Chen Yi was the Chief Executive and of Taiwan after it was surrendered by Japan to the Republic of China, which acted on behalf of the Allied Powers, in 1945. His infamous mishandling of the tension between Taiwanese locals and Mainlanders precipitated the February 28 Incident, and he was later dismissed for disloyalty .
Early life
Chen was born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang. After studying at Qiushi Academy , in 1902 he went to a military academy in Japan for seven years . He joined Guangfuhui while in Japan. He returned to Japan in 1917 to study in a military university for three years, then resided in Shanghai.
He was the chairman senator and governor of Zhejiang . Chen was also the leader of the 19th Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army . After 1927, he worked in the Military Affairs Department , then as the chairman of Fujian in 1933, and Secretary-General of the Executive Yuan.
Chen and Taiwan
In 1935, Chen was sent to Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shek to attend "''Exposition to Commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Beginning of Administration in Taiwan''," an exposition which has remained unique and unrivaled to this day, and which served as a report on the achievements of Taiwan's modernization process under Japanese rule. During his stay in Taiwan, he praised the modern public facilities and the strong economic development in . Chen publicly expressed his admiration with jealousy about the advanced life quality Taiwanese people enjoyed compared with the Chinese mainlanders who suffered from prolonged war incurred destruction and lack of further modernization. After he went back to Fujian, he filed a report to Chiang Kai-shek about his visit. With his experience in Japan and Taiwan, Chen had became the first candidate as the Taiwan governor in Chiang's mind after Japan relinquished the sovereignty of Taiwan.
Under the authorization of Douglas MacArthur's General Order No. 1 , Chen Yi was escorted by to Taiwan for accepting Japan government's surrender as the Chinese delegate. On October 25 1945, joined by delegates from Allied Powers, Chen signed a surrender instrument with General Ando Rikichi, governor-general of Taiwan, in Taipei City Hall . Chen Yi proclaimed that day to be the ''retrocession day of Taiwan'' which was regarded as legally controversial as Japan had not yet ceded Taiwan in any treaty until 1952.
Praise and Criticism
Chen did receive some praise for his dedication to work, his frugality, and incorruptibility. He was, however, criticized for his support for his more corrupt insubordinates, and his stubborn lack of flexibility in some policies. Despite fluency in Japanese, he refused to use the language to interact with local Taiwanese elites, many of whom could not speak Mandarin, believing that the island must abandon the colonial language in favor of the new national tongue. This inability to communicate easily with his subjects and the fact he made surprisingly little effort to leave his official offices and interact with the Taiwanese society he ruled over made it difficult for him to detect the growing unrest on the island after the first year of postwar rule.
Chen was later removed from the position of Taiwan governor general for his mishandling of the administration of Taiwan which resulted in the 228 Incident. In the early years of Chinese rule, rampant corruption in the new administration headed by Chen caused severe inflation, which in turn lead to widespread local discontent. Allegations of by new immigrants from the mainland and a breakdown in social and governmental services also served to increase tensions. As the Shanghai newspaper Wen Hui Pao remarked, Chen ran everything "from the hotel to the night-soil business." The Taiwanese felt like colonial stepchildren rather than long-lost .
Chen and the 2/28 Incident
Anti-mainlander violence flared on , prompted by an incident in which innocent civilians were injured and shot to death by ROC authorities. For several weeks after the February 28 Incident, the rebels held control of much of the main island of Taiwan. Under orders from Chiang Kai-shek, Chen deployed military troops from the mainland against the Taiwanese insurgents. By April, Chen had executed or jailed all the leading rebels he could identify and catch, and his troops had wantonly slaughtered between 3,000 and 4,000 throughout the island. Tens of thousands of Taiwanese civilians, including many of the social elite, died in the resulting massacres and purges which drew widespread international attention. Following protests by the United States Congress, Chiang dismissed Chen from his position as governor general to appease international pressure.
Career After His Return to the Mainland
Following his dismissal from the post of Taiwan governor general, Chen was employed as a consultant. In June 1948, he took the position of provincial chairman of Zhejiang province. In November, he released over a hundred communists scheduled to be executed. In January 1949, his subordinate and former student, Tang Enbo , informed Chiang Kai-shek that Chen had advised him to rebel against the Kuomintang. Chiang immediately relieved Chen's chairmanship on the charge of collaboration with the Communists on February 21, 1949, and Tang Enbo was the officer carried out the order. On May 30, Chen Yi was transported to Taiwan to be imprisoned. Tang Enbo had claimed that he asked and received Chiang's promise not to execute Chen Yi as he was ordered to make the arrest. However, in June, 1950, Chiang decided to execute top level nationalist cadres and officers who were caught collaborating with communist to make an example, and Chen Yi was included. Tang Enbo attempted desperately to save Chen Yi's life by enlisting the help of Chang Ch'ün, which only further enraged Chiang, who refused to see Tang anymore. In addition, Chiang asked Tang to personally take charge of Chen Yi's execution as a way to show his loyalty. Tang stubbornly refused and Chiang was forced to ask the deputy minister of political affairs of the defence ministry, Mr. Yuan Shouqian , Chen Yi's brother-in-law to carry out Chen Yi's execution. Chen Yi was executed at , Taipei, on June 18, 1950 and was buried in , Taipei County. The fall out of this conflict of Chen Yi's execution was that Tang Enbo had since lost the trust of Chiang Kai-shek.
Quotes from Chen
*"Mainland Chinese were advanced enough to enjoy the privileges of constitutional government, but because of long years of despotic Japanese rule, the Formosans were politically retarded and were not capable of carrying on self-government in an intelligent manner."
*"It took the Japs 51 years to dominate this island. I expect to take about five years to re-educate the people so they will be more happy with Chinese administration."
*"I never forgot private enterprise. I always intended to re-establish it."
