Word: li
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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When Chiang told Kuomintang officials to support Vice President Li Tsung-jen, one of his hearers asked: "What can Li do? What are his ways & means to improve the present situation?" Everybody in China, including Li, knew the answer. Li had almost nothing with which to bargain with the Red armies who at week's end stood within 15 miles of China's capital, Nanking. The government was preparing to move to Canton on the south coast and its armies were pulling southwest toward Kweilin and south toward Chekiang Province...
...Although Li was a respected, energetic man, he was left a sorry legacy and had no policy except to sue for peace with the Reds. The Communist Boss Mao Tse-tung had won the war; he could dictate the terms of peace. What Mao wanted was power to put China in the Communist bloc. That he already had. He could proceed along the path of compromise and coalition certain that, with Chiang's passing, the back of anti-Communist resistance in China had been broken...
...With the hope that hostilities may be brought to an end and the people's suffering relieved, I have decided to retire . . . Vice President Li Tsung-jen will exercise the duties and powers of President . . ."When he finished, 61-year-old Chiang asked for comments, not on his decision, but on the phrasing of his statement...
...moment of silence was shattered by protests from Kuomintang right-wingers, some of whom, like Chiang and Li, were on the Communist war criminal list. They objected to the use of "yin tut" (voluntary retirement), a classical Chinese phrase used by retiring officials leaving active duty for good. He could vacation; he could take a leave of absence; President Chiang Kai-shek should not "yin tui." But the Gimo was adamant; his statement would stand...
...military airport outside the city the twin-engined Mei-Ling (named after Madame Chiang) dropped to earth after the short hop from within the city wall where Nanking's officialdom had gathered to see him off. Chiang said quick goodbyes to Vice President Li, Cabinet Minister Chang Chun and several others who had anticipated his moves correctly. Then he climbed aboard the plane and pulled the door shut himself. The Mei-Ling thundered down its runway at 4:15, climbed and circled Purple Mountain where the white stone of Sun Yat-sen's vast mausoleum reflected the last...