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KMT and the restoration of the
Nation
 Outline：
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The Korean War  fight back to the Mainland？
The US economic support to the ROC
KMT’s reform
Chiang Ching-kuo and the China Youth Corps
Who’s army? The nation’s or the Chiang family’s
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The Korean War
 fight back to the Mainland？
 The Korean War broke out in June 1950. Chiang Kai-shek
intended to fight back to the Mainland by supporting South
Korea.
 After the Chinese Communist Party joined the war, General
MacArthur and some pro-Chiang American senators
suggested to accept the ROC’s military support.
 President Truman denied this proposal, as he feared that this
would trigger a new war on Mainland China.
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 In April 1951, President Truman removed General
MacArthur from all his posts and duties. This crushed
Chiang Kai-shek’s plan of recovering the Mainland.
 On the other hand, the CCP directly clashed with the US in
the Korean War. Anti-communism voices were high, while
many pro-PRC American officials resigned.
 Under this circumstance, the ROC became the only
contactable “Chinese regime” for the US.
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The US’s economic support to
the ROC
 The US economic support to the ROC began in the end of
1950, with significant amount of aid being given from 1951.
 This aid enabled the KMT regime, which yet to recover from
WWII and domestic turmoil, to stand up again in Taiwan.
 The American’s purposes for giving the aid were:
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To stabilize economy
To make Taiwan self-sufficient
To facilitate the US’s military activities in East Asia
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 The US’s economic aid lasted for 15 years (1950-1965), with
a total of nearly 1.5 billion USD.
 In average, the ROC received about 100 million USD a year,
which was equivalent to 1/10 of the ROC’s GDP at that
time.
p.s.: Perhaps some of you can do presentations on the issue of
the Westerners’ economic and military support in Asian
countries (e.g. The Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia)
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KMT’s Reform
 After retreating to Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek was determined
to thoroughly reorganize the party-state system.
 The first thing was to rebuild his authority so that party
members' loyalty and faith to him could be reconsolidated.
 In August 1950, the KMT formed a Central Reform
Committee. All members were trusted followers of Chiang
Kai-shek and his son, Chiang Ching-kuo.
 Faction leaders and many high-ranked figures, including son
of the ROC’s founding father Dr. Sun Yat-sen, were excluded.
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 The KMT learned from Soviet Russia’s Leninist party-state
structure, and set up party branches in the military,
governmental offices, schools, all sorts of industrial and
business unions, and even civil and cultural organizations.
 In other words, the whole nation was tightly bound to and
closely monitored by the KMT.
 For the first time, Chiang Kai-shek gained a total control over
the part (and consequently, the nation).
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Chiang Ching-kuo and the China
Youth Corps
 Chiang Kai-shek reckoned that the KMT’s biggest failure on
Mainland China was not be able to control the minds of
the youth.
 in October 1952, Chiang Ching-kuo established the China
Youth Corps to promote “proper” and “patriotic”
extracurricular activities.
 Students at all level were “encouraged” (institutionally forced)
to participate in CYC’s activities.
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 All students and youth aged between 16 and 25 were
automatically classified as members of the CYC.
 Those who refused to join the CYC would be dropped
out from school.
 Besides, Chiang Ching-kuo also decided to integrate the
KMT and the ROC’s foundational doctrine - The Three
Principles of the People - into school curriculum.
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 “The Three Principles of the People” was a required subject
of the nationwide university entrance exam, and was also an
obligatory course for all university freshmen.
 The CYC had its own publishing service, issuing magazines
and pamphlets to be displayed in all schools and public
libraries.
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Taking control of the military
 Chiang Kai-shek felt that the KMT’s insufficiency in political
education was the major reason for its military failure on the
Mainland.
 In March 1950, a “political bureau” headed by Chiang Ching-
kuo was formed under the Ministry of Defense to ensure total
political control over the military.
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 Orders issued by military officers at all levels must also be
approved by corresponding political officers.
 The five principles for the military were: doctrine, leader,
nation, duty, and honor. “Leader” even came before nation.
 The number of recruits into the KMT was one of political
officers’ “KPI”.
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 All military servicemen, generals and soldiers alike, must
receive mandatory political education on every Thursday.
 Only KMT members were allowed to be instructors of
political courses.
 Many of the generals retreated to Taiwan had political
ambitions. In order to prevent possible coup, many were
forced to retire or stripped from post.
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