蔣介石의‘원동연맹’결성 구상과 좌절

Chiang Kai-shek s Plan and Frustration of the Organization of the‘Far Eastern Union’

In 1949 when the situation of Chinese Civil War was extremely deteriorated, Chiang Kai-shek stepped down from his post of president for the third time. After this, Chiang Kai-shek became free from political responsibility; however, his stepping down was not a means to avoid his responsibilities. Measures he took in the financial, political and military sectors before he resigned show that he would not give up his struggle with the Communist Party and that he did not abandon his hopes for victory in Chinese Civil War. Although Chiang Kai-shek resigned, he retained the position of the head of the Nationalist Party and sought to find diplomatic ways as the leader of revolution. He appealed to all Asian countries to confront the communist forces, and tried to embody this through the establishment of the‘Far Eastern Union.’He believed that strengthening regional anti-communist organizations was the most urgent and sure way of maintaining world order. It was the idea and role of Chiang Kai-shek to form a union for common interests while traveling to various countries in order to avoid immediate threats under the special international circumstances and environments in the early Cold War era. However, it was not possible to form a union led by relatively weak countries, in the situation where the initiative of group formation and collective defense was in the hands of a powerful hegemonic country. Nevertheless, Chiang Kai-shek s efforts for the organization of the‘Far Eastern Union’can be considered as example of seeking a developmental direction of an Asian new order in the early Cold War era, in which his keen insight was reflected.