Dr. T.V. Soong, the great-grandfather of Elliot Feng ’05, formulated policy alongside Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in his capacity of Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs. This past Monday night, Feng gave an Abbot Scholar Presentation focusing on the Trident Conference in 1943 and the activities of his great-grandfather there. Throughout his presentation, Feng commented on the difficult situation the Chinese were put in politically and militarily during World War II. Dr. Soong, the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs during this time of instability, faced numerous challenges during the war, especially concerning China’s relationship with the British. The political situation in China during World War II revolved around two parties competing for power. One was a Communist group headed by Mao Tse-tung, and the other was a republican group headed by Chiang Kai-Shek. Chiang Kai-Shek assumed power in China, and he appointed his brother-in-law, Dr. Soong, as his Foreign Affairs Minister because of Soong’s ability to speak English. When Dr. Soong came to office during the regime of Chiang Kai-Shek, he had to deal with the Japanese invasion of China. Japan gained more and more Chinese territory as the 1930s wore on, and by May 1943 Japan controlled most of the Chinese coast. China’s internal turmoil at the time of the Japanese invasion left China in a position “where they could not defend against an attack from the Japanese,” Feng said. In May 1943, Dr. Soong had long been pleading with the United States and Great Britain for fighter planes to counter the Japanese advance in China. However, according to Feng, “China was nowhere in [Britain’s] priorities.” The British were fighting a war in the Atlantic against the Germans, and they felt that they could not deal with two problems at once. British officials wrote to Dr. Soong that the European theater was Britain’s problem and the Pacific theater was the U.S.’s problem. Dr. Soong was very upset at the British response to China’s request for aid. He also was angered by the failure of China’s Chief of Staff, General Stilwell, to get the support China needed from Britain. General Stilwell was British, and he worked with Chiang Kai-Shek because of the links between their two countries. Britain and the United States planned to attack in North Burma, but Dr. Soong believed that this would be “a useless loss of life,” as it would give the Japanese an advantage in all her theaters of war. Dr. Soong was extremely upset by Britain’s planned attack on Burma, and he communicated this anger to U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Roosevelt assured Dr. Soong that “the plans must be changed,” but the British attack on Burma continued as planned. “The relationship between Churchill and Roosevelt really hurt Soong,” Feng said. In Dr. Soong’s opinion, Churchill and Roosevelt were only making plans and not taking any action, while China was coming closer and closer to complete destruction at the hands of the advancing Japanese. During the Trident Conference in May 1943, Dr. Soong represented China at an international policy meeting in Washington, D.C. One of the topics discussed at the Trident Conference was the Allied plans for the defense of China. Although no progress was made in the effort to secure military support for China, China was represented at the conference by a Chinese person, which was not the case at earlier meetings. At previous conferences, China was, in Feng’s words, “kept in the dark.” Feng believes that Dr. Soong’s work at the Trident Conference helped to establish China as an important power in world politics. Feng said, “Dr. Soong represented China on an equal footing [with] the stronger countries of the United States and United Kingdom….Due to the work of Dr. Soong, China was regarded by its peers as a major player.” After the war ended, China went into another period of instability. In 1949, the Communist party under Mao Tse-tung overthrew Chaing Kai-Shek’s government. Chiang Kai-Shek was forced to flee to Taiwan. After the Communist Revolution, Dr. Soong moved to the United States to recover from stress and illness brought on by the pressures of his former position.
