One of the eternal themes of Chinese history is that “he who conquers is crowned king, he who fails is a brigand.” Official histories have mostly been written by those in power, while stirring tales of the vanquished circulate as unofficial histories or folk tales. The history of Whampoa Military Academy is viewed differently in China and Taiwan, but there is one common factor — the role of academy founder Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙).
Sun was chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and is considered the father of the Republic of China. From Beijing’s point of view, Sun was a pioneer of the Chinese revolution and his historical status is on a par with Mao Zedong (毛澤東). This shared respect for Sun has led to a relative decline in the status of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), the long-term commandant of the academy. This focus is evident in the title of a forum on the subject held in Taipei a few days ago: “Dr Sun Yat-sen, the Whampoa Military Academy and Cross-Strait Relations.”
All speakers at the forum, when talking about Sun, echoed one another in calling for people to adhere to the spirit of our forebears and to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.
In reality, the real founding father of the academy, which was established in 1924, was Chiang. It was he who established the Whampoa revolutionary spirit that was to inspire the Northern Expedition and the war of resistance against Japan. However, Chiang did not choose his friends wisely. Many of those who later rose in rebellion against him were former students and colleagues.
In the end, Chiang was defeated and withdrew to Taiwan where he died in 1975.
The Whampoa graduates Chiang brought with him to Taiwan are now forgetting their roots. Instead, they echo China’s version of history and that of the Whampoa graduates who threw their lot in with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), by suggesting above all else that the academy represented a period of successful united front cooperation between the KMT and the CCP thanks to former Chinese premier Zhou Enlai (周恩來), who was director of the academy’s political department. They also reiterated the claim that Zhou, on his deathbed, called on his countrymen not to forget Taiwan — meaning the task of unifying Taiwan with China.
Whampoa Military Academy enrolled students for six academic terms during the first KMT-CCP united front (1923-1927), during which 7,399 graduated from the first five intakes, but only 718 from the sixth in February 1929. Graduates of these first six intakes enjoyed high status and strong influence in KMT military circles. Moreover, there was a strict adherence to seniority favoring earlier graduates, who went on to exert considerable influence over those who followed.
Few graduates of this period are still alive in either Taiwan or China, so the recent forum was dominated by later graduates. The theme they chose was: “Uphold Sun Yat-sen’s principles, enhance and glorify the Whampoa spirit and promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.”
Chiang’s role was intentionally glossed over, probably because of his staunch opposition to communism and his adherence to the camp of democratic nations. After all, Article 1 of the KMT Charter says that the party’s purpose is to “realize a free, democratic Republic of China in which every citizen prospers,” and that is something that will not change anytime soon.
There is nothing wrong with Whampoa alumni engaging in lively debate, but it no longer has anything to do with the Whampoa spirit. The CCP’s version of Whampoa is dominated by Marxism-Leninism and the ideologies of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) and it is seen as a precursor to the People’s Liberation Army.
In contrast, Taiwan has long since nationalized its armed forces so that they are now loyal not to the KMT, but to the democratic state and the people, as expressed in the motto “Nation, duty, honor.” In this sense, the armed forces of China and Taiwan could not be more different.
It’s fine to have a forum if it is just a social activity for academy alumni, but if it has the ulterior motive of borrowing from historical Whampoa to encourage Taiwanese to support the government’s approach to cross-strait relations today, then it inevitably runs up against the fact that the military systems of Taiwan and China are fundamentally different.
Lu I-ming is the former publisher and president of Taiwan Shin Sheng Daily News.
TRANSLATED BY JULIAN CLEGG
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