James Gareth Endicott
Encyclopedia
James Gareth Endicott was a Canadian
clergyman, Christian
missionary
and socialist.
, the third of five children to a Methodist missionary
family and became fluent in Chinese
. His family returned to Canada in 1910. His father, James Endicott, was elected the second Moderator of the United Church of Canada
from 1926 to 1928.
Endicott enlisted in World War I
as a Private
. After the war he was educated at the University of Toronto
's Victoria College where he was president of the student council and a founder of the university's Student Christian Movement
.
Endicott earned a Masters degree and was ordained as a minister
in the United Church of Canada
. In 1925, Endicott returned to China as a missionary remaining there for most of the following two decades.
in China and became professor of English and Ethics at West China Union University. He became social advisor to Chiang Kai-shek
and political advisor to his New Life Movement
and served as an advisor to US
military intelligence from 1944 to 1945 as a liaison between the American military and the Chinese Communist forces fighting against the Japan
ese in World War II
.
Initially a supporter of Chiang Kaishek and his wife
, he once compared Chiang to Abraham Lincoln and described Madame Chiang as a combination of Helen of Troy, Florence Nightingale and Joan of Arc. He became disillusioned after seeing Chiang's officers starve their troops and by the Kuomintang
's corruption.
Endicott was impressed by the Communists and became friends with Zhou Enlai
as the Chinese Civil War
resumed, and he became a supporter of the Chinese Communist Party. During the war he provided an underground network where pro-communist forces could meet and exchange ideas.
After the war, he spoke at student demonstrations, urging opposition to the Nationalist government and provoking criticism from the church in Canada. This led to his resignation from the ministry and the mission on May 5, 1946 after the United Church of Canada
gave him an ultimatum to either modify his public statements or quit. At Zhou En-lai's urging, he moved to Shanghai
to publish the underground anti-Kuomintang Shanghai Newsletter. The newsletter was aimed at westerners in the Kuomintang stronghold as well as at trying to convince western governments that Chiang's regime was corrupt and dictatorial.
and was criticized by the United Church for his support of the revolution.
He continued his support for the Chinese Communist Party by giving lectures and publishing the Canadian Far Eastern Weekly which had 5,000 subscribers at its peak.
and helped publish its Peace Letter bulletin. He also became a senior figure in the World Peace Council
serving as president of the International Institute for Peace
from 1957 until 1971.
In 1950, as a Canadian delegate to the World Peace Council in Stockholm, Endicott sat on the committee that drafted the Stockholm Peace Appeal which was the petition that began the international "Ban the Bomb" movement.
and, on his return to Canada, charged the United States
with using chemical and biological weapons during the war. His charges led him to be vilified in the Canadian press as "public enemy number one" and he was censured by the United Church for his support of Mao Zedong
and the Chinese Communists.
He was condemned by Canadian politicians, including Lester Pearson who had been a college friend. Pearson called him the "bait on the end of a Red hook" and a "Red stooge" while John George Diefenbaker called his statements "damnable," and Conservative leader George Drew
referred to Endicott as a "jackal of the Communists."
The government threatened to charge him with treason
and sedition
, but did not follow through, while others called for him to lose his passport and mailing privileges.
." He continued his advocacy for the People's Republic of China
by publishing the Canadian Far East Newsletter and though he publicly backed the Soviet Union
in the initial years of the Sino-Soviet split
he was sympathetic to China's arguments and reported them in the newsletter. Endicott was offered the presidency of the World Peace Council in the early 1960s but declined due to his wife's declining health and what he anticipated as a personally untenable position of leading the council during a period of growing tensions between the Soviet Union
and the People's Republic of China and their respective factions on the council.
In 1982, the United Church extended a formal apology to Endicott for having denounced him three decades earlier, acknowledging that it had caused him "much personal hurt and anxiety."
are not progressive enough.
Though ambivalent about the policies of Deng and initially sympathetic to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
, Endicott believed the Chinese government's version of events. He told an interviewer, "What is more clear to me now is that there was a core of students who were concerned mainly with getting something done about corruption in the party and in the society. I said at the time they should be supported. But a lot of the leaders, who at the time appeared to be idealistic, turned out to be agents for a capitalist restoration. It appears now that the Communist government was relatively correct in saying that very few people were killed in Tiananmen - perhaps two or three hundred, at most. But in another western section of Beijing, a lot of people were killed. There was practically a shoot-out between the capitalist roaders and the socialists - if you can call the army socialists."
Arguing that there was an attempt to overthrow the Chinese government, Endicott stated, "What took place was a minor civil war. The army's action in upholding the constitution probably prevented the capitalist roaders from really making an attempt to take over by military force. What was the government to do? Not react?"
, general secretary
of the Communist Party of Canada
asked him to resign from the Canadian Peace Congress and as Canada's delegate to the World Council of Peace accusing the Canadian Far East Newsletter of being anti-Soviet and pro-Mao. Endicott agreed to leave the organization rather than stop publication of the newsletter or withdraw his support for China in its conflict with the Soviet Union. He founded the Canada-China Society shortly after leaving the Canadian Peace Congress and publicly broke with the Soviet Union.
Though friendly with Tim Buck
, Stanley Ryerson, Leslie Morris
and other Canadian Communists, Endicott never joined the Communist Party of Canada
though three of his children joined its predecessor, the Labour-Progressive Party
. He had joined the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
while living in Toronto
on sabbatical from 1941 to 1944, and campaigned for the party in the 1942 federal by-election
in which Joseph Noseworthy won an upset victory, but his membership lapsed when he returned to China. When he applied to rejoin the CCF in 1948 his membership application was rejected, though no reason was given it is almost certain it was rejected due to the perception that Endicott's association with Communism
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
clergyman, Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
and socialist.
Family and early life
Endicott was born in Szechuan Province, ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, the third of five children to a Methodist missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
family and became fluent in Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
. His family returned to Canada in 1910. His father, James Endicott, was elected the second Moderator of the United Church of Canada
Moderator of the United Church of Canada
The Moderator of the United Church of Canada is the presiding leader of the United Church of Canada, Canada's largest Protestant denomination. The church is highly decentralized and non-dogmatic and the moderator has only limited power...
from 1926 to 1928.
Endicott enlisted in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
as a Private
Private (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
. After the war he was educated at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
's Victoria College where he was president of the student council and a founder of the university's Student Christian Movement
Student Christian Movement of Canada
The Student Christian Movement of Canada is a youth-led ecumenical network of student collectives based in spirituality, issues of social, economic, and environmental justice, and building autonomous local communities on campuses across the country...
.
Endicott earned a Masters degree and was ordained as a minister
Minister of religion
In Christian churches, a minister is someone who is authorized by a church or religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community...
in the United Church of Canada
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...
. In 1925, Endicott returned to China as a missionary remaining there for most of the following two decades.
Missionary in China
Endicott taught EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
in China and became professor of English and Ethics at West China Union University. He became social advisor to Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
and political advisor to his New Life Movement
New Life Movement
The New Life Movement was set up by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and his wife Soong May-ling in February 1934, with the help of the Blue Shirts Society and the CC Clique within the Chinese Nationalist Party...
and served as an advisor to US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
military intelligence from 1944 to 1945 as a liaison between the American military and the Chinese Communist forces fighting against the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Initially a supporter of Chiang Kaishek and his wife
Soong May-ling
Soong May-ling or Soong Mei-ling, also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek or Madame Chiang was a First Lady of the Republic of China , the wife of Generalissimo and President Chiang Kai-shek. She was a politician and painter...
, he once compared Chiang to Abraham Lincoln and described Madame Chiang as a combination of Helen of Troy, Florence Nightingale and Joan of Arc. He became disillusioned after seeing Chiang's officers starve their troops and by the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
's corruption.
Endicott was impressed by the Communists and became friends with Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
as the Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
resumed, and he became a supporter of the Chinese Communist Party. During the war he provided an underground network where pro-communist forces could meet and exchange ideas.
After the war, he spoke at student demonstrations, urging opposition to the Nationalist government and provoking criticism from the church in Canada. This led to his resignation from the ministry and the mission on May 5, 1946 after the United Church of Canada
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...
gave him an ultimatum to either modify his public statements or quit. At Zhou En-lai's urging, he moved to Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
to publish the underground anti-Kuomintang Shanghai Newsletter. The newsletter was aimed at westerners in the Kuomintang stronghold as well as at trying to convince western governments that Chiang's regime was corrupt and dictatorial.
Return to Canada
In 1947, he returned to Canada. At a time when western countries were backing Chiang and were optimistic about his government, Endicott advised the Canadian government that the Kuomintang regime's fall was imminent and then went public with his predictions and his denunciation of the Kuomintang as corrupt. His comments were denounced as traitorous by the media and he was labelled the most reviled Canadian of the year for his support of the Chinese Revolution and the Communist Party of ChinaCommunist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
and was criticized by the United Church for his support of the revolution.
He continued his support for the Chinese Communist Party by giving lectures and publishing the Canadian Far Eastern Weekly which had 5,000 subscribers at its peak.
Canadian Peace Congress
In 1949, he founded and became chairman of the Canadian Peace CongressCanadian Peace Congress
The Canadian Peace Congress is an anti-imperialist group founded in 1949 by Canadian minister James Gareth Endicott in response to the new dangers to peace posed because of the Cold War. It described itself as "a place were people of different views and faiths can meet and discuss world affairs.....
and helped publish its Peace Letter bulletin. He also became a senior figure in the World Peace Council
World Peace Council
The World Peace Council is an international organization that advocates universal disarmament, sovereignty and independence and peaceful co-existence, and campaigns against imperialism, weapons of mass destruction and all forms of discrimination...
serving as president of the International Institute for Peace
International Institute for Peace
The International Institute for Peace says that it was founded in Vienna in 1956 and re-organised in 1989. According to Dr Julian Lewis, a campaigner against the peace movement, it was "set up by the Kremlin after the WPC [World Peace Council] was thrown out of Austria for subversion." According to...
from 1957 until 1971.
In 1950, as a Canadian delegate to the World Peace Council in Stockholm, Endicott sat on the committee that drafted the Stockholm Peace Appeal which was the petition that began the international "Ban the Bomb" movement.
Korean War
Endicott returned on a visit to China in 1952, during the Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and, on his return to Canada, charged the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with using chemical and biological weapons during the war. His charges led him to be vilified in the Canadian press as "public enemy number one" and he was censured by the United Church for his support of Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
and the Chinese Communists.
He was condemned by Canadian politicians, including Lester Pearson who had been a college friend. Pearson called him the "bait on the end of a Red hook" and a "Red stooge" while John George Diefenbaker called his statements "damnable," and Conservative leader George Drew
George Drew
George Alexander Drew, was a Canadian conservativepolitician who founded a Progressive Conservative dynasty in Ontario that lasted 42 years...
referred to Endicott as a "jackal of the Communists."
The government threatened to charge him with treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
and sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
, but did not follow through, while others called for him to lose his passport and mailing privileges.
Later work
Endicott was awarded the Stalin Peace Prize in 1952 for his efforts working for "peaceful coexistence between the Christians and the CommunistsReligion in the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union was the first state to have as an ideological objective the elimination of religion and its replacement with atheism. To that end, the communist regime confiscated religious property, ridiculed religion, harassed believers, and propagated atheism in schools...
." He continued his advocacy for the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
by publishing the Canadian Far East Newsletter and though he publicly backed the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in the initial years of the Sino-Soviet split
Sino-Soviet split
In political science, the term Sino–Soviet split denotes the worsening of political and ideologic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the Cold War...
he was sympathetic to China's arguments and reported them in the newsletter. Endicott was offered the presidency of the World Peace Council in the early 1960s but declined due to his wife's declining health and what he anticipated as a personally untenable position of leading the council during a period of growing tensions between the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the People's Republic of China and their respective factions on the council.
In 1982, the United Church extended a formal apology to Endicott for having denounced him three decades earlier, acknowledging that it had caused him "much personal hurt and anxiety."
Tiananmen Square and later views on China
In an interview shortly before his death, Endicott said that he thought the Communist Manifesto is "still as true as ever," though he feels the "old men" who are Communist leaders like Deng XiaopingDeng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...
are not progressive enough.
Though ambivalent about the policies of Deng and initially sympathetic to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...
, Endicott believed the Chinese government's version of events. He told an interviewer, "What is more clear to me now is that there was a core of students who were concerned mainly with getting something done about corruption in the party and in the society. I said at the time they should be supported. But a lot of the leaders, who at the time appeared to be idealistic, turned out to be agents for a capitalist restoration. It appears now that the Communist government was relatively correct in saying that very few people were killed in Tiananmen - perhaps two or three hundred, at most. But in another western section of Beijing, a lot of people were killed. There was practically a shoot-out between the capitalist roaders and the socialists - if you can call the army socialists."
Arguing that there was an attempt to overthrow the Chinese government, Endicott stated, "What took place was a minor civil war. The army's action in upholding the constitution probably prevented the capitalist roaders from really making an attempt to take over by military force. What was the government to do? Not react?"
Relationship with Canadian Communists
In 1971, William KashtanWilliam Kashtan
William Kashtan became general secretary of the Communist Party of Canada in January 1965, several months following the death of Leslie Morris. The delay in his assuming the position was due to the opposition of Tim Buck to his appointment....
, general secretary
General secretary
-International intergovernmental organizations:-International nongovernmental organizations:-Sports governing bodies:...
of the Communist Party of Canada
Communist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...
asked him to resign from the Canadian Peace Congress and as Canada's delegate to the World Council of Peace accusing the Canadian Far East Newsletter of being anti-Soviet and pro-Mao. Endicott agreed to leave the organization rather than stop publication of the newsletter or withdraw his support for China in its conflict with the Soviet Union. He founded the Canada-China Society shortly after leaving the Canadian Peace Congress and publicly broke with the Soviet Union.
Though friendly with Tim Buck
Tim Buck
Timothy "Tim" Buck was a long-time leader of the Communist Party of Canada...
, Stanley Ryerson, Leslie Morris
Leslie Morris
Leslie Tim Morris was a Welsh-Canadian politician, journalist and long time member of the Communist Party of Canada and, its front group, the Labour-Progressive Party....
and other Canadian Communists, Endicott never joined the Communist Party of Canada
Communist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...
though three of his children joined its predecessor, the Labour-Progressive Party
Labour-Progressive Party
For the Labour-Progressive Coalition Government in New Zealand see the Fifth Labour Government of New ZealandThe Labor-Progressive Party was the legal political organization of the Communist Party of Canada between 1943 and 1959....
. He had joined the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a Canadian political party founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, farm, co-operative and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction...
while living in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
on sabbatical from 1941 to 1944, and campaigned for the party in the 1942 federal by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
in which Joseph Noseworthy won an upset victory, but his membership lapsed when he returned to China. When he applied to rejoin the CCF in 1948 his membership application was rejected, though no reason was given it is almost certain it was rejected due to the perception that Endicott's association with Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
.