Chiang Kai-shek diaries reveal 1955 Taiwan Strait crisis US strategic swap offer

The Academia Historica officially released the eleventh batch of the digitized diaries of Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo today, making them available to scholars and the general public for historical research. The newly declassified files provide clearer historical records regarding the cross-Strait situation during the height of the Cold War in the 1950s, particularly the critical decision-making process during the First Taiwan Strait Crisis. According to Chiang Kai-shek's 1955 diary, the United States once proposed a strategic exchange to Taiwan in an effort to ease cross-Strait tensions and redeploy its defense lines: the U.S. would be willing to help defend Kinmen, but in return, Taiwan had to voluntarily withdraw from the Dachen Islands. The publication of this historical material not only provides a firsthand perspective on the military and diplomatic maneuvering of that era, but also reaffirms the complex relationship of the Taiwan-U.S. alliance in the early Cold War, which was both close and fraught with tugs-of-war over competing interests.

Reviewing the historical context of the First Taiwan Strait Crisis, the People's Liberation Army launched fierce attacks on Yijiangshan Island and the Dachen Islands between 1954 and 1955, bringing the Taiwan Strait to the brink of war. At the time, the government of the Republic of China had just signed the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States. However, the defense scope of the treaty was explicitly defined as Taiwan and Penghu, leaving room for ambiguity and debate both within and outside the treaty regarding whether outer islands such as Kinmen and Matsu fell under mutual defense. Faced with military pressure from the Chinese Communist Party, and in order to avoid being dragged into a full-scale, large-scale war while simultaneously hoping to establish a more defensively viable strategic island defense line, the U.S. exerted pressure on and negotiated with the Chiang Kai-shek camp. The U.S. strategic calculations were quite pragmatic at the time; they believed the Dachen Islands were too close to the Zhejiang coast, making them difficult to defend and too costly. Abandoning Dachen and concentrating forces and resources to firmly hold Kinmen, Matsu, or Taiwan and Penghu would better ensure the defensive security of the Western Pacific.

However, this strategic exchange manifested as extremely complex emotions and political calculations in Chiang Kai-shek's diary. According to Chiang's 1955 entries, faced with the pressure and proposals from the U.S., the Nationalist government ultimately executed a comprehensive evacuation of the Dachen Islands, considering the broader picture and the pressure from its American ally, an event historically known as the Dachen compatriot evacuation. At the time, the government mobilized naval vessels and, with the assistance of the U.S. 7th Fleet, completely evacuated the military and civilians on the Dachen Islands to Taiwan. Although the diary indicates that the U.S. had made statements about defending Kinmen in exchange, subsequent developments did not go as smoothly as Chiang Kai-shek had anticipated, sowing the seeds of Taipei's later grievances against Washington.

As time passed, when Chiang Kai-shek looked back on this history in his 1957 diary, his emotions appeared quite dissatisfied. In his diary, he severely criticized then-U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, accusing the U.S. side of "violating the promise to jointly defend Kinmen and Matsu" after the evacuation of the Dachen Islands was completed. Between the lines, Chiang revealed his skepticism regarding U.S. diplomatic credibility, going so far as to bluntly state that Eisenhower "had broken his word and defaulted on too many occasions." This demonstrated that after the conclusion of Taiwan's first Strait crisis, the island's high-level leadership felt tremendous frustration over America's shifting security commitments and realist calculations. For Chiang Kai-shek, the Kinmen and Matsu regions were not only outpost stations for a counter-offensive against the mainland, but also symbols for maintaining political orthodoxy and the determination to defend; the lukewarm attitude of the United States frequently plunged the Nationalist government into an anxiety of isolation and helplessness.

By making the diaries of the two Chiangs public this time, the Academia Historica enables contemporary society to re-examine the inside story of decision-making on the frontline of the Cold War through these firsthand historical documents. From the Dachen evacuation in 1955 to the interest exchanges and commitment controversies between the U.S. and Taiwan, these historical records not only reflect Taiwan's survival strategies in the gaps between major power confrontations, but also highlight the grinding process of Taiwan-U.S. relations when facing regional security crises in history. Through the criticisms and complaints against the Eisenhower administration found in Chiang Kai-shek's diary, we gain a glimpse into the immense pressure and psychological shifts endured by national leaders at the time amidst national security, sovereign dignity, and international reality, holding considerable reference value for understanding the current security situation and historical origins of the Indo-Pacific region.