Yaroslav Stetsko, as the president of the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Peoples (ABN), in October 1955 made an official visit to the island of Taiwan, where at that time the leadership of the Republic of China headed by Chiang Kai-shek was stationed.
A year later, the Ukrainian publishing house in Munich published his work entitled “Taiwan – the island of freedom and hope”, where the Communiqué on cooperation between ABN and APACLROC was published in German, Stetsk’s interview with Chiang Kai-shek and Ku Cheng Kang (leader of APACL), as well as Stetsk’s reflections on the socio-economic and political development of Free China.
Its territory was then limited to the island of Taiwan and a group of islands in the Taiwan Strait that separated the island from mainland China, where the Communist Party (CCP) had established itself as a result of the civil war.
This edition in this format, a German-language book with official documents, interviews and the author’s own observations/impressions, was previously unknown to the Ukrainian-speaking circle of readers. Her sections were partially published in the German-language and English-language magazine ABN Correspondence, as well as the Ukrainian-language “The Way of Victory”.
A search for this edition was triggered by a message from Vakhtang Kipiani with a newspaper clipping from “The Way of Victory” from 1957 about the publication. Later, a small review appeared in another issue, which also encouraged readers to buy the book.
An electronic copy of the publication was found in the Archive of the OUN in London, thanks to the help of Hennadiy Ivanushchenko.
What is “Free China” and why did Taiwan become the island of freedom?
At the time of Yaroslav Stetsk’s visit to Taiwan, the island was officially considered a province of the Republic of China. Its leader Chiang Kai-shek, whose Kuomintang party failed to build cooperation with Mao Zedong’s communists and defeat their forces during the civil war, in December 1949 declared Taipei the temporary capital of the Republic of China in exile.
In October 1949, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was established on mainland China. Retaining the ambition to quickly regain control of all of mainland China, Chiang Kai-shek and his government immediately began preparations for the upcoming rematch.
However, there were several key factors influencing the Kuomintang leader’s desire. First of all, this is a factor of the internal exhaustion of the republican forces, which since the 1930s had waged an intense struggle against the Japanese invaders, and at the end of the Second World War plunged into confrontation with the forces of Mao Zedong.
Tired troops and supporters of Chiang Kai-shek, which is almost 2 million people, having arrived in Taiwan, faced another problem – negative perception on the part of local residents. The indigenous population of the island was formed under the constant influence of various groups of political asylum seekers from the mainland since the middle of the 17th century, since the time of the change of dynasty in the Chinese Empire. Therefore, the perception of new “newcomers” in the mid-1950s was, on the one hand, usual, on the other hand, it once again created a division into “own” and “strangers”.
Despite the fact that since the end of the 19th century, Taiwan became a full-fledged Chinese province, its territory soon became part of the Japanese Empire, which was reflected in the local socio-cultural behavior and perception of “mainland Chinese”. In addition, Chiang Kai-shek envisioned the rapid consolidation of his power and the eradication of any communist elements on the island. This became the cause of the so-called “white terror” in Taiwan and the construction of an authoritarian regime in the first years of the Kuomintang’s rule on the island.
Another important factor is the development of the Cold War and the search for international support. Unlike the Communist Party, which was given military support by the Soviet Union during the civil war, the Kuomintang did not receive such an opportunity. The situation was similar with international recognition: the USSR immediately recognized the PRC, followed by other countries of the socialist camp, while the USA and its allies were in no hurry to recognize the Republic of China in Taiwan.
The state of affairs changed with the outbreak of the Korean War, when the threat of the spread of communism in the Asia-Pacific region became real. Fearing a possible invasion of Taiwan by CCP troops, US President Harry Truman, despite his desire to stay out of Chinese affairs, sent the US fleet from the Philippines to the Taiwan Strait in June 1950 to guarantee the island’s security.
The Americans would later use a similar maneuver during subsequent crises around Taiwan. The threat of the spread of Communism also led the Americans to provide military and financial aid to Chiang Kai-shek’s government, which only increased with the rise to power of the Dwight Eisenhower administration in 1953.
American support and the consolidation of its power on the island gave Chiang Kai-shek confidence in his own strength and his troops began preparations for landing on the mainland. Stalin’s death in March 1953 made it possible to conclude that this time the USSR would not support the communists, and the US troops would be able to be drawn into the war on their side.
In August 1954, Chiang Kai-shek began the transfer of troops from Jinmen and Matsu islands close to the mainland, which started the First Crisis in the Taiwan Straits. In response, the troops of the People’s Republic of China began shelling the republican forces. The crisis was taking place against the background of the creation of SEATO, the Asian prototype of NATO, so the US response had to be decisive. Eisenhower was even offered to use nuclear weapons, but it was decided to limit himself to the provision of military and financial assistance and to sign a Sino-American treaty on the mutual defense of Taiwan.
Chiang Kai-shek mistakenly believed that the treaty would make the United States a party to the conflict and that they would support a military effort to regain control of mainland China. However, the American administration, seeking not to get involved in an armed conflict, recommended that Taipei withdraw its troops from the islands. Having no other option, Chiang Kai-shek agreed and, under the cover of the American fleet, which had arrived again in the Taiwan Strait, withdrew the troops suffering from the shelling of the CCP army.
It is important to note that at this time the US and allies did not recognize Taiwan as a separate state, instead recognizing the official republican government of Chiang Kai-shek. Taiwan was considered only one of many Chinese provinces, and along with the national government, there was also a local government on the island.
At that time, no one thought of the category of Taiwan’s independence, which after the death of Chiang Kai-shek received a “second wind” and some political support. It was believed that the historical reasons for this are in the form of the short-lived existence of independent Taiwan at the end of the 19th century under the Portuguese name of the island “Formosa”.
Since 1946, representatives of the Republic of China have participated in UN meetings and thus had more opportunities to communicate with representatives of other foreign delegations. This state of affairs lasted until the beginning of the 1970s, until the Richard Nixon administration improved relations with Communist China, whose government at the time was building its own international policy, different from the Kremlin.
Thus, in the mid-1950s, there were “two Chinas” in the Far East – Mao Zedong’s “Red China” and Chiang Kai-shek’s “Free China”. Both were authoritarian regimes with different ideological orientations.
Relations between ABN and Taiwan
Arriving at Hong Kong airport on October 8, 1955, which at that time was the territory of Great Britain, Yaroslav Stetsko found himself in the very heart of the “Asian” Cold War. Only a few months ago, the First Crisis around the Taiwan Strait ended, and the Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of China, Zhou Enlai, proposed 5 principles of peaceful coexistence, which envisaged a peaceful settlement of the conflict around Taiwan.
The island was under martial law, and the population could be subjected to bombardment, as evidenced by a sign indicating the direction of movement to the shelter for foreign ministers who, along with Stetsk, attended a military parade in honor of the Republic Day on October 10, 1955.
A reception at the highest state level was organized for the ABN leader in Taiwan. After the parade, Stetsko had an audience with Deputy Foreign Minister Shen Chang-huan and a short conversation with Parliament Speaker Chang Taofan. He also managed to cross paths with senators and the ambassador of Korea[1].
As a result, an agreement on cooperation in the fight against communism and Russian imperialism was signed between ABN and APAKLROK (Asian People’s Anti-Communist League Republic of China, a local Chinese anti-communist organization that was part of the Asian Anti-Communist League of the Peoples of Asia (APAKL), and already in the spring of 1956 In 2010, an exchange of notes took place in Rome, which testified to the formality of mutual obligations[2].
They meant the consolidation of anti-communist forces in the world and the strengthening of cooperation between both structures. In 1957, a special mission of the ABN headed by Yulian Zablocki went to Taiwan.
Immediately after Stetska’s return from Taiwan at the end of October 1955, reports about the trip itself began to appear in “ABN Correspondence” and “The Way of Victory”, as well as small notes of a special correspondent from Taiwan regarding the state of affairs on the island. Their number, as well as the information that about 30 articles on Ukrainian issues appeared in the press in Taiwan, indicate a mutual agreement to popularize the fight against communism[3].
OUN and Taiwan against the Communists and Beijing
The Ukrainians, who formed the organizational basis of the ABN, and the “free Chinese”, who managed to create a similar anti-communist network in Asia in 1954, directed their efforts to create a positive image of the struggle against Moscow Bolshevism and Chinese communism in the audience of their periodicals.
Stetska’s book also had a propaganda purpose. The visit itself, of course, did not provide for the formation of a complete picture of life in Taiwan. Because of this, in the book, especially in the second part, where Stetsko, based on his own impressions, describes the philosophy of Chinese life in Taiwan, he emphasizes those elements that explain the differences, or rather distortions, to the Western reader , which communist ideology brought to traditional Chinese culture.
The publication was supposed to show that Free China needs the support of Western countries, and that reforms are being implemented in Taiwan and people’s lives are improving. Therefore, in order to popularize support for Free China in West Germany, the work was published in German, because for West Germans, anti-communism, like for supporters of Chiang Kai-shek, formed the basis of political life at the beginning of the Cold War.
It is obvious that Yaroslav Stetsko himself understood the propaganda purpose of his publication, in particular, in the book he explained the reasons for his visit and building cooperation with Chiang Kai-shek’s government as follows:
“I do not conduct cheap propaganda in favor of the Chinese national government, because I want to find real active anti-communist elements in Asia, with the help of which the enemy can be defeated with a united front. I will not support any cause that can only be a burden in this struggle. But this does not apply to Chiang Kai-shek’s national government. A sincere democratic freedom fighter against Russian tyranny has no choice in this case. The Chinese have no third power. We can only choose between Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek…” (translated from the German by Rieh GE. Source : Jaroslaw Stetzko “Taiwan: die Insel der Freiheit und der Hoffnung”, p.52)
In general, both the leadership of ABN and Free China saw certain benefits in cooperation. It is not so much about the creation of a strong allied ideological and political base as about tools for reaching an international audience. I have already mentioned that Chiang Kai-shek’s government worked to break out of international isolation and gain wider support among the governments of Western democracies. Despite the signed defense treaty with the US, the Chinese anticipated that by building relations with the Ukrainians in the ABN, they would gain access to the Eastern European diaspora in North America, which would in turn allow them to influence the decisions of the US and Canadian governments.
ABN also, being an association of Eastern European anti-communist diaspora organizations, worked to find strong allies that would have some financial independence. Before his trip to Taiwan in the fall of 1955, Stetsko had already established contacts with conservative circles of West German and British politicians. Cooperation with the Scottish League for European Freedom was special.
However, going beyond the borders of the European continent was a real challenge for the leaders of the ABN and opened up new opportunities for cooperation and popularization of the concept of the struggle of the enslaved peoples of Eastern Europe and Asia against Bolshevism.
Today, Ukraine and Taiwan are in the center of attention of the geostrategic interests of world powers. After a full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, the Ukrainian army successfully resisted Russian forces, largely thanks to the help of the United States and its allies. The People’s Republic of China, whose leadership is quite ambiguous in its assessment of the actions of the Russian dictator, despite all fears, does not provide any military aid to Russia, at least officially.
Instead, it reacts quite aggressively to the construction of separate relations of other countries with Taiwan. In general, all the tension in the Asia-Pacific region between the USA and the PRC, as in the mid-1950s, is growing precisely around Taiwan. A clear demonstration of this tension is China’s opposition to the visit of Congress Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August of last year and the reaction to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s trip to the United States in March 2023.
Taiwan officially has diplomatic relations with 13 countries, mostly small Pacific and Caribbean nations. Since the 1970s, Free China has gradually lost the support of more than fifty countries, which, following the United States, officially recognized the government in Beijing. The island is linked to Washington only by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act , which replaced the 1954 Mutual Defense Treaty.
Not so strong are the political positions of the once-ruling Kuomintang Party, whose undisputed status in Taiwan was shaken with the death of their leader Chiang Kai-shek in 1975. The democratization of the regime took place on the island, and the Democratic Progressive Party, which stands for the independence of Taiwan and has no hope of regaining control over mainland China, gained greater influence.
In the mid-1970s, Taiwan underwent reforms that led to economic growth known as the “Taiwan Economic Miracle.” Currently, more than 60% of semiconductors in the world are produced on the island , which indicates a high level of development of high-tech industries. During the pandemic, Taiwan managed to demonstrate a different approach to public restrictions than the PRC, and also provided support from other countries.
Taiwan’s military and military-political experts have repeatedly stated that they, like the representatives of the People’s Republic of China, are closely following the events unfolding in Ukraine, given the possible forceful Chinese scenario of Taiwan’s inclusion in the People’s Republic of China. In view of this, Ukraine should start building its relations with Taiwan, at least, if not at the official level due to the observance of the “one China” policy, then at the socio-political level, as the governments of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are already doing, and thus to continue the tradition of cooperation started by Stetsk and Chiang Kai-shek.
Hryhoriy Riy
Used sources:
- ABN Correspondence, No. 10/11. October/November 1955, p.12
- The Way of Victory, No. 28 (124), July 8, 1956, p. 1
- The Way of Victory, No. 21 (117), May 20, 1956, p. 2
