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Li Mi (ROC general)
Encyclopedia
Li Mi (1902–1973) was a high-ranking Nationalist general who participated in the anti-Communist Encirclement Campaigns
, Second Sino-Japanese War
and Chinese Civil War
. He was one of the few Kuomintang
commanders to achieve notable victories against both Chinese Communist forces and the Imperial Japanese Army
. Following the founding of the People's Republic of China
in 1949, he withdrew his forces to Burma and Thailand
, where he continued to carry out guerilla raids into Communist-held territory.
Province and entered the fourth class of the Whampoa Military Academy
. He participated in the Northern Expedition with his classmates Hu Lian
, Zhang Lingfu
, Liu Yuzhang and Lin Biao
. During the anti-Communist Encirclement Campaigns
his superior commander, General Chen Cheng
, accused him of harboring Communist sympathies and tried to take over his unit. Li Mi was able to prove his loyalty to Generalissimo
Chiang Kai-shek
and was named a county magistrate of one of the "red territories" the Nationalists had just taken over.
in the early 1930s, Li joined General Xue Yue
's staff, leading a crack Nationalist unit to drive the Communist forces out of the Jiangxi Soviet
. Li then pursued the retreating Communist forces, chasing them over 1,000 miles, on foot, over the Long March
. After the Communists had based themselves in northern China, Li devised plans which helped to defeat famed the Red Army commanders He Long
and Ye Ting
, taking control of the territories which they controlled. By the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Li had been promoted to colonel.
and Japan
broke out, Chiang Kai Shek had Li Mi transferred to the regular army after rumors surfaced about his loyalty towards the KMT government. His corps commander saved him from certain arrest and execution by vouching for Li's loyalty. In 1940, Li Mi was promoted to command of the First Honor Division and fought against the Imperial Japanese Army
in Central China, managing to destroy a Japanese airfield. In 1940 he participated the Battle of Kunlun Pass
with General Du Yuming
and General Qiu Qingquan
and wiped out a Japanese brigade. In 1944 he joined the "Y-Force", commanded by General Wei Lihuang, in the Battle of Northern Burma and Western Yunnan
, which destroyed the Japanese 55th and 56th divisions. By 1945, Li Mi was promoted to the rank of general, and placed in command of the 8th Corps while retaining his command of the First Honor Division.
and Qiu Qingquan
removed local warlord Long Yun
of Yunnan Province from power in June 1945. American troops provided many supplies and provisions to Li's 8th corps, which proved invaluable in the coming struggle against Chinese Communist forces. Until the outbreak of the 1948-1949 Huaihai Campaign
, he was able to score a number of important victories against the Communists in Eastern China.
In November 1948, Li Mi and Qiu Qingquan were tasked to relieve General Huang Baitao
's 7th army, but they were blocked by a superior enemy force. While attempting to assault enemy positions in Henan
, he, Du Yuming
, and Qiu Qingquan
became surrounded by PLA
forces. Following this encirclement, Du was captured, Qiu committed suicide, and only Li was able to escape back to Nanjing
.
President Chiang Kai-Shek instructed him to rebuild his former 13th army and defend his home province, Yunnan, from Communist attacks. By the time that Communist forces had taken the mainland in 1949, Li had already withdrawn his armies south and west, into Thailand
and the Shan states
of Northern Burma. When Burma declared independence in 1948, Li established an independent Shan regime for his "Anti-Communist National Salvation Army". From these bases, Li's units continued to carry out guerilla attacks against the Communist authorities in Yunnan.
Nationailst forces from Yunnan also attempted to move into French Indo-China, but these troops were quickly disarmed and arrested by the French. The troops which moved into Burma initially settled around Tachilek, in the state of Kengtung, near the Thai border. The troops who moved there under Li joined earlier Nationalist troops who had remained in the area after fighting the Japanese in World War II. Following Li's withdrawal to this region, Li reorganized all available Nationalist forces in the region, placing them under his command. Li's forces subsequently became known to foreign observers as the "93rd Division".
to remove them. In 1953, 7,000 troops, including Li Mi, were airlifted to Taiwan, but many more troops decided to remain behind. 7,000 troops remained entrenched around the Burma-Laos border, while several thousand more remained in Thailand. By the time that a second withdrawal was announced, in 1961, American credibility, US-Burmese relations, and the effort to contain communism in the region were in serious disarray.
After achieving independence, the prime minister of Burma, U Nu
, attempted to suppress Li's activities and ordered his forces to surrender, but Li refused. After the Burmese army attacked Li, he moved his troops to Mong Hsat. At the time, Burma was fighting four other insurgencies, including two communist guerilla movements, and was not strong enough to seriously pursue Li's irregulars.
The CIA programme to aid Li's troops in Burma was called "Operation Paper". Operation Paper involved the use of Thailand as a transit route, transporting weapons and supplies between Taiwan and Burma. Once arriving in Thailand, these supplies would then be transported via air by an airforce company under the command of General Chennault
, working though two dummy corporations as diplomatic cover. The Thai prime minister at the time, Plaek Phibunsongkhram (also known as "Phibun"), agreed to aid Operation Paper, due to poor Thai-Burmese relations and the promise of American economic and military aid.
Between 1949 and 1953 Li's men impressed thousands of local tribesmen into joining them, and were reinforced with several hundred "regular" KMT soldiers from Taiwan. Refugees from communist-held Yunnan also joined his army. Many married local women, and they systematically "took over" the local opium trade. With the help of the Thai military, Li's army traded their opium through Thailand, eventually exchanging it for weapons and supplies from Taiwan. They made serious attempts to take control of Yunnan during this period, but did not achieve long-term success.
There were several reasons for the American decision to put pressure on Chiang to remove Nationalist troops from Burma. An internal document investigating the usefulness of the Burmese Nationalist troops to the United States concluded that they were "of less military value to the free world as a support to regional defense than the regularly organized Burmese Army". Communist insurgents then present in Burma were known to cite the presence of Li's troops as their justification for being there. Additionally, if Rangoon were to devote their resources to defeating Li's troops, it would weaken their ability to defeat these other, communist guerilla movements. The American secretary or state, John Foster Dulles
, was concerned that the Burmese government might form a coalition with communist groups to remove Li's troops. Finally, there was a concern that Burma would raise the issue of Li's forces in the United Nations
, embarrassing the United States and emboldening the communist bloc. There was also concerns that China might invade Burma in order to suppress them.
After returning to Taiwan in 1953, Li Mi retired from active military service, becoming a member of the Nationalist legislature and the party's central committee. He died in Taipei
on March 10, 1973.
. By 1961, most remaining Nationalist forces had moved their bases to Laos
and Thailand
, with the consent of those nations' governments and armies. Many were used by the governments of Thailand and Laos to combat communist insurgents in their countries.
By 1967, Nationailst troops fought a war against a rival warlord, Khun Sa
, for control of local opium production and distribution. They were quicky successful in the ensuing "Opium War", and continued to monopolize the local opium trade. Subsequent efforts by Chiang Kai-shek to reasseert control over these troops failed, and they became effectively independent of Nationalist control.
In 1961, Li's former troops who had retreated into northwestern Thailand agreed to combat local Communist insurgents in exchange for official amnesty. Under the nominal command of the Thai army, the unit was renamed the "Chinese Irregular Forces" (CIF), and continued to grow and distribute opium in order to fund their anti-communist activities. In the late 1980s, the Thai government concluded that the CIF's anti-Communist activities had been successful, and the descendants of Li's former army largely abandoned opium production and settled in the village of Santikhiri
.
Encirclement Campaigns
Encirclement Campaigns is a term used to describe several different campaigns launched by forces of the Chinese Nationalist Government against forces of the Communist Party of China during the Chinese Civil War. The campaigns were launched between the late 1920s to the mid-1930s with the goal of...
, Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
and 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...
. He was one of the few 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...
commanders to achieve notable victories against both Chinese Communist forces and the Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
. Following the founding of 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...
in 1949, he withdrew his forces to Burma and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, where he continued to carry out guerilla raids into Communist-held territory.
Early Life and Career
Li Mi was born in Tengchong County, Yunnan Province. He had a difficult childhood but his family managed to give him a modern education. In 1924, he went to GuangdongGuangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
Province and entered the fourth class of the Whampoa Military Academy
Whampoa Military Academy
The Nationalist Party of China Army Officer Academy , commonly known as the Whampoa Military Academy , was a military academy in the Republic of China that produced many prestigious commanders who fought in many of China's conflicts in the 20th century, notably the Northern Expedition, the Second...
. He participated in the Northern Expedition with his classmates Hu Lian
Hu Lian
Hu Lian was a Chinese Nationalist general, he participated the Northern Expedition, anti-communist Encirclement Campaigns, Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War.- Whampoa Military Academy :...
, Zhang Lingfu
Zhang Lingfu
Zhang Lingfu was a high-ranking general of the National Revolutionary Army. He successfully fought against the Chinese Communist army and the Imperial Japanese Army...
, Liu Yuzhang and Lin Biao
Lin Biao
Lin Biao was a major Chinese Communist military leader who was pivotal in the communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, especially in Northeastern China...
. During the anti-Communist Encirclement Campaigns
Encirclement Campaigns
Encirclement Campaigns is a term used to describe several different campaigns launched by forces of the Chinese Nationalist Government against forces of the Communist Party of China during the Chinese Civil War. The campaigns were launched between the late 1920s to the mid-1930s with the goal of...
his superior commander, General Chen Cheng
Chen Cheng
Chen Cheng , was a Chinese political and military leader, and one of the main National Revolutionary Army commanders during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. After moving to Taiwan at the end of the Civil War, he served as the Governor of Taiwan Province, Vice President and...
, accused him of harboring Communist sympathies and tried to take over his unit. Li Mi was able to prove his loyalty to Generalissimo
Generalissimo
Generalissimo and Generalissimus are military ranks of the highest degree, superior to Field Marshal and other five-star ranks.-Usage:...
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 was named a county magistrate of one of the "red territories" the Nationalists had just taken over.
in the early 1930s, Li joined General Xue Yue
Xue Yue
Xue Yue was a Chinese Nationalist military general, nicknamed by Claire Lee Chennault of the Flying Tigers as the Patton of Asia.-Early Life and Career:...
's staff, leading a crack Nationalist unit to drive the Communist forces out of the Jiangxi Soviet
Jiangxi Soviet
The Chinese Soviet Republic , also translated as the Soviet Republic of China or the China Soviet Republic, and often referred to in historical literature as the Jiangxi Soviet , was a state established in November 1931 by the future Communist Party of China leader Mao...
. Li then pursued the retreating Communist forces, chasing them over 1,000 miles, on foot, over the Long March
Long March
The Long March was a massive military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Communist Party of China, the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang army. There was not one Long March, but a series of marches, as various Communist armies in the south...
. After the Communists had based themselves in northern China, Li devised plans which helped to defeat famed the Red Army commanders He Long
He Long
He Long was a Chinese military leader. He rose to the rank of Marshal and Vice Premier after the founding of the People's Republic of China.-Early life:He Long was a member of the Tujia ethnic group...
and Ye Ting
Ye Ting
Ye Ting , born in Huiyang, Guangdong, was a Chinese military leader. He started out nationalist and went to the communists....
, taking control of the territories which they controlled. By the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Li had been promoted to colonel.
Second Sino-Japanese War
When the war between 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...
and 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...
broke out, Chiang Kai Shek had Li Mi transferred to the regular army after rumors surfaced about his loyalty towards the KMT government. His corps commander saved him from certain arrest and execution by vouching for Li's loyalty. In 1940, Li Mi was promoted to command of the First Honor Division and fought against the Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
in Central China, managing to destroy a Japanese airfield. In 1940 he participated the Battle of Kunlun Pass
Battle of Kunlun Pass
The Battle of Kunlun Pass was a series of struggles between the Japanese and the Chinese in contention for Kunlun Pass, a stragetically important position in Guangxiprovince, which the Imperial Japanese Army hoped to cut off aid through China from French-controlled Vietnam and resulted in a...
with General Du Yuming
Du Yuming
Du Yuming was a Kuomintang field commander active in the Sino-Japanese War theatre of World War II and in the Chinese Civil War from 1945 to 1949....
and General Qiu Qingquan
Qiu Qingquan
Qiu Qinquan , was a Kuomintang general who excelled himself in Northern Expedition, anti-communist Encirclement Campaigns, Second Sino-Japanese War, and Chinese Civil War...
and wiped out a Japanese brigade. In 1944 he joined the "Y-Force", commanded by General Wei Lihuang, in the Battle of Northern Burma and Western Yunnan
Battle of Northern Burma and Western Yunnan
Battle of Northern Burma and Western Yunnan was the name of the Chinese campaign with their allies in the 1943-45 Burma Campaign. The Japanese troops initially had the winning side. However, their banzai charges failed to have much effect against the Allied troops who used camouflage tactics...
, which destroyed the Japanese 55th and 56th divisions. By 1945, Li Mi was promoted to the rank of general, and placed in command of the 8th Corps while retaining his command of the First Honor Division.
Chinese Civil War
Under President Chiang Kai Shek's personal orders, Generals Li Mi, Du YumingDu Yuming
Du Yuming was a Kuomintang field commander active in the Sino-Japanese War theatre of World War II and in the Chinese Civil War from 1945 to 1949....
and Qiu Qingquan
Qiu Qingquan
Qiu Qinquan , was a Kuomintang general who excelled himself in Northern Expedition, anti-communist Encirclement Campaigns, Second Sino-Japanese War, and Chinese Civil War...
removed local warlord Long Yun
Long Yun
Long Yun was governor and warlord of the Chinese province of Yunnan from 1927 to near the end of the Chinese Civil War, when he was overthrown in a coup by Du Yuming under the order of Chiang Kai-shek in October, 1945.-Life:Long Yun was an sinicized ethnic Yi , a non Han Chinese people native to...
of Yunnan Province from power in June 1945. American troops provided many supplies and provisions to Li's 8th corps, which proved invaluable in the coming struggle against Chinese Communist forces. Until the outbreak of the 1948-1949 Huaihai Campaign
Huaihai Campaign
Huaihai Campaign or Battle of Hsupeng was a military action during 1948 and 1949 that was the determining battle of the Chinese Civil War. It was one of the few conventional battles of the war. 550,000 troops of the Republic of China were surrounded in Xuzhou and destroyed by the communist...
, he was able to score a number of important victories against the Communists in Eastern China.
In November 1948, Li Mi and Qiu Qingquan were tasked to relieve General Huang Baitao
Huang Baitao
Huang Baitao was a Nationalist general active in the Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War, for which he was twice awarded the Order of Blue Sky and White Sun, the highest honor a Chinese commander can achieve.-Early years and career:...
's 7th army, but they were blocked by a superior enemy force. While attempting to assault enemy positions in Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
, he, Du Yuming
Du Yuming
Du Yuming was a Kuomintang field commander active in the Sino-Japanese War theatre of World War II and in the Chinese Civil War from 1945 to 1949....
, and Qiu Qingquan
Qiu Qingquan
Qiu Qinquan , was a Kuomintang general who excelled himself in Northern Expedition, anti-communist Encirclement Campaigns, Second Sino-Japanese War, and Chinese Civil War...
became surrounded by PLA
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
forces. Following this encirclement, Du was captured, Qiu committed suicide, and only Li was able to escape back to Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
.
President Chiang Kai-Shek instructed him to rebuild his former 13th army and defend his home province, Yunnan, from Communist attacks. By the time that Communist forces had taken the mainland in 1949, Li had already withdrawn his armies south and west, into Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and the Shan states
Shan States
The Shan States were the princely states that ruled large areas of today's Burma , Yunnan Province in China, Laos and Thailand from the late 13th century until mid-20th century...
of Northern Burma. When Burma declared independence in 1948, Li established an independent Shan regime for his "Anti-Communist National Salvation Army". From these bases, Li's units continued to carry out guerilla attacks against the Communist authorities in Yunnan.
Nationailst forces from Yunnan also attempted to move into French Indo-China, but these troops were quickly disarmed and arrested by the French. The troops which moved into Burma initially settled around Tachilek, in the state of Kengtung, near the Thai border. The troops who moved there under Li joined earlier Nationalist troops who had remained in the area after fighting the Japanese in World War II. Following Li's withdrawal to this region, Li reorganized all available Nationalist forces in the region, placing them under his command. Li's forces subsequently became known to foreign observers as the "93rd Division".
Post-Civil War
Li's Burmese army was partially supported by supplies and advisors provided by the United States, but mostly supported itself through opium cultivation and distribution. At first, American strategists considered Li's "irregulars" useful to their regional efforts to contain communism; but, within a few years, Washington began to think of them as a threat to that same objective, and put serious pressure on Chiang Kai-shekChiang 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....
to remove them. In 1953, 7,000 troops, including Li Mi, were airlifted to Taiwan, but many more troops decided to remain behind. 7,000 troops remained entrenched around the Burma-Laos border, while several thousand more remained in Thailand. By the time that a second withdrawal was announced, in 1961, American credibility, US-Burmese relations, and the effort to contain communism in the region were in serious disarray.
After achieving independence, the prime minister of Burma, U Nu
U Nu
For other people with the Burmese name Nu, see Nu .U Nu was a leading Burmese nationalist and political figure of the 20th century...
, attempted to suppress Li's activities and ordered his forces to surrender, but Li refused. After the Burmese army attacked Li, he moved his troops to Mong Hsat. At the time, Burma was fighting four other insurgencies, including two communist guerilla movements, and was not strong enough to seriously pursue Li's irregulars.
The CIA programme to aid Li's troops in Burma was called "Operation Paper". Operation Paper involved the use of Thailand as a transit route, transporting weapons and supplies between Taiwan and Burma. Once arriving in Thailand, these supplies would then be transported via air by an airforce company under the command of General Chennault
Claire Lee Chennault
Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault , was an American military aviator. A contentious officer, he was a fierce advocate of "pursuit" or fight-interceptor aircraft during the 1930s when the U.S. Army Air Corps was focused primarily on high-altitude bombardment...
, working though two dummy corporations as diplomatic cover. The Thai prime minister at the time, Plaek Phibunsongkhram (also known as "Phibun"), agreed to aid Operation Paper, due to poor Thai-Burmese relations and the promise of American economic and military aid.
Between 1949 and 1953 Li's men impressed thousands of local tribesmen into joining them, and were reinforced with several hundred "regular" KMT soldiers from Taiwan. Refugees from communist-held Yunnan also joined his army. Many married local women, and they systematically "took over" the local opium trade. With the help of the Thai military, Li's army traded their opium through Thailand, eventually exchanging it for weapons and supplies from Taiwan. They made serious attempts to take control of Yunnan during this period, but did not achieve long-term success.
There were several reasons for the American decision to put pressure on Chiang to remove Nationalist troops from Burma. An internal document investigating the usefulness of the Burmese Nationalist troops to the United States concluded that they were "of less military value to the free world as a support to regional defense than the regularly organized Burmese Army". Communist insurgents then present in Burma were known to cite the presence of Li's troops as their justification for being there. Additionally, if Rangoon were to devote their resources to defeating Li's troops, it would weaken their ability to defeat these other, communist guerilla movements. The American secretary or state, John Foster Dulles
John Foster Dulles
John Foster Dulles served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against communism throughout the world...
, was concerned that the Burmese government might form a coalition with communist groups to remove Li's troops. Finally, there was a concern that Burma would raise the issue of Li's forces in the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, embarrassing the United States and emboldening the communist bloc. There was also concerns that China might invade Burma in order to suppress them.
After returning to Taiwan in 1953, Li Mi retired from active military service, becoming a member of the Nationalist legislature and the party's central committee. He died in Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
on March 10, 1973.
Legacy
Following a partial withdrawal of troops to Taiwan, in 1960 the Burmese Army continued military efforts to remove them, possibly with the assistance from the PLAPeople's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
. By 1961, most remaining Nationalist forces had moved their bases to Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, with the consent of those nations' governments and armies. Many were used by the governments of Thailand and Laos to combat communist insurgents in their countries.
By 1967, Nationailst troops fought a war against a rival warlord, Khun Sa
Khun Sa
Khun Sa , also known as Chang Chi-fu was a Burmese warlord. He was born in Loi Maw of Mongyai. He was also dubbed the "Opium King" due to his opium trading in the so-called Golden Triangle. He was also the leader of the Shan United Army and the Mong Tai Army.- Biography :Khun Sa was born to a...
, for control of local opium production and distribution. They were quicky successful in the ensuing "Opium War", and continued to monopolize the local opium trade. Subsequent efforts by Chiang Kai-shek to reasseert control over these troops failed, and they became effectively independent of Nationalist control.
In 1961, Li's former troops who had retreated into northwestern Thailand agreed to combat local Communist insurgents in exchange for official amnesty. Under the nominal command of the Thai army, the unit was renamed the "Chinese Irregular Forces" (CIF), and continued to grow and distribute opium in order to fund their anti-communist activities. In the late 1980s, the Thai government concluded that the CIF's anti-Communist activities had been successful, and the descendants of Li's former army largely abandoned opium production and settled in the village of Santikhiri
Santikhiri
The village of Santikhiri , formerly known as Mae Salong , is situated on the mountain of Doi Mae Salong, in Mae Fa luang district, Chiang Rai Province, the northernmost province of Thailand...
.
See also
- Longgang Mosque
- SantikhiriSantikhiriThe village of Santikhiri , formerly known as Mae Salong , is situated on the mountain of Doi Mae Salong, in Mae Fa luang district, Chiang Rai Province, the northernmost province of Thailand...
- Burma
- ThailandThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
- Second Sino-Japanese WarSecond Sino-Japanese WarThe Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
- Chinese Civil WarChinese Civil WarThe 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...
- Chiang Kai-shekChiang Kai-shekChiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
- KuomintangKuomintangThe 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...
External References
- http://cgsc.leavenworth.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/bjorge_huai.pdf
- http://www.generals.dk.html
- Ministry of National Defense R.O.C
- US Naval War College
- http://cgsc.leavenworth.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/bjorge_huai.pdf
- Portrait of Li in 1948