ABSTRACT
The nationalist move to Taiwan was a last attempt to avert total defeat at the hands of the communists. Nationalist army remnants were routed in their few remaining holdouts on the mainland, and the Kuomintang (KMT) was reeling from mass defections and internal conflict. Amidst the confusion of laying blame and resettling the government in Taipei, Chiang Kai-shek took the first real steps towards giving the KMT a new beginning. Edwin Winckler suggests the KMT was a “leaderist” dictatorship because the head of the party-state primarily relied on the security sector rather than the party apparatus to ensure obedience. The reform guidelines were intended to strengthen the authority of the KMT and put together a well-disciplined party that would be far more unified and well managed than the mainland Kuomintang. Chen Yi was removed from office and the seat was eventually filled by Ch’en Ch’eng, a capable administrator with a desire to restore calm and KMT prestige.
