Discuss: Henry Luce and Chiang Kai-shek

The Last Empress: Madame Chiang Kai-shek and the Birth of Modern China by Hannah Pakula

Event, 7/21: The Last Empress and the Publisher: America and the Birth of Modern China

Given his knowledge of China and career as a newsman why did Henry Luce so doggedly continue to support and promote Chiang-Kai shek in the face of the deteriorating situation in China in the 1940’s.

With the perspective that history now gives us, and especially in view of some of the historical work recently done on Chiang Kai-shek and his wife, did Luce have it right or wrong?

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"China Hand" | 07:16:10 06:40pm

Luce was right in the sense that Chiang was a genuine Chinese patriot who played a crucial role in keeping the Japanese Imperial Army at bay for four years. Most of the hard fighting against the Japanese was done by the KMT, while the CCP bided its time. Without Soviet assistance, the CCP would never have succeeded in defeating the KMT, and China would today be a democracy.

Oz | 07:16:10 07:16pm

Luce's & America's infatuation with the Chiangs unfortunately reflected the eternal American wish when looking abroad to see a version of itself: a Christianized 'Other' talking about democracy in perfect English with a Georgia accent. It never had very much to do with China.

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Discuss: Henry Luce and Chiang Kai-shek