Chiang Kai-shek's Irreplaceable Historical Contributions in the War of Resistance Must Be Reaffirmed

2006/2/6 17:15:32

Stalin's historical contributions in World War II are irreplaceable—there's probably nothing worth arguing about there. Of course, Chiang Kai-shek and Stalin had many differences. For instance, in Chinese-made pinyin input methods, Chiang Kai-shek, as a famous figure in Chinese history, is not a pre-set phrase while Stalin is—this is probably one of the more amusing differences. An even more amusing matter also involves certain Chinese people: in the history of WWII, they curse Chiang Kai-shek but not Stalin, which is even more absurd than that pinyin input method business.

Setting aside all political factors, in the early stages of the war, the performance of both could only be described as the pot calling the kettle black. I believe the degree to which Germany was stronger than Japan could by no means exceed the degree to which China was weaker than the Soviet Union. Yet in the early stages of the war it ended up as the pot calling the kettle black—if Chiang Kai-shek was a bastard, then Stalin must have been something beyond description.

As for early-war strategy, treating soldiers' lives as worthless, and so on—Chiang Kai-shek was no worse than Stalin. From Chiang Kai-shek's perspective, the encirclement campaigns against the Red Army and the purging of various warlords were actually a kind of purge movement. This is merely a matter of standpoint; in terms of execution and ultimate significance, the two were no different. Debates on these issues are all cases of one's backside determining one's brain. If you want to curse, curse them both together—don't be biased.

If you say Chiang Kai-shek couldn't wage guerrilla warfare, well, Stalin was even worse at it. Moreover, in a world-class war of that magnitude, could guerrilla warfare alone have accomplished anything significant? That's pure fantasy. If you say Chiang Kai-shek didn't mobilize the masses, that's absolute nonsense—one only needs to look at his position at the time to understand. From a legal standpoint, Mr. Chiang's status at the time was no different from Mr. Stalin's corresponding position in the Soviet Union. Whatever Mr. Stalin had done, Mr. Chiang had done no less of.

Regardless of how many faults Chiang Kai-shek had, denying his contributions in the War of Resistance against Japan is utterly laughable. The significance of the Japanese army being halted at Chongqing is absolutely no less than that of the German army being halted at Moscow. Did the Japanese not want to go to Chongqing for hotpot? It was the Chinese people who boiled them like hotpot with their blood, just as the Soviet people turned the Germans into popsicles with their blood. To erase this fact is not only ignorance of history but also extremely detrimental to national unity.