Home > Chen Yi (Kuomintang)

Chen Yi (陳儀 Pinyin: Chén Yí; Wade-Giles: Ch'en I; 1883 - June 18, 1950) was the Chief Executive and Garrison Commander (警備總司令) of Taiwan Province after it was handed over to the Republic of China in 1945 from Japan. His infamous mishandling of the tension between Taiwanese locals and Mainlanders precipitated in the February 28 Incident, and he was dismissed later for disloyalty.

He was the chairman senator (總參議) and governor of Zhejiang (since October 1925). Chen was also the leader of the 19th Route Army of the National Revolutionary ArmyThe National Revolutionary Army NRA ( Chinese: ; pinyin: guo2 min2 ge2 ming4 jun1) was the national army of the Republic of China. It was largely controlled by the Kuomintang (KMT), with the boundaries between the Kuomintang and the National Revolutionary (國民革命軍第十九路軍軍長). After 1927, he worked in the Military Affairs Department (軍政部), then as the chairman of FujianFujian (; alternate spellings Fukien Foukien pinyin Fujian Wade-Giles Fu-chien local transliteration Hokkien from Min-nan Hok-kian is one of the provinces on the southeast coast of China. The name Fujian comes from the combination of Fuzhou and Jian'ou, t in 1933, and Secretary-General of the Executive YuanThe Executive Yuan (; literally 'executive court') is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China. Organzation and Structure It is headed by a President, commonly referred to as the Premier of the Republic of China, and has a vice pres.

In 1935, Chen was sent to Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shekChiang Kai-shek ( October 31, 1887 April 5, 1975) was a Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925. He commanded the Northern Expedition to unify China against the warlor 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 Taiwan under Japanese ruleSee also History of the Republic of China for a history of the government that currently administers Taiwan. Prehistoric Settlement Taiwan has been populated for approximately 50,000 years. Little is known about the original inhabitants, but distinctive j. 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 inccured destruction and lack of further modernization. After he went back to FujianFujian (; alternate spellings Fukien Foukien pinyin Fujian Wade-Giles Fu-chien local transliteration Hokkien from Min-nan Hok-kian is one of the provinces on the southeast coast of China. The name Fujian comes from the combination of Fuzhou and Jian'ou, t, 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. One[1], Chen Yi was escorted by George Kerr to Taiwan for accepting Japan government's surrender as the Chinese delegate. On October 25 1945, joined with the delegates from Allied Powers, Chen singed a surrender instrument with General Rikichi Ando , governor-general of Taiwan, in Taipei City Hall (current Chong-Shang Hall). Chen Yi proclaimed that day to be the retrocession day of Taiwan which was regarded as legally controversial as Japan had yet ceded Taiwan in any treaty until 1952.

Chen was later removed from Taiwan governor general position for his mishandling in the 228 Massacre. In the beginning of the few years of Chinese rule, it was so corrupt and caused severe inflation, which lead to wide local discontent. Anti-mainlander violence flared on February 28, 1947, prompted by an incident in which innocent civilians were injured and shot to death by Nationalist authorities. For several weeks after the February 28 Incident, the rebels held control of much of the Formosa island. Under the order from Chiang Kai-shek, Chen pulled in military troops against the Taiwanese insurgent. Tens of thousand Taiwanese civilians and social elites were dead which drew wide international attention on the atrocity. Under the protest of the US congress, Chiang dismissed Chen's position to appease the international pressure.

After his dismissal as the Taiwanese governor general, he was employed as a consultant. In June 1948, he took the position as the chairman of Zhejiang. In November, he released over a hundred communists scheduled to be executed. In January 1949, his subordinate, Tang Enbo (湯恩伯), informed Chiang Kai-shek that Chen advised him to rebel against Kuomintang. Chiang immediately relieved Chen's chairmanship in the charge of collaboration with the communists. On May 30, Chen Yi was transported to Taiwan to be imprisoned and later executed at Machangting (馬場町), Taipei.

See also:

• History of Taiwan
• History of the Republic of China