43 Kuomintang War Criminals: Deciphering the Later Life of Chiang Kai-Shek, Chen Cheng, and Chen Lifu

The so-called 43 "war criminals" of the Kuomintang refer to the list of 43 Kuomintang war criminals released by our Xinhua News Agency on December 25, 1948, the eve of the Kuomintang's defeat and withdrawal from power. This list basically includes the senior officials of the Kuomintang government and military at that time: Chiang Kai-shek, Li Zongren, Chen Cheng, Bai Chongxi, He Yingqin, Gu Zhutong... These once all-powerful figures in modern Chinese history were dubbed "war criminals". Some of them retreated to Taiwan and died of old age on the treasure island; some returned to the shore and joined the new people's government; and some stayed alone overseas and died of old age in a foreign country. What unknown stories do they have in their later years?