| The following is the fourth of a series of columns written by Paul Jackson of the Calgary Sun while he was in Taipei. This column was run on June 10, 2001. AT THE FEET OF A LEGEND Remarkable Chinese leader spent his life fighting for freedom from Communism By Paul Jackson TAIPEI, Taiwan � I stand in utter awe before the huge bronze sculpture of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. Then, it is time for a quiet introspection. This is the most inspiring political monument I have ever seen. It equals, even surpasses, the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, and the purposely understated statue of Sir Winston Churchill in London�s Parliament Square. One simply has to pay homage to a man who saw Chinese Communism for what it was, and spent the latter part of a very long life fighting it and fighting for freedom from it for his people. The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall occupies an area of 250,000 square metres and is easily the most impressive landmark in both Taipei, Taiwan�s capital, and in the country itself. The park hosting the memorial hall and the lavish National Theatre and National Concert Hall that flank the main edifice, are captivating in themselves. The park contains two artificial lakes with ornamental bridges, long walkways, and carefully pruned trees and shrubbery. But within the hall rests the history in photographs and artifacts of this remarkable man. Chiang is chiefly remembered because, when Mao Tse-tung�s Communist forces advanced throughout the Chinese mainland in 1949, rather than capitulate, he took his supporters to the offshore island of Taiwan. There, he insisted on continuing the Republic of China, which his mentor Dr. Sun Yat-sen had established in 1912. Sun Yat-sen spent 40 years battling to create the first democracy in Asia, and in achieving his goal he ended 3,000 years of imperial rule in China. In overthrowing the regime, Sun Yat-sen held the philosophy that all men and women should be treated equally and all had an obligation to help each other. Those were ideals he passed on to Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang spent a long period of his life as chief of staff to Sun, and there is an elaborate painting of the two of them together in 1923 as they planned to outmaneuver Chinese warlords who were determined to thwart their drive to democracy. The generalissimo died in 1975 at the age of 89, and the clock in his reconstructed office stands at the exact time of his passing, 11:50 p.m. His devoted widow, Madame Chiang, incredibly, is still alive at 104, and lives in New York City. Because of ignorance or Communist propaganda, Chiang is now often forgotten, regarded as irrelevant or even demeaned in the West. But throughout his life he was hailed by world leaders and nation after nation. He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour by France and presented with the Legion of Merit, Chief Commander Grade, by the U.S. Medals and citations from more than two dozen countries � including Britain, Italy, Cuba, Sweden, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Iran and Chile � rest in elegant display cases. So revered is this man that not only his military uniforms, but even his socks, slippers and handkerchiefs are on display. A blown-up photograph shows Chiang and Madame Chiang at the Cairo Conference in 1943 with Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. That was the conference at which the Allies promised to return Taiwan to China after the end of the Second World War. The island had been held captive by the Japanese for some 50 years. Two photographs show Chiang with the legendary General Douglas MacArthur in the 1950s. President Dwight D. Eisenhower is pictured with the generalissimo in 1960. Chiang is seen being lauded by Vice President Lyndon Johnson in 1961. When Ronald Reagan was governor of California in 1971, he gave Chiang a firm handshake for the photographers. Among the momentoes is a devout letter from President Harry Truman. Richard Nixon gave him a barometer clock and it hangs on the wall in the reconstruction of Chiang�s office, in which a remarkable lifelike wax model of Chiang sits behind the generalissimo�s original desk. A bookshelf holds his favorite works, including the one he wrote himself when he was all of 70 years of age. The book, Soviet Russia in China, is a damning indictment of the Soviet system which one presumes was read by both Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who finally undermined the Soviet system. Chiang�s chief opponent was, of course, Mao, who is known to have slaughtered as many as 80 million of his own people, who caused a manmade famine with his Great Leap Forward, and abused and humiliated tens of thousands with his Cultural Revolution. My guide asks me how a Canadian prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, could have hero-worshipped Mao while demeaning Chiang. I can�t answer. I am at a loss for an excuse. In reality, there is no excuse; no explanation. So I hang my head in shame at Trudeau�s perfidy. No one can doubt that China�s one billion men, women and children would have lived better lives under Chiang�s philosophy than that of Mao. And, if you live in Taiwan, or view Communism�s evils in true perspective, you will not doubt it. On an average day, 20,000 come to pay their respects to Chiang. Weekends number 50,000 visitors. Special festivals see the number soar to a staggering 100,000. A footnote: Chiang�s body is entombed in a special above-ground mausoleum so, one day, he can return with honor to the Chinese mainland. It�s an honour that is surely well-deserved. Back to the home page. |