Retreat of the government of Republic of China to Taiwan
As the defeated Nationalists fled to Taiwan, they stripped China of liquid assets including gold, silver, and the country's
dollar reserves.
The KMT also retreated with artifacts, which are kept mostly in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan.
Chiang Kai-shek's mission to take gold from China was held secretly because, according to
Wu Sing-yung, the entire mission was operated by Chiang himself.
Only Chiang and Wu's father, who was the head of Military Finance for the KMT government, knew about the expenditure and moving of gold to Taiwan and almost all orders by Chiang were issued verbally. Wu stated that even the finance minister had no power over the final expenditure and transfer.
The written record was kept as the top military secret by Chiang in the Taipei Presidential Palace and the declassified archives only became available to the public more than 40 years after his death in April 1975.
It is a widely held belief that the gold brought to Taiwan were used to lay foundations for the Taiwanese economy and government. Some also believe that after six months of the gold operation by Chiang, the
New Taiwanese dollar was launched, which replaced the old Taiwanese dollar at a ratio of one to 40,000.
It is believed that 800,000 taels of gold were used to stabilize the economy which had been suffering from
hyperinflation since 1945.
However, these beliefs turned out to be mistaken. According to a memoir written by Zhou Hong-tao, a long-term
aide-de-camp of Chiang, the gold was consumed very fast after being brought to Taiwan and in less than two years 80% was already consumed for the funds and provisions for the troops.
The National Palace Museum claims that in 1948 when China was going through its Civil War, executive director
Chu Chia-hua and others (
Wang Shijie, Fu Ssu-nien, Xu Hong-Bao (Chinese: 徐洪宝), Li Ji (Chinese: 李济), and
Han Lih-wu) discussed shipping
masterpieces to Taiwan for the artifacts' safety.
There are different opinions on treasures that are at Taiwan's National Palace Museum. Some in China view the relocation as looting. Others believe these treasures have been accidentally protected, and might have been lost forever due to the
Four Olds campaign during the
Cultural Revolution.
Many historians believe that the treasure was taken to Taiwan by the Nationalists to keep it safe from the CCP.Others believe that Taiwan is still part of Chinese sovereign territory so the relocation is not an issue.
en.wikipedia.org
