Without Chiang Kai-shek, Wither Lai Ching-teh?

Without Chiang Kai-shek, Wither Lai Ching-teh?
China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
March 26, 2015

Executive Summary: Tainan City Mayor Lai Ching-teh has ordered the demolition of 14 bronze statues of Chiang Kai-shek currently standing in Tainan elementary schools. He has rubbed salt into historic wounds. He has shown that some politicians and members of the public are incapable of viewing historical figures with perspective, tolerance, and reason. Lai Ching-teh would do well to listen to the words of Taipei Mayor Wen-Je Ko. Ko said he would not dismantle the statues of Chiang Kai-shek in Taipei City. He said "Leaving the statues in place does not mean one has surrendered to history, It means one has transcended history. It  means one has become one's own master."

Full Text Below: 

Tainan City Mayor Lai Ching-teh has ordered the demolition of 14 bronze statues of Chiang Kai-shek currently standing in Tainan elementary schools. He has rubbed salt into historic wounds. He has shown that some politicians and members of the public are incapable of viewing historical figures with perspective, tolerance, and reason. 

What were Chiang Kai-shek's merits and demerits? This question involves three levels: the world, China, and Taiwan. At any of these levels, Chiang Kai-shek's merits outweighed his demerits. We would like to ask Lai Ching-teh three questions about these three levels.

First consider the world as a whole. During World War II Chinese troops led by Chiang Kai-shek waged an eight-year long struggle against Japanese invaders. They forced Japan to dispatch and keep nearly one million troops to China. This prevented the Soviet Union from being simultaneously attacked from both east and west. It reduced Japanese pressure on the US in the Pacific Theater. This produced yet another "force multiplier" effect, by enhancing the United States' ability to reinforce Europe. Without Chiang Kai-shek's anti-Japanese leadership, world history might have been rewritten. The winners might well have been the Axis powers, rather than the Allies.

Even at the global level, Chiang Kai-shek has no shortage of detractors. But Chiang Kai-shek's contribution to the Allied victory in World War II has been affirmed by major political figures and historians, not just in Europe and America, but even defeated Japan. All of them recognize Chiang Kai-shek as one of the world's outstanding political leaders. Chiang Kai-shek's diary covered over 40 years of history. Ever since it was made public, his contribution has become even clearer. His contribution in the Chinese Theater during World War II has been widely acknowledged by US scholars. This is the basis for Chiang Kai-shek's historic stature. Is Lai Ching-teh capable of seeing the larger picture?

Now consider China as a whole. Chiang Kai-shek's sworn enemy, Mao Zedong, blasted Chiang Kai-shek as an "autocrat and traitor". But even he acknowledged his historical contribution. In 1971 Mao addressed the Ministry of Information. He said "Chiang Kai-shek had a number of virtues. That is objective fact. We must be careful to acknowledge historical facts. One, he unified China with the Northern Expedition. Two, he won the second Sino-Japanese War. Three, he recovered Taiwan and Penghu. Four, he expanded our territorial waters."

The KMT and the CCP were political rivals. As a result, the Mainland authorities once characterized the KMT as the "Jiang Gang", and "lackeys of US imperialism" in their domestic propaganda and educational material. Following cross-Strait reconciliation and exchanges, the Mainland authorities were more willing to concede the facts of history. In 2005, on the 60th anniversary of the war, General Secretary Hu Jintao told the General Assembly that, "The anti-Japanese forces led by the Chinese Nationalist Party and the Chinese Communist Party were responsible for frontline and behind the lines battles against Japan". He affirmed Chiang Kai-shek's leadership of the nation's military during the war. In 2011, the Mainland published a "History of China", and praised Chiang, saying that he "did not hesitate to fight a war of resistance against Japan." Many Chiang biographies that chronicle Chiang Kai-shek's achievements have been published on the Mainland and become best-sellers. As we can see, the Mainland has granted Chiang Kai-shek an objective re-evaluation.

Chiang's sworn enemies, Mao Zedong and the Mainland authorities, did their utmost to demonize Chiang Kai-shek. But even they could keeo an open mind and affirm Chiang Kai-shek's historic contributions. Lai Ching-teh grew up under Taiwan's vaunted democracy. Yet witness the reactionary attitude he has adopted toward history. Look at his narrow-mindedness. Look at how reluctant he is to render an objective re-evaluation of Chiang Kai-shek's merits.

Now consider Taiwan. President Ma Ying-jeou recently offered an evaluation of Chiang Kai-shek's three major contributions to Taiwan: Taiwan's retrocession, Taiwan's defense, and Taiwan's development. Let us not list Chiang Kai-shek's high profile, macro level achievements. Let us instead examine one of his micro level "people stories", and see how a single individual would have fared without Chiang Kai-shek. This inspirational story concerns Lai Ching-teh, a miner's son, who became the mayor of a directly administered municipality.

Lai Ching-teh's father died when Lai was still a child. His mother performed odd jobs to raise six children, including Lai Ching-teh. Lai excelled academically. He graduated from Chienkuo Middle School, National Taiwan University, National Cheng Kung University, and was eventually awarded a master's degree from Harvard University. After returning to Taiwan, he excelled in medicine, then emerged a political star.

Why could Lai rise to the rank of high official, in spite of  his humble background? Lai's political achievements involve personal effort on his part of course. But shouldn't we recall how Chiang Kai-shek promoted national education in 1968? Were it not for Chiang's reforms, ensuring educational opportunities for the children of underprivileged families, could Lai Ching-teh or Chen Shui-bian ever have become political legends? This is merely one example. But it tells us Chiang Kai-shek's development of Taiwan was not mere abstraction. It was concrete action that benefitted the people of Taiwan, including Lai Ching-teh.

Leave aside for the moment Chiang Kai-shek's development of Taiwan. Allow us to ask Mayor Lai a question. Suppose Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Government had chosen not to relocate to Taiwan? Suppose Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist forces had not won a commanding victory at Kuningtou in 1949, or during the 8/23 artillery battle in 1958? Then six decades ago the Communists would have taken over Taiwan. Would Lai Ching-teh be the mayor of a directly administered municipality?

Chiang Kai-shek's authoritarianism, White Terror, and the 2/28 Incident harmed some on Taiwan. This harm cannot be forgotten merely because he also made contributions. But this is precisely the time to test the mettle of political leaders. Lai Ching-teh is a government official. He is one of the DPP's future stars. Can he do more than wallow in hatred? Can he "honor the tree whose fruit he consumes?” Can he feel a sense of gratitude? Can he acknowledge that an historical figure's merits outweighed his demerits? If he cannot, that is Taiwan's real tragedy.

Finally, Lai Ching-teh would do well to listen to the words of Taipei Mayor Wen-Je Ko. Ko said he would not dismantle the statues of Chiang Kai-shek in Taipei City. He said "Leaving the statues in place does not mean one has surrendered to history, It means one has transcended history. It means one has become one's own master." One may not be able to identify with Chiang Kai-shek. But one ought to be able to transcend history, instead of beating the drums of hatred.

沒有蔣中正，何來賴清德？
2015年03月26日 中國時報

台南市長賴清德下令拆除台南市14所國中小校園內的蔣中正銅像，不只是再度在歷史傷口上撒鹽，也顯示部分政治人物與民眾缺乏用歷史眼光看待歷史人物的包容與理性。

蔣中正功過何大？這中間存在著世界、中國、台灣3個角度。不管從哪個角度言，蔣中正的貢獻都可用「有功有過、功大於過」來總結。從這3個角度，也是我們要對賴清德提出的3問。

從世界角度言，第二次世界大戰，蔣介石領導的中國軍隊，以八年抗戰拖住近百萬的日本部隊身陷中國戰場，使得蘇聯避免東西兩線同時夾擊，也減少美國在太平洋戰區的壓力，這又產生了另一個「戰力循環」效用，讓美國有更大的能力增援歐洲。可以這麼說，如果沒有蔣中正領導的抗日，世界的歷史將改寫，獲得勝利的一方很可能不是同盟國，而是軸心國。

即便世人對蔣中正的評價不乏貶抑，但當視角觸向蔣中正對第二次世界大戰之功，不只是歐美等國主要的政治人物與歷史學者，包括戰敗的日本，都咸認蔣中正是一個對世界卓有貢獻的政治領袖。尤其自從蔣介石持續將近40年的日記開放公眾閱覽後，他在二戰中國戰場的貢獻，廣泛受到美國學界的肯定，蔣介石的歷史地位因而有了新的正面評價。賴清德有沒有這樣的世界觀？

從中國角度言，曾批評蔣中正為「獨夫民賊」的蔣之死敵毛澤東，也從歷史的角度肯定蔣。1971年毛對文宣部進行內部談話，認為「蔣介石有幾個優點是客觀的史實，我們講史必須留心，一北伐統一中國，二抗日戰爭，三收復台澎，四開拓海疆。」

由於國共對立的政治因素，原本一直以「蔣幫」、「美帝走狗」對內宣傳及教育的大陸當局，在兩岸和解交流後，也開始願意面對歷史，中共前總書記胡錦濤2005年在紀念抗戰60周年大會上說，「中國國民黨和中國共產黨領導的抗日軍隊，分別擔負抗日戰爭中『正面戰場』和『敵後戰場』作戰任務。」正面肯定了蔣中正領導的國軍的抗戰功勞；大陸2011年出版的《中華民國史》稱蔣介石「義無反顧決定對日抗戰」。而許多肯定蔣中正歷史功績的《蔣介石傳》也在大陸出版並暢銷熱賣，都可以看到大陸方面對蔣中正已能客觀評價。

如果，曾為蔣之死敵的毛澤東、曾極力醜化蔣中正的大陸當局，都能秉著開放心胸，肯定蔣中正的歷史功績，在自詡民主社會的台灣長大的賴清德，卻在歷史態度上選擇倒退、沒有客觀評價蔣中正功過的胸襟？

再從台灣角度言，馬英九總統在評價蔣中正對台灣功績時，歸納了三大貢獻：光復台灣、保衛台灣與建設台灣。我們姑且不在此犖犖列舉蔣中正的宏觀功過，不妨從一個微觀的「人的故事」來看看，沒有了蔣中正會如何？這故事就是賴清德，礦工之子當上直轄市長的勵志故事。

賴清德幼年喪父，母親靠打零工拉拔賴清德等6位子女長大。賴的學習成績優異，從建中、台大、成大，一路讀到哈佛大學碩士。回國後從醫界到政界，嶄露頭角，成為耀眼的政治明星。

賴之所以能夠寒門仕官，展現政治成就，固有個人努力成分，但該不該回頭想想蔣中正在民國57年推動的國民義務教育，如果沒有這項改革，全面保障弱勢家庭子弟的受教機會，賴清德或陳水扁還能不能成就他們的政治傳奇？這只是舉一隅之例，告訴大家，蔣中正建設台灣之功，不是抽象概念，而是具體作用在包括賴清德在內的台灣人民身上。

就算漠視蔣建設台灣之功，還是可以再問賴市長，若沒有蔣中正將國民政府遷台的決定，若沒有蔣中正指揮的國軍在1949年的古寧頭大捷、1958年823炮戰的奮戰，早在一甲子前就被赤化的台灣，還有今天的直轄市長賴清德嗎？

當然，對於威權政治、白色恐怖乃至於228事件中，蔣中正的角色以及他對部分台灣人民及其家人帶來的傷害，其過，並不會因功就可一筆遺忘。但這就正是對政治領袖的考驗時刻，賴身為政府首長、民進黨的未來之星，如果只能從褊狹的仇恨出發，而不能有「吃果子拜樹頭」的感恩心，去看待一位功大於過的歷史人物，那才是台灣真正的悲哀。

最後，請賴清德不妨聽聽柯文哲市長的話，柯文哲說他不會拆除這些蔣公銅像，因為「留下銅像並非屈服歷史，而是超越歷史，做自己的主人。」就算不認同蔣中正，也應展現超越歷史而非鼓唆仇恨的胸襟氣度。