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Sun Li-jen

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"Sun Liren" redirects here. For the Singaporean director, seeKelvin Sng.
In thisChinese name,thefamily nameisSun.
Sun Li-jen
Tôn Lập Nhân
Sun Li-jen
Commander of the Republic of China Army
In office
March 1950 – June 1954
Preceded byGu Zhutong
Succeeded byHuang Chieh
Personal details
Born(1900-12-08)December 8, 1900
Jinnu,Lu gian g,Chaohu,Anhui
DiedNovember 19, 1990(1990-11-19)(aged 89)
Taichung,Taiwan,Republic of China
Alma materVirginia Military Institute
AwardsOrder of the Cloud and Banner with Special Cravat

Companion of the Order of the Bath (U.K.)
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (U.K.)
Officer of the Legion of Merit (U.S.)

Order of Blue Sky and White Sun
Nickname"Rommelof the East "
Military service
AllegianceRepublic of China
Branch/serviceNational Revolutionary Army
Years of service1927–1955
RankGeneral
CommandsTax Police Regiment
New 38th Division
New First Army
Republic of China Army
Battles/wars

Sun Li-jen(traditional Chinese:Tôn Lập Nhân;simplified Chinese:Tôn Lập Nhân;pinyin:Sūn Lìrén;December 8, 1900 – November 19, 1990[citation needed]) was aChinese Nationalist(KMT)general,a graduate ofVirginia Military Institutein the United States, best known for his leadership in theSecond Sino-Japanese Warand theChinese Civil War.His military achievements earned him the laudatory nickname"Rommelof the East ".[1]HisNew First Armywas known as the "Best Army under heaven" and credited with effectively confronting Japanese troops in the 1937Battle of Shanghaiand in theBurma Campaign,1943–1944.

Perhaps because of his foreign military training, he did not have the full confidence ofChiang Kai-shek.Sun was relieved of battle command in theChinese Civil Warin 1946, and although he was made Commander in Chief in 1950 after the retreat of the Nationalist central government to Taiwan, he was given only ceremonial roles. He was charged with conspiracy in 1955 and spent his last thirty years under virtual house arrest.

He was also known asSun Chung-neng(Trọng có thể;Zhòngnéng;"Chung-neng" being hisart name) and had thecourtesy nameFu-min(An dân;Fǔmín).

Biography[edit]

Early life[edit]

Sun Li-jen was born inJinnu,Lu gian g,Chaohu,Anhui,with ancestry inShucheng County.During theMay Fourth Movement,he was part of theScoutsin the march atTiananmenSquare. In the same year (1919) he marriedGong Xitao( Cung tịch đào ) and was admitted in 1920 toTsinghua Universityto studycivil engineering.Sun played basketball at Tsinghua, becoming a star. He led the Chinese team to a gold medal at the 1921Far Eastern Championship Games.[2]

With aBoxer Indemnity Scholarship,he transferred toPurdue Universityin the United States to complete his senior year in 1923, where he graduated in 1924. He briefly interned atChicago Bridge & Iron CompanyinChicago,Illinois.He worked briefly for Chicago Bridge and Iron Company in Chicago as an engineer. Patriotism motivated him to change career and pursue a military studies instead. China was in the middle of a nationalist drive to unite the divided[clarification needed]country and to protect the nation against imperialists. Sun decided that he could better serve his divided nation as a soldier rather than an engineer.[citation needed]

He applied to theVirginia Military Institute.He graduated from VMI class of 1927.[3]In 1927 Sun toured Europe and Japan to see the latest military organization and strategic thinking, then returned to China and became a corporal in theNational Revolutionary Armyand theCentral Political Institute.He was then given command of theNational Salt GabelleBrigade, organized by Finance MinisterT. V. Soong,which he made the KMT's best trained and equipped troops. Four of the regiments later became theNew 38th Division.His training center was located inDuyun,inGuizhouprovince.[4]

Sun and Stilwell in Burma

Second Sino-Japanese War[edit]

Sun Li-jen in India

Sun led his troops fighting the Japanese during theBattle of Shanghaiin 1937 and was badly wounded by mine fragments. After recovering, Sun returned to lead his troops at the front. After two years training, Sun's New 38th Division was sent by Chiang Kai-shek into Burma to protect theBurma Roadunder General Zhang Zhen, commander of the 66th Army, together with GeneralDu Yuming(5th Army) and General Gan Lichu (6th Army) as part of theChinese Expeditionary Force.Sun led the 113th Regiment as part of the 38th Division through difficult terrain to relieve 7,000 British forces trapped by the numerically superior Japanese in theBattle of Yenangyaung.His command included British artillery and7th Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom)tanks temporarily placed under his command by General Slim. For his gallantry at Yenangyaung, Sun was honoured byKing George VIwith theCommander of the British Empiremedal.[5][6]

Although unable to stop the Japanese from cutting the Burma Road, Sun gained the respect of GeneralWilliam Slim,the commander of the British 14th Army. Sun and his division retreated into India, while those of Du, against Sun's advice, retreated back into China and were badly mauled both by nature and by the Japanese.[4]

Early in 1943, after the successful retreat into India, Sun's division was incorporated in theNew First Army,and became a part of 'X Force', the Chinese force under the command ofJoseph Stilwell,the American commander of all American and Chinese troops in the "China Burma India Theater".The battle discipline of Sun's divisions reaffirmed Stilwell's respect for the Chinese soldier. His troops spearheaded theBurma Campaign,Stilwell's 1943 drive to reconquer North Burma and re-establish the land route to China by theLedo Road.General Stilwell considered Sun the most capable Chinese field commander in the entire war. In 1945, at the invitation of American GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower,Sun toured the battlefields of Europe. He returned to China to lead the New First Army to Canton to accept the Japanese surrender.[7]

Chinese Civil War[edit]

Sun and Eisenhower in Europe in 1945

The end of the war with Japan did not bring peace to China. Sun's New First Army was deployed to Manchuria, where the Soviet armies left the Communist forces in control of strategic areas and the Nationalists could find support only by enlisting local bandits and surrendered Japanese troops. On May 20, 1946, Sun's troops defeated thePeople's Liberation Armyto take a key railroad junction in theBattle of Siping,but only after a month of fighting. General Lin Biao's communist troops had this saying: "As long as we don't have to fight the New 1st Army, we are not afraid of the Central Government's million troops." Sun said that the PLA opposing the Nationalist army was like "flies attacking a tiger," but when the PLA had a growing series of local victories, Chiang Kai-shek's favorite Du Yuming repeatedly accused Sun of insubordination. Chiang sensed that Sun could not get the cooperation of Whampoa educated officers and replaced him with a general whom he considered more loyal. Sun was returned to a command post in Nanjing in July 1947, as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Army and commanding general of the Army Training Command.[7]The American Consul General in Mukden at that time,O. Edmund Clubb,later recalled that because of his American education Sun was regarded as an outsider: "personal loyalty was counted by the Nationalist regime as being more important than competence, and when you establish a standard like that you run into danger."[8]

Taiwan[edit]

As the commander of the Army Training Command and deputy commander of theRepublic of China Armyin 1947, Sun moved one training facility to Taiwan, independent from the ongoing civil war. Sun trained new officers and troops for the Nationalist government, hoping to change the tide of the civil war. The effort was too little, too late in comparison with the massive numbers of troops defeated, but one of the divisions he trained (201 Division of the 80th Army) was sent toQuemoyto help crush off the communist invasion in 1949. It was the front line defense force.[citation needed]

In 1950, Sun was named Commander in Chief of theRepublic of China Army,while also serving as commander of the Taiwan Defense Command and of the Army Training Command. Sun was well respected by the Americans, and rumors that theCIAsought a coup to replaceChiang Kai-shekwith Sun made Chiang and his sonChiang Ching-kuoeager to remove him from power.[citation needed]

Sun Li-jen with the popular army elephantLin Wang

First, Sun was reassigned as the ceremonial chief military adviser to Chiang Kai-shek in June 1954, preventing him from directly controlling any troops. In 1950,Chiang Ching-kuobecame director of his father'ssecret police,a position he held until 1965.[9]Chiang Ching-kuo, educated in the Soviet Union, initiated Soviet style military structure, reorganizing and Sovietizing the officer corps while instituting surveillance. Sun Li-jen, who was educated at the AmericanVirginia Military Institute,opposed this system.[10]On May 25, one of General Sun's subordinates, Lieutenant-Colonel Kuo Ting-liang, was arrested by Chiang Ching-kuo's associate, internal security chiefMao Jen-feng,and tortured into admitting conspiracy with a communist agent. On August 20, 1955 Sun was officially relieved from his duties and put under house arrest. A nine-person committee under Vice-President Chen Cheng was set up to investigate General Sun's involvement in the alleged spy case. The CIA also allegedly wanted to help Sun take control of Taiwan and declare its independence.[11][12]Sun, in addition to being under suspicion of collaborating with the CIA, was also accused of negligence in allowing his subordinate to participate in an alleged revolt involving Communist agents. One source suggests that the "plot" may simply have been a plan to present a petition to Generalissimo Chiang to do away with the army system of political commissars.[7]

More than 300 of Sun's close subordinates were placed under arrest and many more were relieved of their duties. Sun remained underhouse arrestfor more than three decades: his charge was not reliefed until March 20, 1988, shortly after the death of Chiang Ching-kuo. Two years later he died of natural cause at home at the age of 89.[13]His funeral was conducted with full military honors and with the presence of the Minister of National Defense and top generals.[citation needed]

Sun Li-jen's house in Taichung

In 2001, Sun's reputation was cleared after a government investigation into the purported coup attempt. In January 2011, PresidentMa Ying-jeouformally apologized to Sun Li-jen's family and Sun's house in Taichung was opened as a memorial hall and museum.[14]

Family[edit]

General Sun was survived by his two sons Sun Tien-ping ( tôn thiên bình ) and Sun An-ping ( tôn an bình ), two daughters Sun Chung-ping ( tôn trung bình ) and Sun Tai-ping ( tôn thái bình ), and sister Sun Pi-jen ( tôn bích nhân ).[15]

See also[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toSun Li-ren.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^"2016-2017 - News - Virginia Military Institute".vmi.edu.Archived fromthe originalon June 1, 2023.RetrievedJanuary 4,2024.
  2. ^"Sun Li-Jen".Hoopedia.Archived fromthe originalon February 14, 2012.
  3. ^"VMI Alumni General and Flag Officers"(PDF).Virginia Military Institute (VMI).Archived(PDF)from the original on April 10, 2023.RetrievedJanuary 3,2024.
  4. ^abBoorman (1970),p. 166.
  5. ^James LuntThe Retreat from Burma 1941–1942(David & Charles, 1989) pp. 214–7
  6. ^ww2db
  7. ^abcBoorman (1970),p. 167.
  8. ^Oral History Interview with O. Edmund Clubb,p. 40. Harry S. Truman Library and Museum (June 26, 1974). Accessed May 3, 2015
  9. ^Peter R. Moody (1977).Opposition and dissent in contemporary China.Hoover Press. p. 302.ISBN0-8179-6771-0.RetrievedNovember 30,2010.
  10. ^Jay Taylor (2000).The Generalissimo's son: Chiang Ching-kuo and the revolutions in China and Taiwan.Harvard University Press. p. 195.ISBN0-674-00287-3.RetrievedJune 28,2010.
  11. ^Peter R. Moody (1977).Opposition and dissent in contemporary China.Hoover Press. p. 302.ISBN0-8179-6771-0.RetrievedNovember 30,2010.
  12. ^Nancy Bernkopf Tucker(1983).Patterns in the dust: Chinese-American relations and the recognition controversy, 1949-1950.Columbia University Press. p. 181.ISBN0-231-05362-2.RetrievedJune 28,2010.
  13. ^"Sun Li-jen, 91, War Hero in Burma Fighting, Dies".The New York Times.Associated Press. November 21, 1990.RetrievedNovember 17,2018.
  14. ^Belated justice for Taiwanese war hero. Jan 23, 2011
  15. ^Ma visit to war hero's former residence stirs gratitude, regret. The China Post. January 23, 2011

References and further reading[edit]

  • Sun Li-jen, "inBoorman, Howard L., et al., eds (1970).Biographical Dictionary of Republican China Vol III.New York: Columbia University Press.ISBN0231045581.{{cite book}}:|first=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link),pp. 165-167

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sun_Li-jen&oldid=1233230599"