoods, economic development, political democratization, localization, and cross-strait relations. Chiang's initiation of the KMT's localization project, and Taiwan's gradual transition from authoritarian rule to democracy, were undoubtedly a long, arduous, and tortuous journey. Over the past four decades, Chiang Ching-kuo journeyed from his initial role in intelligence and espionage, his involvement in the White Terror political cases, the severe weakening of the KMT's legitimacy in the 1970s, the subsequent surge of pro-Taiwan independence movements abroad, and the rapid growth of external party forces on the island, all the way to his initiation of comprehensive democratization in the 1980s. What were Chiang's mental journeys and inner shifts? After living in Taiwan for most of his life, how does he understand and perceive the Taiwanese people, who make up the vast majority of the island's population? How has international pressure (particularly from the United States) influenced his approach to issues of Taiwanese origin, the Taiwanese independence movement, localization, and democratization? Throughout his life, Chiang Ching-kuo was unable to completely cast aside the constitutional and legal framework inherited from the pre-1949 mainland China era, nor the heavy burden of "recovering the mainland" left by his father. The numerous difficult internal and external challenges he faced after assuming power forced him to gradually localize politics in a "controllable" and "limited" manner, and to accept the many rules of the political game that came with democratization. For Chiang Ching-kuo, who was born into and benefited from an authoritarian system, the painful internal transformations and realizations he experienced will be the focus of this article.

Chiang Ching-kuo's political career and rise to power from 1949 to 1988 are a microcosm of the Republic of China's development in Taiwan in all aspects after World War II.

Recommender

An Unexpected Country
Xu Xueji | Chen Cuilian, Distinguished Research Fellow and Director of the Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica | Chen Yishen, Professor of History, National Taiwan University | Xue Huayuan, Associate Research Fellow, Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica | Liu Weikai, Professor of Taiwan History, National Chengchi University | Tu Fengen, Professor of History, National Chengchi University | Founder of the website "Stories: History for Everyone"

Chiang Ching-kuo's Taiwan Era
Pai Hsien-yung | Lu Fang-shang, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Santa Barbara | Wang Hao, Adjunct Researcher, Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, Former Director of the National Museum of Chinese History | Lin Tongfa, PhD in International Relations, University of Oxford | Lin Chia-ho, Professor Emeritus, Department of History, Fu Jen Catholic University | Zhou Yi-cheng, Associate Professor, College of Law, National Chengchi University | Columnist Hsu Hsueh-chi | Chen Yi-shen, Distinguished Researcher and Director, Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica | Chen Rong-bin, Director, National Museum of Chinese History | Huang Ke-wu, Assistant Professor, Master of Translation Program, National Taiwan University | Yang Gui-chi, Distinguished Researcher, Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica | Liu Wei-kai, Lawyer and Director of the Legal Vernacular Movement | Yan Ze-ya, Adjunct Professor, Department of History, National Chengchi University | Cheap, Writer and Publisher | History YouTuber

(Arranged by surname strokes)

An Unexpected Country

"A classic example of rigorous scholarship and revisionist perspective, Lin Xiaoting draws on a wide range of primary sources to demonstrate that the early Cold War period in Asia was a period of rapid and unexpected change, and that the creation of a new political entity in Taiwan was a product of a series of serendipitous events. This book offers a compelling and refreshing insight into our understanding of both the modern Cold War and Chinese history."—Rana Mitter, Professor of Modern Chinese History and Politics at the University of Oxford and author of Forgotten All: China's World War II, 1937-1945

“This book is a riveting account of Taiwan’s rise to the final stronghold of the Republic of China after Chiang Kai-shek’s defeat in the Chinese Civil War. Lin Xiaoting’s captivating prose transforms this seemingly straightforward story into a complex Cold War tale of domestic and international intrigue, and the implications of this history extend far beyond Taiwan’s emergence as an ‘accidental nation.’” — Edward A. McCord, Vice Dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and author of “Military Force and Elite Power in the Formation of Modern China.”

"As a book aimed at Western readers, the author successfully conveys his purpose by exploring how the Republic of China was shaped in Taiwan and the role the United States played in this historical process. For Taiwanese readers, in addition to seeing an argument that is different from previous related studies, this book should also provide answers to readers who are concerned about how the relationship between the United States and Taiwan will develop in the future." - Liu Weikai, Professor of History, National Chengchi University

"An Unexpected Country is both captivating in its details and able to grasp the evolution of historical situations from a macro perspective. It methodically presents a complex history to the reader, showcasing the skills of an outstanding historian. At a time when the international situation is once again in turmoil and Taiwan's future remains uncertain, revisiting this period of the history of the triangular relationship between the United States, China, and Taiwan seems to have not only intellectual importance but also practical significance." - Tu Fengen, founder of the website "Stories: History for Everyone"

"An Unexpected Country is a weighty work, a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the formation of the Republic of China in Taiwan. While rigorously academic, it is also a highly readable and revealing account of power struggles both at home and abroad, not to mention fascinating details and insightful insights."—John Grant Ross, author of You Don't Know China and Formosan Odyssey

“‘An Unexpected Country’ is a delight to read. What other work of scholarship in recent years has achieved such remarkable success? … In this masterful book, Lin Xiaoting investigates the chaotic and precarious situation between 1949 and 1954, stretching all the way to the Kuomintang’s loss of all of China and the United States’ final decision to sign a formal treaty with Taipei.” —Bradley Winterton, Taipei Times, December 24, 2016

Chiang Ching-kuo's Taiwan Era

Since the release of Chiang Ching-kuo's diaries at the Hoover Archives, Chiang Ching-kuo has once again become a figure of interest in the historical community. Lin Xiaoting, Director of the Hoover Institution's East Asian Collections, has published a new book, Chiang Ching-kuo's Taiwan Era: The Republic of China and Taiwan Under the Cold War, drawing on new material from Chiang Ching-kuo's diaries and newly declassified archives from Taiwan, the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom, to recreate a profound and little-known portrait of Chiang Ching-kuo. This is an important history of the Republic of China and also of Taiwan. — Pai Hsien-yung (Professor Emeritus, University of California, Santa Barbara)

This is another new book by the author, drawing on a wealth of Chinese and foreign archives to develop new perspectives and visions in post-World War II East Asian studies. It is a must-read for those studying "Chiang Ching-kuo's 'Taiwan Era'" or "Taiwan's 'Chiang Ching-kuo Era'." —Lü Fangshang (Adjunct Researcher at the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, and former Director of the National Museum of History)

From wise leader to spy chief, mentor to youth and scheming thug, a man of the people and a man of terror, Chiang Ching-kuo's ever-changing personalities spanned from pre-China to post-Taiwan, bridging authoritarian rule to the eve of democracy. His mysterious yet luminous presence was like day and night. Listen to Professor Lin Xiaoting's detailed account from the beginning, and observe Chiang Ching-kuo's life, which is, in fact, also the life of you and me in Taiwan. —Lin Jiahe (Associate Professor, College of Law, National Chengchi University)

Professor Lin Xiaoting's follow-up to "The Unexpected Country" is another masterpiece. For over thirty years since Chiang Ching-kuo's death in 1988, his reputation has been mixed. On the one hand, Chiang Ching-kuo was an enforcer of the White Terror and a spy chief, his image as a dictator deeply damaging to Taiwanese democracy. On the other hand, Chiang Ching-kuo also possessed a diligent, people-oriented, honest, and efficient side. Regardless of which image he portrayed, it is inseparable from personal experience and ideology. With the release of Chiang Ching-kuo's personal diary in February 2020, and the public access to more first-hand historical materials, we can view Chiang Ching-kuo from a more rational and objective perspective. This book is a rare masterpiece. --Cheap (History YouTuber)

2021-06-23

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