The United States and China in Power Transition - Strategic Studies ...

凯), a military strong man who controlled much of the
northern parts of China, as a negotiated compromise
to solicit cooperation from Yuan to consolidate victory
over the Qing. This political deal got what it bargained
for. However, Yuan soon betrayed the revolutionaries.
He disrupted the newly established government,
turned it into an authoritarian regime, and even tried
to restore dynastic rule in China. Following the death
of Yuan, shortly after his failed attempt to become an
emperor in 1916, the warlords took turns to control
the defunct government and plunged China into more
than 10 years of bloody internal warfare. 18
Sun Yat-sen had to mobilize the nation again to
fight against those narrow-minded warlords. Unfortunately,
he died untimely of liver cancer in 1925.
Fortunately, however, Sun left behind a well-defined
political party, the Kuomintang (KMT); a set of wellarticulated
principles for governance, the “Three
People’s Principles” of nationalism, democracy, and
economic prosperity; 19 and a 3-step approach for the
KMT to pursue reunification, rejuvenation, and modernization
of China: 1) using military force to unify
China; 2) imposing authoritarian rule to develop
China; and 3) applying constitutional rule to keep
peace and prosperity in China. 20 Moreover, Sun also
left behind a growing military force that could support
the KMT’s mission. Fortunately as well, the head
of this military force, Chiang Kai-shek (蒋介石), was a
determined successor of Sun and a professed follower
of Sun’s principles. Following Sun’s death, Chiang
quickly consolidated his leadership in the KMT and
continued Sun’s fight against the warlords. In 1926,
Chiang launched the Northern Expedition (北伐战争)
to attack the strongest of all warlords. In 3 years, Chiang
finally brought the fragmented China under his
control.
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