According to an article recently published in China, Chang Hsueh-liang (張學良), one of the key figures in the "Xian Incident," expressed his strong opposition to China's threats against Taiwan during a meeting with a high-ranking Chinese official in 1991.
During the meeting, Chang reportedly said he did not want to see Chinese people killing each other.
"Taiwan is a strong economy. It would be great pity to destroy it," Chang was quoted as saying.
Chang Hsueh-liang, known as the "Young Marshall," engineered the 1936 kidnapping of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) in Xian, China, in a bit to persuade Chiang to turn his attention away from the communists to focus on fighting the Japanese, in what has come to be called the "Xian Incident."
Chiang had Chang arrested for his role in the incident. The "Young Marshall" spent more than half a century under house arrest in Taiwan.
He was set free in 1990 by then president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). In 1991 he left Taiwan for Honolulu, Hawaii, where he died at the age of 101 last October.
According to the article, after Chang refused invitations to visit China, Beijing sent Chang's former subordinate, Lu Zhengzao (
Lu had worked under Chang in Manchuria, where Chang had been a warlord prior to the "Xian Incident," having inherited his fief from his father, Zhang Zuolin (
Years later, Lu began to rise in the ranks of the Chinese Communist Party government.
He became a member of the Central Committee of the 8th National People's Congress in 1956 and vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Lu went to Honolulu in May 1991, meeting with Chang three times.
The article is an account of Lu's conversations with Chang during those meetings, as told by Lu to his former secretary, Zhang Youkun (
The account was published in the latest issue of a Chinese publication called the Southern Weekend (
During the talk, while Lu propagated China's "one country two systems" formula, Chang reportedly questioned why China couldn't denounce the use of force against Taiwan.
"If the mainland really launched an attack against Taiwan, it would be a tough war, in which both sides would suffer heavy casualties. It would be really sad, as both sides are Chinese," Chang is quoted in the article as saying.
"Being a civilian who is for China's peaceful unification, I am willing to contribute to the goal if I am ever needed.
"But I don't want to see a war across the Strait." Chang reportedly said.
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