The Soong Sisters with their mother, Madam Ni Guizhen (倪桂珍, Ní
Guìzhēn) (1869 – 1931)
(Continued from previous part)
Later life of Soong Ai-ling
Ai-ling was more adept in business
and financial matters compared to politics. She stayed in Shanghai with her
husband, Dr Kung, often keeping a low profile and preferring to be engaged in
business matters rather than politics. Together with her husband, they rapidly
expanded their businesses throughout China, including Hong Kong. In spite of
her wealth, she was a passionate philanthropist who devoted much of her time
and energy into social works involving children, orphans, refugees and wounded
soldiers. She donated much to the cause of General Chiang’s Nationalist
(Kuomintang) army, in terms of financial support, supplies and military
equipment. In 1947, shortly after the end of the Second World War, Ai-ling
migrated permanently to the United States with her husband, moving all her
family’s wealth along with her. She continued playing an active role in
supporting General Chiang’s regime by contributing her energy and influence in
promoting public relations between the United States and the Republic of China
(Taiwan) right up to her death in 1973 in New York.
Ai-ling and her husband, Dr Kung
Later life of Soong Ching-ling
While Ai-ling played a more
secretive but undoubtedly significant role in Chinese politics and economy, her
two sisters were more open in their political affiliations and struggles for a
better China. Standing on two opposite sides of the divide, Ching-ling associated
herself with left-wing leaders of the Kuomintang, whom she felt were still
faithful to her husband’s (Dr Sun’s) original principles and struggles. It was
these left-wing leaders who later came about in establishing the Chinese
Communist Party. May-ling, however, stood by her husband’s (General Chiang’s)
right-wing Nationalist principles, which in the due course of China’s history
won the battle but lost the war.
Ching-ling and her husband, Dr Sun
Ching-ling was an ardent campaigner of
women’s rights. Taking swipes at China’s traditionally male-chauvinistic
society and culture in many of her speeches, she argued that for China to
experience a revolution for the better, women had to break out of their
traditional roles of merely being “capable mothers and obedient wives” and had
to start playing more major roles in politics and society. She argued that
gender equality was as important as the equality of classes if China were to
see progress.
Ching-ling’s close association with
the leftists in the Kuomintang meant that when General Chiang launched a brutal
purge of the leftists in 1927, she was forced to exile herself to Moscow, then
part of the Communist-controlled Soviet Union. She returned briefly in 1929
when Dr Sun’s body was transferred from a temporary site in Beijing to a
mausoleum newly-built by the Kuomintang in Nanjing, thereafter leaving again
until 1931, when her mother passed away. She was responsible for establishing
the China Defense League (保卫中国同盟, Băowèi Zhōngguó Tóngméng) in 1939, an
organization that primarily functioned to raise funds and acquire supplies for
the Chinese Communist armies fighting against both the Japanese and Nationalist
armies circa World War II.
Ching-ling with children in the China Welfare Institute, a welfare organization that developed from the China Defense League
As the Chinese Civil War raged,
Ching-ling broke away permanently from her family and openly supported the
Chinese Communist army. Her undivided support and assistance for the Communists
meant that her political prominence skyrocketed in the aftermath of the war, in
which the Communists emerged victorious and subsequently established the
People’s Republic of China in 1949. She held many important positions in the
newly-established Communist government, who viewed her as a link between Dr
Sun’s ideals and the principles of Chinese communism. She was made one of the
six vice-chairmen of the Central People’s Government Council, and was later
elected to become a Vice-Chairperson of the People’s Republic of China, making
her perhaps the most powerful woman in the modern history of China.
The 10-year Cultural Revolution that
lasted from 1966 to 1976 saw Ching-ling being criticized heavily and
threatened, so much so that she had to be accorded special protection under
Chairman Mao’s approval. After the Cultural Revolution, she greatly reduced her
number of public appearances, although she continued to write actively on women
and children’s rights in the press. Shortly before her death in 1981,
Ching-ling was made the Honorary President of the People’s Republic of China,
the only person to have ever held this title until today.
Ching-ling with Chairman Mao and other leaders from the Chinese Communist Party
Later life of Soong May-ling
Whereas Ching-ling rose to political
stardom in the Communist-controlled People’s Republic of China based in
Beijing, May-ling became her direct counterpart in the Nationalist-controlled
Republic of China based in Taipei. May-ling took up an active role in setting
up schools and running welfare programs for the orphans of fallen Nationalist
soldiers, providing them proper homes and education. She was also an active
campaigner for foreign funds and support, both for the sake of her welfare
programs and the Nationalist army as a whole.
May-ling’s campaigns brought her all
over the world with her husband, General Chiang, especially to the United
States. Her eloquence and fluency in the English language made her just the
right person to play the role of interpreter and sometimes mouthpiece for
General Chiang. Her rallies in the United States frequently drew large crowds,
and she was a highly popular figure who succeeded in raising much awareness in
the Western world for the Nationalists’ cause. In every way, the Americans
viewed her as the embodiment of a democratic China they hoped to see.
May-ling and General Chiang sharing a light moment with General Joseph Stilwell
Despite all international support
for the Nationalists, rampant corruption and the loss of popular support for
the Nationalists back home ultimately resulted in the defeat of the Nationalist
army in the Chinese Civil War and the consequent collapse of General Chiang’s
regime. When General Chiang moved his regime to Taiwan and established the
Republic of China on the island in 1949, May-ling continued to be an iconic
figure for both the Nationalists and the Western world, holding various
positions in internationally recognized organizations.
May-ling addressing the American public via radio broadcast, thanking the Americans for their continued support towards the Kuomintang (Nationalist) cause
May-ling held no official positions
in the Republic of China’s government, but her political influence remained
strong right up to the death of her husband in 1975. Her relationship with
Chiang Ching-kuo (蒋经国, Jiăng Jīngguó) (1910 – 1988), General Chiang’s son from an earlier
marriage, proved to be rocky, and when he succeeded power after his father’s
death in 1975, May-ling emigrated to New York. She returned to Taiwan after
Ching-kuo’s death in 1988, at a time when a successor to the Kuomintang’s
presidency was to be elected. As the widow of General Chiang and perhaps the
most senior surviving figure of the Kuomintang at that time, May-ling’s
political influence and support remained very strong even after her long
absence from Taiwan.
May-ling’s initial intention was to
spend the rest of her life in Taiwan, but mounting controversy against her and
the rapidly changing local political landscape forced her to make a heavy
decision to return to New York. Criticisms and verbal attacks mounted against
her with regards to her husband’s past dictatorial rule and her personal influence
in Taiwanese politics were increasing across the mass media. Additionally,
although she was on good terms with President Lee Teng-hui (李登辉, Lĭ
Dēnghuī) who succeeded the Kuomintang and Taiwanese presidency, her
disliking for his “Taiwanization” policies ultimately pushed her to make the
decision to leave. Such “Taiwanization” policies include, among others,
favouring native Taiwanese over mainland-born Chinese in key governmental
positions and defining a set of Taiwanese customs and culture that is separate
from mainstream Chinese culture.
President Lee Teng-hui (李登辉, Lĭ Dēnghuī), former President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
May-ling’s return to the United
States in 1991 marked the end of the Chiang family’s influence in Taiwanese
politics. In the years that followed, many legacies of the Chiang family were
dismantled, criticisms against the Chiang family’s past rule and May-ling’s
political influence were increased, and idolization of General Chiang was
severely discouraged. Ironically, it was at that time as well when the Chiang
family’s role in shaping modern China was actively preserved and re-appreciated
by the Communist government in Beijing. This was probably due to the fact that
the Chiang family, including May-ling herself, strongly opposed any movement to
seek independence for Taiwan, as opposed to President Lee Teng-hui’s policies
that favoured a Republic of China (Taiwan) independent of Beijing’s control.
In 1994, May-ling made what would be
her last visit to Taiwan. Even at the age of 97, she became a huge subject of
controversy, and her visit did nothing to improve that. In the following year,
a reception held by the U.S. Congress in her honour to mark the 50th
anniversary of the end of the Second World War served to further fuel
controversy and strain Washington’s ties with both Beijing and Taipei, at a
time when issues such as Taiwan’s independence and Beijing’s abuse of human
rights were becoming more heightened.
Members of the U.S. Senate having a light moment with the elderly Madam Soong May-ling in 1995
May-ling passed away in 2003 at the
ripe old age of 105, her life having extended into three centuries, being the longest
and, unsurprisingly, most controversial among the three sisters.
“One loved money, one loved power,
and one loved the country” (一个爱钱，一个爱权，一个爱国, yīgè ài
qián, yīgè ài quán, yīgè ài guó). Such is the saying by Chairman Mao that
refers to Ai-ling, May-ling and Ching-ling, in that order. Adept in business
over politics, Ai-ling is dubbed the one who loved money. Being highly
influential in both China and abroad, and having been mired in insurmountable
controversies in much of her later life, May-ling is dubbed the one who loved
power. Being highly supportive of the Chinese Communist regime and its
struggles, and wielding much influence in it, Ching-ling is dubbed the one who
loved the country i.e. the People’s Republic of China. Had the saying come from
General Chiang instead, might it apply to Ai-ling, Ching-ling and May-ling, in
that exact order, instead?
Two thing’s for sure. Firstly, while Ai-ling preferred her businesses over
dabbling in politics, both Ching-ling and May-ling were direct counterparts to
each other, separated by the Taiwan Straits and a deep political chasm between
the Nationalists and Communists. And secondly, if ever there was a woman (or
women) who could match Empress Wu Zetian (武则天, Wŭ Zétiān) (624 – 705) in
political might and bureaucratic influence throughout China’s long history, she
(or they) would undoubtedly be of the Soong Sisters.
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