Book Review: Accidental State: Chiang Kai-shek, the United States, and the Making of Taiwan
- Ryota Nakanishi
- Jul 14
- 3 min read
🔻BOOK DATA
Title: Accidental State: Chiang Kai-shek, the United States, and the Making of Taiwan
Author: Hsiao-ting Lin
ISBN: 978-0674659810
Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
(March 14, 2016)
🔻ACCIDENTAL STATE
This book is the most comprehensive and accurate work on the subject of the Great Generalissimo and Taiwan, and it should be consulted in comparison to any general historical books and biographies on the subject. This approach is advantageous because it directly addresses the salient points.
The Cairo Meeting of 1943 and the subsequent finalization of the island state in 1954 marked the establishment of the Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Republic of China (technically succeeded by the Taiwan Relations Act in 1979). The two primary events that serve as the foundation for the entire process are of particular significance.
Contrary to the portrayal in textbooks, the Generalissimo embodied a pragmatic realpolitik approach, akin to that of Bismarck. He had already relinquished the endeavor to reconquer the mainland well in advance of the expectations of the Taiwanese in 1954. This decision was accompanied by the strategic transfer of military authority to the United States, a maneuver analogous to that of Japan in the post-war era. The United States' role in preventing a war in the Taiwan Strait between the mainland and Taiwan remains significant. The U.S. has demonstrated a reluctance to become embroiled in a direct military conflict with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In a similar vein, the United States has also been instrumental in hindering the resurgence of militarism in Japan. It is reasonable to assume that both Russia and China tacitly acknowledge the significance of these peacekeeping roles.
The book's emphasis on Taiwan's distinctiveness from Ukraine is noteworthy, despite the earlier conceptualization of the East Asian NATO in 1953. This phenomenon represents a notable deviation from the prevailing contemporary context and narratives. For Hong Kong, the more surprising fact is that Hong Kong was nominated as a member of the Asian NATO. In this contemporary context, such a notion is met with astonishment.
Furthermore, the Generalissimo disclosed that the Hong Kong political forces are regarded as the third force—neither the CCP China nor the KMT Taiwan—that has been cultivated independently from the KMT by the U.S. while the Generalissimo was facing being replaced by the U.S. with his rival in military, Liren Sun, or the "third force" before Douglas MacArthur helped the Generalissimo to avoid such a scenario.
In this book, however, the author did not delve into this topic. Nevertheless, the notion of the "third force" in contemporary discourse must be delineated into two distinct extensions rather than the conventional one. The "third force" is a term that has been used to refer to a group of individuals and organizations that are not aligned with the established political parties of the region. This group includes notable figures such as Ku Meng-yu, Li Zongren, Zhang Fakui, James McClure Henry, and Sun Baogang. The "Great Alliance for Freedom and Democracy," the "Zhang-Gu Alliance," and the "Chinese Alliance for Freedom and Democracy" were active in Hong Kong during the 1950s, and subsequent eight publishers continued operating for decades after the official dissolution of the so-called "third force." Secondly, the former interpretation is still constrained by the problematic framework of political factionalism and is susceptible to the pitfalls of identity politics. Consequently, the most substantial renovation pertains to the interpretation of the prevailing Hong Kong political and economic ruling force as the overarching concept of the "third force." This alternative appears to align more closely with the circumstances at hand.
The so-called "third force" is evidently comprised of the prevailing political and economic forces in Hong Kong at present. These forces have maintained their uninterrupted preservation of vested interests, with some exhibiting superficial links to the KMT.
In conclusion, the approach of this book has been demonstrated to provide insights and more accurate information about Taiwan and China. The most significant contrast for us is that Taiwan is still the model society for the people of the Greater China Region as planned by the KMT, while the "1C2S" is also presented as a model to attract Taiwanese people. Which of these factors is the most intriguing, and which one is worthy of our support and respect? The answer to this question is evident in this context.
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