Many friends have heard such a saying: In January 1974, the Chinese mainland navy fought with the South Vietnamese navy in order to recover the Xisha Islands, and Chiang Kai-shek said in Taiwan: "The South Vietnamese government is too arrogant, Niang Xipi! If the mainland does not send troops, I will send troops!"
Later, when Chinese mainland's East China Sea Fleet moved south from the Taiwan Strait to reinforce the Xisha War, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the Taiwan Navy to turn on searchlights, help illuminate, and assist in the passage of the mainland navy. After Mao Zedong learned about this, he said: "Chiang Kai-shek still has national righteousness!"
Are friends familiar with this historical past?
However, this story, which is also fake and deceives you, does not exist at all.
The source of this false statement was the article "Chiang Kai-shek in the Battle of Xisha" published in a mainstream newspaper on August 12, 1988 (the name of the newspaper was withheld for some reason, please forgive me).
Today, Lao Feng will refute the rumors for you and tell you the truth of the matter, what is it like.
Truth 1
In January 1974, when the "East China Sea Fleet" of the Chinese mainland navy passed through the Taiwan Strait and went south to reinforce Xisha, what was the reaction of the Taiwan authorities at that time?
As a matter of fact, the declassified documents of the Taiwan authorities have long been made public.
This public document, called "Comprehensive Situation of the Kinmen and Matsu Front (74.1.16-1.31)", is Taiwan's military archives, and those who are interested can find it for themselves.
This dossier reveals the following truths:
In January 1974, the Chinese mainland Navy's "East China Sea Fleet" went south through the Taiwan Strait to reinforce Xisha, and the Taiwan military did find out at that time, but the Taiwan side made a judgment that this action of the mainland navy was not aimed at Taiwan, but was related to "strengthening war preparedness measures in the South China Sea, and its follow-up actions should be noted in the middle (sic)."
In other words, the Taiwan side knew that the mainland navy was going south to reinforce Xisha Islands, but the Taiwan side did not make any military response, still less did it "turn on the searchlights" and "escort the ship." Taiwan's only reaction was that "it is paying attention to its follow-up actions."
It means that this has nothing to do with us, we don't interfere, we don't interfere, but we have to monitor.
Fake history has been brought to the screen
Truth 2
Chiang Kai-shek died in April 1975.
At that time in January 1974, Chiang Kai-shek was already 87 years old, terminally ill, in very poor health, and was already in a state of "retirement." The work of the Taiwan authorities was basically the responsibility of "Vice President" Yan Jiagan and "Premier of the Executive Yuan" Chiang Ching-kuo, and Chiang Ching-kuo would only go to Chiang Kai-shek's hospital bed for instructions on very important matters.
However, the Xisha issue was precisely an unimportant matter for the Taiwan authorities at that time.
Reason 1: Before January 1974, South Vietnam controlled Xisha Islands, although the Taiwan authorities did not recognize it, but at that time South Vietnam was Taiwan's ally and an Asian ally under the Cold War camp of the United States.
Reason 2: Chinese mainland's recovery of Xisha from South Vietnam has neither benefit nor loss for Taiwan, so in fact, the Taiwan authorities in 1974 did not care about Xisha Island.
Truth 3
In 1974, Taiwan and South Vietnam were hardcore allies under the framework of the Cold War, so in the event of a military conflict between Chinese mainland and South Vietnam, Taiwan would not stand on the side of Chinese mainland.
For example, Taiwan has sent a military advisory group to South Vietnam to provide military assistance to South Vietnam for a long time, because in Taiwan's eyes, the enemy of the enemy is a friend, and South Vietnam is Taiwan's comrade-in-arms in dealing with Chinese mainland.
So in fact, after the Battle of Xisha in January 1974, the Taiwan authorities continued to support the South Vietnamese authorities, when the Taiwan authorities issued the following order to the Kuomintang garrison on Taiping Island: If the mainland naval ships approached Taiping Island, they should open fire decisively, but the South Vietnamese military ships were not allowed to open fire when they were close to Taiping Island, and they must be kindly persuaded to leave.
In other words, at that time in 1974, the Taiwan authorities were very friendly to the South Vietnamese Navy in the South China Sea, but very hostile to the Chinese mainland Navy. Therefore, there is no such thing as the Taiwan authorities helping the mainland to confront South Vietnam on the Xisha issue.
Truth 4
In 1956, the South Vietnamese authorities sent troops to occupy the main islands of the Paracels, and the Taiwan authorities knew about it, but they did not send troops to stop it, and Taiwan sat back and watched the South Vietnamese authorities operate in the Paracels for more than ten years, especially the coral islands.
Not only that, but militarily, the Taiwan authorities have provided assistance to the South Vietnamese authorities and formed an alliance with South Vietnam.
The answer is very simple: This was because for the Taiwan authorities at that time, it was the main goal of the Taiwan authorities at that time to unite all forces that could be united in Asia, to jointly deal with the mainland, and to strive for an early "counterattack on the mainland." Therefore, in order to maintain their alliance with the South Vietnamese authorities, the Taiwan authorities were not at all willing and could not offend South Vietnam at this time for the sake of the Xisha issue.
It is not that Chiang Kai-shek and his team do not think that Xisha belongs to China, but that they can still distinguish what is urgent and what is not, what is important and what is not important, and what is important.
Truth 5
So, is it understandable that the Taiwan military has not blocked the mainland navy?
Why?
The answer is very simple: Because in 1965, the "86 Naval Battle" and the "Chongwu East Naval Battle" broke out, and in these two wars, the Taiwan Navy was hurt and frightened by the mainland Navy.
Therefore, after these two wars, until 1974, the Taiwan Navy no longer took the initiative to attack the mainland navy, and the mainland navy did not take the initiative to attack the Taiwan navy.
In other words, in fact, since 1965, the Taiwan military has been unable to fully control the Taiwan Strait, in other words, during the Battle of Xisha in January 1974, the ships of the mainland navy went south from the Taiwan Strait, and there was no need for the Taiwan side to "clear".
Therefore, the truth of the matter is not that the Taiwan military "let it go," but that "the Taiwan military does not dare to fight," so why does it not dare to fight? Because they have no certainty of winning the war. Of course, the Taiwan Navy also felt that there was no need to fight, because Taiwan knew that the East China Sea Fleet of the mainland Navy was going south through the Taiwan Strait this time, and its purpose was not to target Taiwan, but to target South Vietnam.
The 1974 Battle of Xisha was filmed
Truth 6
The narrowest part of the Taiwan Strait is also 130 kilometers, and Taiwanese ships do not dare to approach the mainland naval vessels, so the so-called "searchlights" can only be on the coast of Taiwan and the coast of Penghu.
However, because the Taiwan Strait is 130 kilometers wide, even if the searchlights on the coast are on, they will not be able to illuminate the shipping lanes for the ships of the mainland navy.
In fact, when the East China Sea Fleet passed through the Taiwan Strait, in order not to provoke the Taiwan Navy, the East China Sea Fleet implemented light control, and both sides of the Taiwan Strait exercised restraint in this matter, but the Taiwan side did not provide any assistance.
Truth 7
So, what is Taiwan's attitude towards the 1974 Battle of the Paracels?
On February 8, 1974, Taiwan's "Central Daily" published a statement entitled "Our Position on the South China Sea Islands".
The gist of the statement issued by the Taiwan authorities is as follows: The mainland is the common enemy of South Vietnam and Taiwan, South Vietnam should give priority to the overall situation, the South Vietnamese authorities should negotiate with the Taiwan authorities to resolve the Xisha issue through diplomatic channels, and the mainland's dispatch of troops to Xisha is the mainland's practice of diverting internal contradictions, and so on.
In short, this statement shows that the Taiwan authorities' position on Xisha is as follows:
Position 1: Taiwan does not approve of South Vietnam's occupation of the Paracels, however, Taiwan does not take a hard line against South Vietnam.
Position 2: However, Taiwan also does not approve of the mainland navy's action to recover Xisha Islands.
Position 3: Taiwan calls for Xisha to be "under the jurisdiction of the Taiwan authorities" and that South Vietnam should negotiate with Taiwan to resolve the issue.
It can be seen that Taiwan has no intention of sending troops to Xisha to confront South Vietnam on the basis of the "overall situation" of forming an alliance with South Vietnam, so the so-called Chiang Kai-shek's remark that "if the mainland does not send troops, I will send troops," is completely a rumor, and not only can it not be found in Taiwan to be based on any written archives, but it is also completely inconsistent with this statement of Taiwan's "Central Daily."
Okay, at the end of the article, let's summarize:
Summary point 1: At the time of the Xisha naval battle, Taiwan and South Vietnam were allies, and Taiwan did not want to offend South Vietnam on the Xisha issue, so South Vietnam occupied Xisha for many years, and Taiwan never sent troops to Xisha and had no plan to send troops to Xisha Island.
Summary point 2: In January 1974, the mainland's East China Sea Fleet went south to support the South China Sea Fleet, passing through the Taiwan Strait, and the Taiwan authorities detected through instruments, but decided to adopt an attitude of "monitoring and non-intervention", and there was no such thing as "escorting with a searchlight", and Taiwan adopted an attitude of "monitoring and non-intervention", not because it was "patriotic" or because it "also wanted to recover Xisha Island", but because Taiwan believed that there was no need for Taiwan to fight a naval battle with the mainland navy for the sake of the South Vietnamese authorities.