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Keesing's Record of World Events (formerly Keesing's Contemporary Archives), Volume VII-VIII, September, 1950 China, Page 10929 © 1931-2006 Keesing's Worldwide, LLC - All Rights Reserved. Communist Capture of Hainan Island. - Nationalist Air Attacks on Mainland. - Heavy Raids on Canton and Shanghai. - Nationalist Allegations of Soviet Aid to Communist China. - Extension of Nationalist Blockade of Chinese Coast. - Attacks on British and American Shipping. - Communist Allegations of British “Encroachments” on Chinese Territory from Hong Kong. - Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek resumes Presidency of Nationalist China. - New Nationalist Government formed under General Chen Cheng. - General Li Tsung-jen's Denunciation of Chiang Kai-shek. - Execution of General Chen Yi. - U.S. Air Patrols over Formosa Straits. - Sino-American Liaison Ofﬁce at Taipeh.

Following the occupation of virtually the whole of the mainland of China by the Communist armies during the latter months of 1949, and the withdrawal of the Nationalist Government's forces to the islands of Formosa and Hainan, the principal military developments in China during the ﬁrst six months of 1950, prior to the outbreak of the Korean war, were the Communist invasion and occupation of Hainan (effected during April) and a number of attacks by the Nationalist Air Force on coastal ports and cities—notably Canton and Shanghai—which caused heavy damage and casualties.

The invasion of Hainan (see map, page 10444), which followed several earlier “probing” attacks on the island, was carried out across the 10-mile-wide Hainan Straits during the night of April 16–17 by two divisions of General Lin Pao's Fourth Field Army, which were ferried across by a fleet of some 200 junks. Despite strong initial resistance by the Nationalist troops on the island, the Communists succeeded in establishing and broadening a wide beach-head on the north coast of Hainan west of Hoihow (the island's capital), occupied the latter town without resistance on April 23, and rapidly overran the remainder of the island, which was in full Communist occupation by the end of the month. The greater part of the Nationalist troops on Hainan, with the local Nationalist military commanders and officials, were evacuated to Formosa from the south coast port of Yulin, the abandonment of Hainan being officially announced in Taipeh (the. Nationalists' Formosan capital) on May 2; the Nationalist announcement claimed that severe losses (stated to be nearly 20,000) had been inflicted on the Communists during the Hainan fighting, that about half the original invasion force had been sunk by the Nationalist Navy during the crossing of the Hainan Straits, and that defence installations had been destroyed and airfields rendered useless prior to the evacuation.

In addition to Hainan, the Communists succeeded in establishing themselves on various smaller islands off the Chinese coast, notably the Chusan islands off the Yangtse estuary, which had been a Nationalist base for the blockade of Shanghai, and a group of about 75 small islands (the Ladrones) off the Pearl River estuary in South China, commanding the sea approaches to Canton and adjacent to the British and Portuguese colonies of Hong Kong and Macao. The evacuation of the Chusans was announced by the Nationalist Government on May 17, the announcement stating that all Nationalist forces in the islands had been successfully evacuated to Formosa, whilst a number of the islands of the Ladrone group were captured by the Communists in amphibious operations during May; complete Communist control of all the islands in this group was claimed by Peking radio on Aug. 11.

During the ﬁrst three months of 1950, Nationalist B-24 (Liberator) heavy bombers, based on Formosa and, until the capture of that island, on Hainan, carried out a number of heavy raids on mainland targets, which included dock installations and public utilities at Canton, Shanghai, Amoy, and Foochow, and the Communist “invasion coast” on the Luichow Peninsula opposite Hainan, where the destruction of many junks was claimed in raids during January and February. Particularly heavy damage was done in the raids on Shanghai and Canton, the attacks on Shanghai including severe raids on Jan. 7, when seven ships were destroyed along the waterfront and large ﬁres started; on Feb. 6, when heavy damage and casualties were caused in an attack directed against important power stations, industrial installations, and public utilities; and on March 14, when 500 1b. bombs were dropped on runways and administrative buildings of the former international airport at Lunghwa, which was claimed in Formosa to have been 80 per cent destroyed in the heaviest single attack on the mainland. At Canton, particularly severe damage was done in a series of raids on March 3–4, Hong Kong sources estimating fatal casualties in these raids at 700--1,000.

A considerable exodus of civilian populations as a result of these attacks took place both in Shanghai and Canton, a number of refugees from the latter city entering Hong Kong.

A strong U.S. protest against “deliberate and repeated” bombing attacks on American property in Shanghai was presented to the Chinese Nationalist Government on Feb. 10, the Note calling attention to the threat to American lives represented by such raids, and demanding “prompt and categorical” assurances that there would be “no repetition” of attacks on American targets; the Note was presented after the heavy raid on Shanghai of Feb. 6, in which the installations of the American-owned Socony-Vacuum Oil Company and of the Shanghai Power Company were singled out for heavy attack. On the same day (Feb. 10) the U.N. Secretary-General at

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Lake Success received a cable from the international community in Shanghai (including residents' associations of 17 nationalities and a number of religious bodies) similarly protesting at the repeated bombing of the city by Nationalist aircraft, appealing to the U.N. to “forestall the calamity” facing the city's inhabitants as a result of these raids, and drawing attention to the fact that the attack of Feb. 6 had caused heavy civilian casualties and had left the city virtually without light and water supply.

An announcement from Taipeh on April 4 alleged that two Nationalist fighters attacking Communist junks in Hangchow Bay (45 miles S.W. of Shanghai) on April 2 had been shot down by four or five Russian-type machines bearing Chinese Communist insignia. In a further statement on April 5, the Nationalist Foreign Minister (Dr. George Yeh) appealed to the U.N. Security Council to take measures against the U.S.S.R.for “definite Soviet participation in the military action of the Chinese Communists in violation of the U.N. Charter,” asked the U.N. to send a naval and air observation group to China to substantiate the Nationalist Government's charges that the U.S.S.R.was giving active aid and support to the Chinese Communists, and alleged that Soviet aviators and aircraft technicians, both civil and military, had been arriving in increasing numbers in North and Central China; that the Soviet Union was setting up stations for the Chinese Communist Air Force and Signal Corps; and that a large number of former Japanese and ex-American Lease-Lend aircraft were “definitely being used by the Chinese Communists.” These charges were formally submitted to the U.N. Secretary-General by the Chinese Nationalist representative at Lake Success (Dr. Tsiang) on April 10.

The Nationalist Government's letter containing the allegations was forwarded by Hr. Trygve Lie to the Soviet delegate at the U.N. (Mr. Malik), who, however, informed Hr. Lie on April 12 that he would refuse to transmit to his Government “the letter of a private individual illegally claiming the status of a representative to the U.N.” the allegations contained in the communication being described by M. Malik as “an unsubstantiated and entirely ﬁctitious slander” against the U.S.S.R.

A number of incidents involving interference with British and American shipping occurred at intervals in consequence of the Nationalist Government's blockade of the mainland, which on Feb. 9 was extended southwards from the coast opposite Hainan (hitherto the southernmost limit of the blockade) to the Indo-Chinese frontier.

Among these incidents was a straﬁng attack by Nationalist aircraft on Feb. 27 against the U.S. ships Flying Clipper and Pioneer Dale while at anchor at Tsingtao (only one slight casualty being caused); the shelling on June 5 by a Nationalist gunboat of the British coaster Cheung Hing, attacked in the Formosa Straits while running the blockade from Hong Kong to Amoy (six Chinese members of the crew were killed and one injured); an attack by three Nationalist aircraft on June 23 against the British tug Frosty Muller while the latter was engaged in salvage operations on the British-owned steamer Anheui, which had been mined and beached off Swatow (no casualties were caused in this attack, the planes being driven off by gunﬁre from the frigate H.M.S. Hart, which had come to the tug's assistance); and a machine-gunning attack on July 15 by Nationalist planes on the British m.v. Glenearn (9,800 tons) north of Formosa, in which two of the crew were wounded. On May 12 the destroyer H.M.S. Cossack rescued from Chinese Nationalist control the British s.s. Ethel Moller, which had been seized 10 weeks earlier while running the blockade from Hong Kong to Amoy and pressed into Nationalist service; the vessel was intercepted by the Cossack in the Formosa Straits, was boarded by a British naval party (which disarmed 150 Nationalist troops on board), and was subsequently escorted to Hong Kong.

Communist shore batteries established on three small islands athwart the seaward approaches to Hong Kong opened ﬁre on the British destroyer Concord on Aug. 17, the warship returning the ﬁre in self-defence; no damage was suffered by the Concord, and there was only one minor casualty from shell splinters.

Allegations against the British military, naval and air forces in Hong Kong of “planning to encroach upon Chinese sovereignty” were made on Aug. 24 by General Yeh Chien-ying, the Communist chairman of the Kwangtung Provincial Government. In an obvious reference to the Concord incident, General Yeh referred to the “intrusion of a British warship into Chinese waters,” accused the warship of firing on communist positions before steaming into Hong Kong waters, and added that “these provocative acts on the part of British warships are inseparable from the foreign policy of imperialism, and are carried out in co-ordination with other provocations directed against China by the Royal Air Force and the British Army stationed in Hong Kong.” After alleging that earlier “violations” of Chinese territory by British air and military forces in Hong Kong (including alleged R.A.F. flight across the border on July 6 and Aug. 2, and the crossing of the border on July 27 by five “fully equipped” British soldiers who had been arrested by Chinese frontier guards and subsequently “deported” to Hong Kong), General Yeh declared that “British authorities in Hong Kong must take entire responsibility for all consequences of violation of the border by the British Army, Air Force, and Navy.”

In response to requests by the Supreme Council of the Kuomingtang and the Legislative Yuan at Taipeh, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek formally reassumed the Presidency of Nationalist China on March 1 after his “temporary retirement” from the Presidential ofﬁce 13 months earlier, and on March 16 took over the supreme command of the Nationalist armed forces. In a statement on reassuming the Presidential functions, the Generalissimo declared that he had done so “to satisfy the demands of public opinion,” and particularly because “the world situation has changed for the worse” after the conclusion of the “Mao-Stalin pact” (i.e., the treaty between the U.S.S.R.and Communist China,—see 10712 A).

On March 7 Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek nominated General Chen Cheng as Prime Minister of the Nationalist Government in succession to Marshall Yen Hsi-Shan, who had held that ofﬁce since the evacuation of the mainland and the Government's establishment in Formosa. A new Cabinet was formed in Taipeh on March 12 with the following members: General Chen Cheng, Prime Minister; Mr. Chang Li-sheng, Deputy Premier; Dr. George Yeh, Foreign Affairs; Mr. Yu Ching-tang, Interior; General Yu

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Ta-wei, Defence; Mr. C. K. Yen, Finance; Mr. Chen Tao-ju, Economic; Mr. Cheng Tien-fong, Education; Mr. Ho Chung-han, Communications; Dr. K. C. Wu, Minister without Portfolio.

General Chen Cheng (52) commanded the Chinese forces which entered Burma during the war, and co-operated with the late General Stilwell in the Burma campaign against Japan. Among other Ministers, Dr. George Yeh retained the portfolio of Foreign Affairs, Mr. C. K. Yen was transferred from the Ministry of Economic Affairs to that of Finance, and General Yu Ta-wei was formerly Minister of Communication; Dr. Wu, the Minister without Portfolio, is Governor of Formosa, and Mr. Cheng Tien-fong, the Minister of Education, was Chinese Ambassador in Berlin before the second world war.

Strong denunciations of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek were made in press interviews in New York by General Li Tsung-jen, to whom the Generalissimo had relinquished the Presidential ofﬁce at the time of his “retirement,” and who had entered the U.S.A. in December 1949 for treatment in a New York hospital.

In a press statement on March 1, General Li described Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek as a “dictator” and “would-be usurper” who “represented nobody but himself and a small clique in the Kuomintang,” and announced that he (General Li) intended to return to Formosa and overthrow the Generalissimo “by force if necessary.” He added that it was “fantastic beyond belief that a private citizen can announce himself as President of the country”; declared that in resuming the Presidential office the Generalissimo had “exposed the lamentable truth to the world that as a dictator he can consider the nation as his private property, which he can lay down and pick up according to his whim”; said that Chiang Kai-shek had “long ago lost the confidence and support of the people” and depended only on the troops under his immediate command; and claimed that he (General Li) possessed the support of the “liberal-democratic elements” in China. In another statement on March 11, General Li declared that the Chinese Communists were able to come to power “not because of the merits of Communism but because the régime of Chiang Kai-shek was rotten to the core,” while in a further statement on March 21 he announced that he was planning to return to China within six months to assume command of “more than 500,000 armed resistance fighters” in his native province of Kwangsi and in adjacent provinces of South China.

General Chen Yi, the post-war Governor of Formosa, and formerly one of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's leading colleagues, was executed by a ﬁring-squad at Taipei on June 18 after having been found guilty by a military court, by which he was sentenced to death, of collaboration with the Chinese Communists; the charges were admitted by General Chen Yi during the trial.

Consequent on President Truman's directive of June 27 ordering the U.S. Seventh Fleet to protect Formosa after the outbreak of the Korean war (see 10805 A), General MacArthur's Tokio G.H.Q. announced on July 16 that American naval planes were patrolling the Formosa Straits to prevent any Communist attack on the island. A liaison ofﬁce under Major-General Alonso Fox (Deputy chief of Staff to General MacArthur) was set up at Taipeh on Aug. 4 to co-ordinate Sino-American plans for the defence of Formosa.—(New York Times - New York Herald Tribune - Times - Daily Telegraph - Manchester Guardian - Le Monde, Paris - U.N. Bulletin, Lake Success)

(Prev. rep China, Civil War, 10441 A; Formosa, U.S. Policy, 10917 A; 10805 A; General Li, 10462 E.)

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