The Comintern in China Chair: Taylor Gosk Co-Chair: Vinayak Grover Crisis Director: Hannah Olmstead Co-Crisis Director: Payton Tysinger University of North Carolina Model United Nations Conference November 2 - 4, 2018 University of North Carolina 2 Table of Contents Letter from the Crisis Director 3 Introduction 5 Sun Yat-sen and the Kuomintang 7 The Mission of the Comintern 10 Relations between the Soviets and the Kuomintang 11 Positions 16 3 Letter from the Crisis Director Dear Delegates, Welcome to UNCMUNC X! My name is Hannah Olmstead, and I am a sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I am double majoring in Public Policy and Economics, with a minor in Arabic Studies. I was born in the United States but was raised in China, where I graduated from high school in Chengdu. In addition to being a student, I am the Director-General of UNC’s high school Model UN conference, MUNCH. I also work as a Resident Advisor at UNC and am involved in Refugee Community Partnership here in Chapel Hill. Since I’ll be in the Crisis room with my good friend and co-director Payton Tysinger, you’ll be interacting primarily with Chair Taylor Gosk and co-chair Vinayak Grover. Taylor is a sophomore as well, and she is majoring in Public Policy and Environmental Studies. I have her to thank for teaching me that Starbucks will, in fact, fill up my thermos with their delightfully bitter coffee. When she’s not saving the environment one plastic cup at a time, you can find her working as the Secretary General of MUNCH or refereeing a whole range of athletic events here at UNC. This committee topic is interesting to me for a number of reasons. I find China inherently interesting. Living there for ten years, I naturally forged a deep emotional connection to life there. Academically, the transition from dynastic rule to warring cliques and political parties to one of the world’s most famous Communist governments is fascinating. I wonder what the China of 1925 can teach us about the China of 2018? Hundreds of men and women sought to leave their mark on their homeland, sought to build 4 it in their image. From Sun Yat-sen to Mao Zedong to the Warlords in rural Guangxi, each likely envisioned a China in which their vision prevailed. Needless to say, one vision prevailed. This, despite the fact that a Communist victory was in many ways the least likely outcome that one could have predicted. This instructs us to be suspicious about guarantees, of most likely outcomes. The world is a surprising place, particularly the world of international relations! I hope your time at UNCMUNC is enjoyable and that you get to engage in all sorts of challenges. My staff and I look forward to seeing the collaborative solutions you propose, the alliances that are formed, and the effort each of you puts forth to shape your ideal China. Best, Hannah Olmstead, Crisis Director [email protected] 5 Introduction “I came to realize that every civil war in China proceeds simultaneously on two fronts, military and political, and of these the political is the most important. While two groups of armies were fighting—not very hard—the two sets of leaders were constantly trying to come to terms with some faction on the other side. If they succeeded, they’d join forces and turn on the ones who’d been left out of the deal.” Morris Cohen, Sun Yat-sen’s bodyguard The story of governance in China took a drastic turn on February 12th, 1912. On that day two thousand years of imperial rule ended as the Qing Dynasty was finished off by the abdication of the Emperor Puyi. A puppet emperor during the Japanese occupation notwithstanding, China now had to grapple with what leadership would look like in the 20th century. These domestic changes were occurring contemporaneously with the emergence of new political philosophies abroad. Namely, the success of Leninism and the Bolshevik Revolution were providing alternative models for what revolution could look like in China. On October 1st, 1949, Communist Party Chair Mao Zedong welcomed in a new era of the People’s Republic of China. The road to establishing this new government in Beijing was long and arduous. Most notably, it involved complex relations and rivalries between multiple domestic and international parties. Sun Yat-sen’s Kuomintang Nationalist Party attempt to wrest control from the Qing Dynasty’s last hold-on, Yuan Shikai. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), eventually led by Mao Zedong, used espionage and strategic labor 6 organizing in order to gain a foothold in both rural and urban regions. The Soviets, via their Comintern agents, supported both the Kuomintang and the CCP, encouraging the smaller Communist organs to collaborate with the KMT. The backdrop to all of these interactions was the rise of the Japanese empire. Already present on the Korean peninsula, the rising power to the east of China was slowly making plans to expand into Manchuria. The picture was further complicated by the number of individual warlords across China who controlled large swaths of territory. This committee will consist of a wide range of change-makers who shaped this era of Chinese politics. Be warned, things may not be as they seem. Moles abound on every side of the issue, and espionage and subterfuge can be just as effective as outright war. Committee members will represent Kuomintang officials, Communist Party Labor Organizers, Generals, Comintern agents, and allied Warlords. It will be the responsibility of members, all of whom are ostensibly allied at the beginning of committee, to navigate the country through this tenuous time. 7 Sun Yat-sen and the Kuomintang “For 40 years I have devoted myself to the cause of the people's revolution with but one end in view: the elevation of China to a position of freedom and equality among the nations. My experience during these 40 years has convinced me that to attain this goal we must bring about an awakening of our own people and ally ourselves in common struggle with those people of the world who treat us as equals.” This was the vision for China’s future cast by Sun Yat-sen in a letter to the Kuomintang (KMT) party in 1925. Sun Yat-sen was born in 1866 to a family of modest means in what is today known as Guangdong, China. At a young age, he moved to Hawaii where he lived with his elder brother. In Hawaii, he attended an English school where he quickly demonstrated himself to be a bright young man. By 1883, though, he was sent back to China by his elder brother who did not want him to lose sight of his Chinese heritage. Sun received his medical degree from what would later become the University of Hong Kong. It was there that he became dissatisfied with the dynastic system of rule. In particular, he supported modernizing reforms that would help advance China’s position globally as well as the quality of life of its citizens. As such, he submitted a written petition 8 to the Qing government that was summarily ignored. This experience purportedly convinced Sun that the only path forwards for China was one of revolution. Over the next sixteen years, Sun Yat-sen participated in numerous attempts to overthrow the Qing Dynasty. This resulted in him being exiled multiple times to Japan and the Philippines as he awaited new opportunities to return to the Mainland. In 1904, Sun articulated his political goals as, “to expel the Tartar barbarians (the Manchurian Qing Dynasty), to revive Zhonghua (中华), to establish a Republic, and to distribute land equally among the people.” These goals were exemplified in Sun’s three guiding principles: Nationalism (民族), Democracy （民权）, and Welfare (民生). Through the first decade of the twentieth century, Sun led numerous uprisings along with his colleagues across China that challenged the Qing authority. In 1905, he united three major revolutionary groups under the united front of the Tongmenhui. Many of the leaders of these individual groups remained relevant decades later, some preferring the CCP over the KMT. For the time being, though, Sun Yat-sen, in various states of exile, led the Tongmenhui in many smaller, unsuccessful uprisings that are collectively known as the Xinhai Revolution. The first successful uprising is known as the Wuchang Uprising of 1911 after which the Tongmenhui established the “Military Government of Hubei of the Republic of China.” This was not the last success of the Tongmenhui, though. By the end of 1911, Sun Yat-sen was elected the provisional President of the Republic of China. He quickly ceded this position to Yuan Shikai, a Qing Dynasty official, on the condition that Yuan could guarantee the abdication of the last Qing emperor. While this condition was met, Yuan was an overly ambitious president who attempted to re-establish an empire with himself at the 9 helm. This led the old Tongmenhui alliance to realign and form the Nationalist Party, otherwise known as the Kuomintang. They won a large number of seats in the National Assembly, but were unsuccessful in overthrowing Yuan in what is known as the Second Revolution. This failure again necessitated Sun Yat-sen’s flight from China and subsequent exile in Japan. The Second Revolution left the entire country in a state of turmoil. A stable future for the Republic of China was not guaranteed. It was in this state of chaos that Sun Yat-sen reached out the Soviets for support.