The China White Paper 1949 (XI)

According to the White Paper, the first Communist groups in China were formed in Peking in 1919 and 1920 by Chen Tu-hsiu (陳獨秀) and some other students, including Mao Tse-tung (毛澤東). In 1923 the Third Congress of the Communist Party met in Canton and decided to join the KMT for the purpose of creating a 'united front' to stand against the northern warlords.1 In 1923 Dr. Sun tried to seek foreign help to continue conducting his revolution but only USSR was willing to assist. He met with Adolph Joffe, a representative of USSR, and in January 1923, they issued a statement that laid down the conditions for the Communist International (note: a political body set up by USSR) to help Sun to achieve his goal of unifying China. One condition was to permit USSR to send Michael Borodin to Canton in September 1923 to become the advisor of the KMT. Under Borodin's suggestion, KMT was reorganized by following a structure used by the the Communist in Russia. Also, Communists in China who were willing to take an oath of obedience to the KMT might be accepted into the party in individual capacity. With the help of the Russian, KMT now could train its own army using the Soviet methods in the newly established Whampoa Academy (黃埔軍校) set up in Canton. Dr. Sun died in 1925 and Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) became the party leader. In 1926 he mounted the 'Northern Expedition' that eventually unified China in 1927. But before that, in late 1926 when the KMT set up the capital in Hankow (漢口), a split in the KMT party between the left wing and right wing occurred. While the right wing under the leadership of Chiang was eager to seek the support of the middle class that included commercial and banking community in Shanghai, the left wing (Communists) were trying to turn KMT's Nationalist revolution into a socialist revolution. In April 1927 Chiang, ignoring the Communists, set up a government in Nanking (南京) to rival the left wing who were still gathering in Hankow. In Shanghai Chiang carried out a purge of the Communists and that involved several hundred thousand deaths. Shortly afterwards, the situation in Hankow was also not favourable to the left wing. When the Communists cause was eventually suppressed and died down, Borodin left China.2 (to be continued)

Notes:
1.United States, Department of State. The China White Paper-August 1949. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1967, page 42.
2.Ibid., page 44