Zhang Fakui

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In this Chinese name, the family name is Zhang.

Zhang Fakui
CBE
張發奎
Zhang Fakui on the cover of The Young Companion, June 1938
3rd Commander-in-Chief of the Republic of China Army
In office
9 February 1949 – 26 June 1949
PresidentLi Zongren
Preceded byYu Hanmou
Succeeded byGu Zhutong
Personal details
Born(1896-09-02)2 September 1896
Encirclement Campaigns, Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese Civil War
Zhang Fakui
Hanyu Pinyin
Zhāng Fākuí
Wade–GilesChang Fa-kuei
IPA[ʈʂáŋ fá.kʰwěɪ]
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingZoeng1 Faat3-kwai1

Zhang Fakui

Nationalist general who fought against northern warlords, the Imperial Japanese Army and Chinese Communist forces in his military career. He served as commander-in-chief of the 8th Army Group and commander-in-chief of NRA ground force before retiring in Hong Kong
in 1949.

Life

Early life

Zhang Fakui was born in 1896 in

Nationalist Government in his province and was an active member during the Central Plains War against the Nanjing government. In 1936 he and Chiang reconciled and he was appointed commander-in-chief of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Anhui and Fujian
border regions, to eradicate communist activities in those places.

World War II

During the

Japanese Twenty-Third Army in Guangdong
at the end of the War.

There was a unique feature for the telephone conversations with Chiang Kai-shek, because Zhang was a Hakka, and the two had difficulties in understanding each other: instead of simply hanging up the phone after giving out orders like he did to everyone else, during the conversation with Zhang, Chiang always asked Zhang if he understood what he had just said, and Chiang always waited until after Zhang gave an affirmative answer.

During the struggle against the Japanese, Zhang was among the first Army Corps commanders to ask the Chinese military to change its code because he discovered that Japanese could easily decode the Chinese code at the early stage of the war. After the war he was made to march into Hong Kong accept the surrender of the Japanese troops and stayed until the restoration of the British. He was awarded

Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE); his medal was presented by Governor of Hong Kong Sir Mark Young
in May 1947. (The Straits Times, 3 May 1947)

Zhang was nicknamed Zhang Fei, after the historical Three Kingdoms figure.[1]

Chinese Civil War

After the

Huaihai Campaign, Vice President Li Zongren took over as acting President, Zhang was named as chief military administrator of Hainan and commander-in-chief of Nationalist ground forces in March 1949. He did not retreat to Taiwan with his commander Xue Yue
. He stayed in Hong Kong.

Vietnamese Revolution

Main article: Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng

Zhang Fakui was instrumental in the Kuomintang support of Vietnamese revolutionary organizations and parties against the

Kuomintang of Vietnam (VNQDD). Based in Guangxi, Zhang established the Viet Nam Cach Menh Dong Minh Hoi meaning "Viet Nam Revolutionary League" in 1942, which was assisted by the VNQDD to serve the KMT's aims. The Chinese Yunnan provincial army, under the KMT, occupied northern Vietnam after the Japanese surrender in 1945, the VNQDD tagging alone, opposing Ho Chi Minh's communist party.[2] The Viet Nam Revolutionary League was a union of various Vietnamese nationalist groups, run by the pro-Chinese VNQDD. Its stated goal was for unity with China under the Three Principles of the People, created by KMT founder Sun and opposition to Japanese and French Imperialists.[3][4] The Revolutionary League was controlled by Nguyen Hai Than. General Zhang shrewdly blocked the Communist Party of Vietnam, and Ho Chi Minh from entering the league, as his main goal was Chinese influence in Indo China.[5] The KMT utilized these Vietnamese nationalists during World War II against Japanese forces.[6]

Zhang worked with Nguyen Hai Than, a VNQDD member, against French Imperialists and Communists in Indochina.[7] General Chang Fa-kuei planned to lead a Chinese army invasion of Tonkin in Indo China to Free Vietnam from French control, and to get Chiang Kai-shek's support.[8]

Retirement

In June 1949, Zhang resigned and moved to British Hong Kong. He later became the President of the Tsung Tsin Association, the umbrella body for Hakka people in Hong Kong. He had built schools back in his native village. He was the organizer of the First World Hakka Congress in Hong Kong and died there in 1980. He stayed neutral leaning neither to the Communists nearby or his previous Nationalist Government. Despite numerous pleas from both Taiwan and the mainland, he never visited either place. When he died, his old subordinate communist Hakka leader Ye Jianying, by now a Marshal in the PLA, and contemporary Taiwan's leader Chiang Ching-kuo sent their condolence letters to express their sorrow.

Military career

  • 1926 General Officer Commanding IV Corps
  • 1926 - 1927 General Officer Commanding 12th Division
  • 1927 Retired
  • 1936 - 1937 Commander in Chief Zhejiang-Fujian-Anhui-Jiangxi Border Area
  • 1937 - 1938 Commander in Chief 8th Army Group
  • 1937 Commander in Chief Right Wing 3rd War Area
  • 1938 Commander in Chief 2nd Army Corps, Battle of Wuhan
  • 1939 - 1944 Commander in Chief 4th War Area
  • 1944 Commander in Chief Guilin War Zone
  • 1944 - 1945 Commander in Chief 2nd Front Army

References

Citations

  1. ^ Association for Asian Studies, Far Eastern Association, JSTOR (Organization) (1944). The Journal of Asian studies, Volumes 3-4. Association for Asian Studies. p. 163. Retrieved 4 June 2011.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ISBN 0-520-04156-9
    . Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  3. ISBN 0-231-06909-X
    . Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  4. ISBN 9780894532870
    . Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  5. ISBN 0-313-31170-6
    . Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  6. ISBN 0-8014-0951-9
    . Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  7. ISBN 9780020735908
    .
  8. ^ Fitzsimmons, James (1975), Lugano Review, Vol. II, Nos. 4-6, J. Fitzsimmons, p. 6.

Bibliography

  • Hsu Long-hsuen and Chang Ming-kai, History of The Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) 2nd Ed., 1971. Translated by Wen Ha-hsiung, Chung Wu Publishing; 33, 140th Lane, Tung-hwa Street,
    Republic of China
    .

External links


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zhang_Fakui&oldid=1211236789"