The New Gov't. of China

Hole of Justice

By Peter G. Jimenea

The KMT Government of China

Dr. Sun yat sen, a senior Triad member and Gen. Chiang kai-shek of the Chinese army formed a new Republic in 1911. The general is recognized by the doctor for his role in driving out the Barbarian Manchus from China.

Dr. Sun yat-sen estimated that there were 35 million members of secret societies in China and the Triads became a powerful group in the political and civic affairs of the government. They were rewarded with exclusive territories for all vices without interference from the government.

They controlled China’s underworld as well as influence in Chinese communities around the world. Gen. Chiang gave them formal recognition and power in the national politics to unify China and lead as the military chief of the new imperial government.

He used the Triads as an arm of his political party Koumintang or the KMT to attain his ambition.  The Triads did the dirty jobs for his official army who could not publicly be involved in. Gen. Chiang promised the Triads unlimited criminal control in his government if they cooperated.

He soon ordered the abolition of labor unions, closure of newspapers considered leftist, the arrest of union leaders, spokesmen and the communist he considered critical to his administration. He likewise ordered the destruction of all Communist-led unions in Shanghai, China’s largest city.

Big-eared Tu, a ruthless Chinese gangster and leader of Green Gang Triad who transfigured Capone’s meteoric rise to power, entered into a deal with Chiang to attack Shanghai. On April 12, 1927, they destroyed union halls, leftist sanctuaries and massacred Communist labor union leaders in just a day.

The Green Gang Triad head was awarded the rank of general in Chiang’s army. Another accomplice, a boss of the Red Gang Triad was also appointed advisor to the KMT government. The other Triads became officers, soldiers and intelligence agents in the new China.

In World War II of 1941, the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong gave the Triads unprecedented opportunity to solidify control over the black market and vice trades in the colony. The British withdrawal forced the Japanese to play into the Triads hands in exchange for information and peace in the colony.

 In 1945, the British again took control of Hong Kong but they proved ineffective to control the Triads. The British challenge to the triads ended with the latest events in Mainland China. Chiang knew that a showdown with the Communist armies of Mao tze tung sweeping from the north is inevitable.

The Triads were mobilized by Chiang to stop Mao tze-tung but failed to halt the momentum of the Communist. Sensing the imminent defeat, Gen. Chiang and most of his generals fled to Formosa (now Taiwan) in 1949.

After the fall of the KMT, Mainland China closed its door to the outside world. But China opened its door to the new world with a surprise. It has already an atomic power in 1969. The KMT generals who feared the ruthless Red Guards of Mao fled to Hong Kong. Only KMT Gen. Li Wan Huan and his troops crossed the China border to Burma.

For fear that communism will expand, the US sent the CIA to Burma with financial and firepower support to help Gen. Li and his 2000 army. But Mao’s Red Guards running after Gen. Li and troops in the boundary of Burma, forced the latter to move deeper into the boundaries of Laos and Thailand.

(To be continued)