Nation, territony and frontier: Chiang Kai-shek's realism in action

The Chinese Republican government inherited vast territories from the Qing dynasty after the 1911 Revolution but faced a daunting J L task defending these territories against intrusion by foreign powers. Chinese historians have recently begun to acknowledge the efforts made by successive Republican governments in defending the territorial integrity of the country.1 Western historians have also lately recognized the achievements of Republican diplomacy. In a recent re-assessment of Chinese foreign relations in the Republican era (1912-49), Harvard historian William C. Kirby notes that 'the borders of the People's Republic of China today are essentially those of the Qing, minus only Outer Mongolia.' To Kirby, this was perhaps the greatest accomplishment of Republican diplomacy.2 Certainly there were disparate forces at work in the Republican period which brought about such an 'accomplishment'. The purpose of this chapter is to sketch one aspect of Republican high diplomacy: The views of policymakers on the defence of Chinese territory. The focus of the chapter is upon the thinking of Chiang Kai-shek, the foremost leader of the Nationalist (KMT) government, regarding the 'Chinese nation', 'Chinese territory', and 'frontier defence'. Chiang Kai-shek, like many Chinese revolutionaries and intellectuals in the Republican era, shared the vague idea that Chinese territory should include all those areas once subject to the Manchu court. At the same time, Chiang was too much a realist not to appreciate that his government was too weak to defend all of the territories once ruled by the Qing. When pushed into a corner he had to decide which territories to defend and which to give up. In certain circumstances, he was willing to make compromises, Outer Mongolia being a notable example. Chiang's thinking and policies in one way or another dehneated the territorial boundanes of the Nationahst government from 1928 to 1949.