Wu Guozhen
"60 Years of Taiwan's Political Situation -- From Chiang Kai-shek to Ma Ying-jeou" (by Li Songlin and published by the People's Publishing House) uses a large number of literary and historical archives and materials to take the changes in Taiwan's political arena in the 60 years since 1949 as the main line, provides an all-round perspective on Taiwan's political changes and social development, and presents a real treatise on Taiwan's political arena for scholars and the people on both sides of the strait.
After the Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek launched the Kuomintang reform movement, taking advantage of the Kuomintang's transformation to squeeze the opposition out of the decision-making circle, and to dismantle the "backbone of the party-state" and the elderly and important ministers who were once prominent, and into the cold palace. Later, it became even more intense, and those who were slightly dissatisfied were dismissed from their posts at the slightest, or expelled from the island or imprisoned for life. Among them, Wu Guozhen and Sun Liren are typical cases.
Wu Guozhen is a native of Hubei and was born in 1903. In his early years, he was admitted to Tsinghua University, the highest university in China———. After graduation, he studied abroad in the United States, studied Western bourgeois theory, and later received a doctorate from Princeton University. After returning to China, Wu successively served as deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Kuomintang Central Committee, mayor of Hankou, mayor of Chongqing, and mayor of Shanghai, and was a red-and-purple figure in the official field of the Kuomintang government. Until Wu Guozhen was expelled from the island, he always believed that there was no one in the mainland period who treated him better than Mr. Jiang.
The reason why Chiang Kai-shek attaches great importance to Wu Guozhen is of course because Wu graduated from the United States and has considerable ties with the US political circles, but also because Wu never formed a party for personal gain and was absolutely loyal to Chiang Kai-shek.
At the beginning of the KMT's retreat to Taiwan, the most prominent issue was to win US aid. On December 15, 1949, Chiang Kai-shek, who had not yet resumed his "presidency," appointed Wu Guozhen as the "chairman" of Taiwan Province in his capacity as the supreme chief executive of Taiwan Island. In this regard, Wu Shi was puzzled. Because Chen Cheng had been in charge of the Great Seal of Taiwan Province for less than a year, there was no merit and hard work, and not long before Wu Cheng took office as "chairman" of the province, Chen Cheng interviewed Wu And invited Wu Qu to the post of "secretary general" of the Taiwan provincial government, and Was thanked by Wu Wan. Wu said to Jiang, "Didn't General Chen Cheng do a good job?" It is best to let Yu Dawei take the position. Jiang replied without concealment: "You are very appropriate, and I want you to go all out to win US aid in the future." ”
In the third month of Wu Guozhen's tenure as "chairman" of Taiwan Province, Chiang Kai-shek announced the reinstatement of the "president" and appointed Chen Cheng as "chief executive." Wu Guozhen said: "In order for him to give me the position of 'provincial chairman', he has always been grumpy and always stuck with me, so I reported to Mr. Jiang and asked for resignation." Jiang did not approve Wu's resignation and said to Wu: "Cixiu fights with you, you fight with him, and I support you." ”
After listening to Chiang Kai-shek's oath, Wu Piao was stunned, and he also believed: "Junza has suffered the lesson of the mainland's failure and is keen on reform, so he dares to risk death and do his best to be loyal in order to repay the results." ”
Since Wu Guozhen was so favored, why was he ostracized by Chiang Kai-shek? According to Wu Guozhen himself, "It was Mr. Jiang who did it for the sake of Jingguo. "This is indeed one of the reasons for Wu's expulsion.
In fact, anyone who knows a little about the high-level political struggles of the Kuomintang knows that the contradiction between Wu Guozhen and Chiang Ching-kuo did not originate in Taiwan, but in Shanghai. Of course, the completely different life backgrounds, ideas and trainings between Wu and Chiang Ching-kuo are also the reasons for the widening of the rift between the two sides.
As early as August 1948, Chiang Ching-kuo was ordered by his father to go to Shanghai as a supervisor to "fight tigers". At that time, Chiang Ching-kuo was holding the Shangfang Sword, ambitious, and wanted to show his skills in Shanghai. His tactics were severe and urgent, but the effect was not good, and because the Kuomintang was already terminally ill, the final result evolved into a situation of "only shooting flies" and not fighting "tigers". In addition to disagreeing with Chiang Ching-kuo's approach, Wu Guozhen, then mayor of Shanghai, was deprived of the power of mayor, which also displeased Wu. The contradiction between Chiang Ching-kuo and Wu thus began.
After Chiang Kai-shek's father and son retreated to Taiwan, the core of all problems was that Taiwan could no longer be lost, otherwise there would be no place to die. Therefore, Chiang Ching-kuo was ordered by his father to monopolize the security, intelligence, and secret service system of the entire island of Taiwan. Chiang Ching-kuo took up the post of "director of the General Political Department of the Ministry of National Defense," and although the position was not very high, it was only Chiang's official title on the table, and he could give orders in the "Presidential Office Information Group." As long as you wear a red hat, you can arrest whoever you want, and kill whoever you want. Hiding behind the scenes to exercise privileges other than "law" and directing minions to strike hard at dissidents and political enemies has always been a feature of the second and third generations of the Chiang family in the "dormant" stage.
During Wu Guozhen's tenure as chairman of Taiwan Province, what he could not tolerate the most was the rampant and rampant secret service thugs raised by Chiang Ching-kuo. At that time, Wu told Chiang Kai-shek: Reform is indispensable, no organization is prohibited from arresting people at will through the Security Command, and 14 days after arrest, they must be released or prosecuted. Because Wu Guozhen's propositions and Chiang Ching-kuo's practices were like water and fire, the contradictions between Chiang Ching-kuo and Wu were further intensified.
The contradiction between Wu and Chiang Ching-kuo also has the problem of funding. The Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan Island, and all expenses incurred by the "central" and local governments were spent by the provincial government. The economic resources of the "provincial capital" are nothing more than the expropriation of land endowments, and it is inevitable that they will be stretched to cope with such a large expenditure. As the "provincial government" and "chairman," Wu Guozhen naturally wanted to reduce expenditures. At that time, he had agreed with Chiang Kai-shek on three chapters of the law: (1) the "provincial capital" would bear the military expenses of the "central government", but pay them in the name of the name, so as to put an end to the abuse of eating empty amounts; (2) severely punish smuggling; (3) prevent businessmen from evading taxes.
Wu Guozhen also said to Chiang Kai-shek: "The Kuomintang should raise funds from party members without state funds, and the establishment of opposition parties should be encouraged so that the two-party system can be laid." Wu often unceremoniously declined many requests and requests for funds under chiang ching-kuo's leadership that were not outside the budget of the organization organs and secret service organizations. Wu later told Lei Zhen, another opponent of Chiang Kai-shek, that "I only acted passively and did not pay funds, so Chiang Ching-kuo hated me to death." ”
Jiang Nan commented on Wu Guozhen's move: "If you change a 'chairman,' such as Yu Hongjun and Yan Jiagan, who hold the principle of asking for instructions in case of trouble, and 'push things' in everything as a motto, and if the country oversteps its authority, I will pretend to be deaf and dumb, and I will not pay attention to it, and I will do it myself as a good official." Then, not only will the conflict not escalate, but even the misunderstandings of the Shanghai era can be eliminated into invisibility. "To be fair, Wu Yi's use of things is very large." "Otherwise, it will not develop to a stage like water and fire."
Wu Guozhen's exclusion by Chiang Kai-shek also includes his arrogance and overestimating Chiang Kai-shek's trust in him. Later, he naively said to Chiang Kai-shek: "If Junza loves Brother Jingguo, he should not be allowed to preside over secret agents, and whether or not he oversteps his power, he will inevitably become the focus of the people's hatred." ”
For Chiang Kai-shek, who was preparing to pass on his position, he naturally could not listen to this contrarian advice. Wu Guozhen said: "After that, Junzuo had more trust in Jing Guojie, not allowing him to control the secret agents and the army alone, but also making him manipulate the party department and preside over the Youth Party. Only at this moment did Wu Guozhen realize that Mr. Jiang Lao's "love of power is better than patriotism; the heart of love for the son is better than the love for the people."
Wu Guozhen's above remarks made Chiang Kai-shek think of getting rid of Wu. According to Wu himself, on the occasion of Chiang Kai-shek's 65th birthday, Chiang killed him. The reason for the incident is this: On October 30, 1953, Chiang Kai-shek, for his 65th birthday, went with Soong Mei-ling to Caoshan Mountain on the outskirts of Taipei to escape his birthday, invited Wu Guozhen and his wife to the mountain for dinner, and left them for the night. The next day, when the Wu couple returned to Taipei, they found that the driver of the car was missing, and they could not find it when they sent someone to look for it, so they had to send another driver from Chiang Kai-shek to drive down the mountain. On that day, the Wu couple was lucky, and it happened that Wu's wife had diarrhea, and soon after driving, she stopped at the side of the road to the convenience of an ordinary person's home. When the Wu couple went to the car, they found that the driver's face was frightened. It turned out that the screws of the three wheels had long been unscrewed, if it were not for Mrs. Wu's diarrhea, the car would fly to a certain turn, the wheels would fly off the body, and the Wu couple would also be crushed to pieces.
After the Wu couple escaped from death, they realized that now that the relations between the United States and Taiwan have improved and he has completed his mission, Jiang does not have to use Wu to pull relations with the United States. In view of this, Wu Guozhen believes that Taiwan cannot stay any longer. When I got home, I found that someone was tapping the phone at home. A panicked Wu Guozhen suddenly thought of his American friend Associated Press reporter Arthur Gore, who found Arthur Gore and said to him mysteriously: "Arthur, put your hand on the Bible, I want to tell you one thing, you have to swear, help me keep it a secret." "There are a few letters that you would like to bring back to Henry Ruth of The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and Time, And Life, and if I die, the full text will be published, and if it is all right, please save it on my behalf."
The authorities knew about Wu Guozhen's meeting with Arthur. When Ah Shi left Taiwan and returned to the United States, Song Meiling personally sent Ah Shi off and invited him to be his personal secretary. However, Ah Shi refused to betray his friend and declined Song Meiling's invitation.
In April 1953, Under pressure from all sides, Wu Guozhen asked Chiang Kai-shek to resign as "chairman" of Taiwan Province. In May, Mr. and Mrs. Wu Guozhen were invited by the United States to prepare to go to the United States. The father and son of the Jiang clan wanted to detain Wu, but Song Meiling maneuvered through it and finally released him. However, his father and second son Wu Xiuhuang, who was nearly eighty years old, were not allowed to accompany him and kept them as hostages.
Before the Wu couple left, the "president of the judiciary" Wang Liangyu sent him off, and Wang asked, "Won't you come back?" Wu replied, "It's time." Wu's good friend and leader of the Department of Political Science, Zhang Qun, rushed to see him off, and gave him a pair of handwritten couplets from Zeng Guofan: "The water is wide and the mountains are far away from the smoke and the xia, and the heavens and clouds are idle in the past and the same." When the Wu couple boarded the plane, more than 500 people, including the "chief executive" and Wu's political enemies Chen Cheng and Chiang Ching-kuo, went to the airport to bid farewell to the defeated former provincial chairman.
After Wu Guozhen first arrived in the United States, he took into account the safety of his father and second son, was cautious in his words and deeds, and did not have half a sentence of dissatisfaction with Chiang's father and son.
In January 1954, there was a rumor in Taiwan that "Wu Guozhen fled with capital". Some newspapers and periodicals published editorials entitled "Persuading Wu Guozhen to Return to Taiwan As Soon as Possible." Wu Guozhen immediately wrote a notice to dispel rumors and sent it to Zhang Qiyun, who was then the "secretary general" of the Kuomintang Central Committee on Taiwan Island. Zhang Shi was a close confidant of Chiang Kai-shek, and after he received Wu's notice, he gave it to Wu's father, and as a result, Mr. Wu ran all over the newspapers and no one dared to publish it.
When Wu Guozhen did not get a reply to the Taiwan authorities' request to "refute rumors," he resolutely challenged the Taiwan authorities on February 7 of the same year. In a radio interview, he said in a statement that he "left Taiwan for two reasons, 'health' and 'politics,'" and that "because he advocated democratization in Taiwan, while others believed that anti-communism required the use of Communist Party means." On February 16, Wu Guozhen met with reporters in Chicago and declared: "Under the current circumstances, I do not want to return to Taiwan, because I think the current political situation in China has not changed from when I first argued with the government." I am still a member of the Council of The Executive Yuan, but I have submitted my resignation five times without permission. "Convinced that the current government is too authoritarian."
Wu's proposal has aroused great repercussions in the circles of American public opinion. Both the World Telegraph and the Sun newspaper commented on Wu Guozhen's remarks and attacked the Taiwan authorities' practices.
On February 26, Zhang Daofan, a former CC general who was then the "legislative dean" and had already defected to Chiang Kai-shek and was also a classmate of Wu Guozhen's Nankai Middle School, first went to battle to open fire on Wu, declaring that "one of the reasons why Wu Guozhen left Taiwan was for the 'healthy' relationship, but in fact, he was fat and fat, which american audiences saw in the televised fax, which naturally proved that the reason why he went abroad for his health was to talk nonsense." "Wu Guozhen, as a political councilor, went to foreign countries under the pretext of 'healthy' relations to talk nonsense, which endangered the nation-state deeply and greatly", and it was "fleeing from the battlefield".
On March 17, the 10th session of the Second Session of the First Session of the National Congress passed an interim motion, "requesting the government to remove from office and investigate the Wu Guozhen case."
Amid the clamor of insults, Wu Guozhen took out his last killer skill and published the "Letter to the President" in the United States, criticizing Chiang Kai-shek for "being selfish more important than being patriotic, and being self-absorbed, and not giving anyone the opportunity to criticize and suggest." At the same time, Wu pointed the main spearhead of the attack directly at Chiang Ching-kuo, saying that he was a major obstacle to Taiwan's political progress and advocating sending "American university research institutes to study ... There is no need to return to Taiwan until the mainland is restored." At this point, Wu Guozhen and the Jiang father and son officially broke up.
Realistically speaking, Wu Guozhen's view is obviously an angry remark. Chiang Ching-kuo has been dead for more than twenty years, and no one in Taiwan has surpassed Chiang Ching-kuo's prestige.
Regarding Wu Guozhen's "Letter to the President," the Taiwan side was "filled with righteous indignation." On the 17th, Chiang Kai-shek issued a "presidential decree" to strictly deal with Wu Guozhen in order to comply with the "will of the people." On the same day, the Kuomintang Central Daily published an editorial attacking Wu Guozhen again. On the same day, the Central Committee of the Kuomintang also cooperated with Chiang Kai-shek's "presidential decree" and proposed through the Central Commission for Discipline inspection that "Wu Guozhen be expelled from the party."
Since then, Chiang Kai-shek has refused to spare Wu Guozhen in an attempt to extradite him back to Taiwan. However, Chiang Kai-shek's actions have aroused the dissatisfaction of some people in power in the United States. When Wu Guozhen was dismissed from his post as "political councilor," US Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs Robertson assured Wu that under any circumstances Wu could wish for a campaign of "denunciation" against Chiang Kai-shek at Mercure, and the United States, through its ambassador to Taiwan, also "advised" Chiang not to attack Wu again, otherwise it would be detrimental to the Taiwan authorities. Weighing the pros and cons, Jiang was now trying to sign a "mutual defense treaty" with the United States, so he ordered that the continued publication of texts attacking Wu Guozhen be prohibited.
Obviously, because of Chiang Kai-shek's narrow-mindedness, he could not forgive Wu Guozhen, making Wu Guozhen a victim of Chiang Kai-shek's regrouping of power. In 1984, Wu Guozhen died of illness in the United States and was buried in a small coastal town in Georgia.
——Originally published in the 15th edition of Wenhui Reading Weekly on June 28, 2013
Author: Li Songlin
Edit: Jin Jiuchao
Editor-in-Charge: Zhang Yu
*Wenhui exclusive manuscript, please indicate the source when reprinting.