Controversial but major figures in Chinese history inspired Wang to tell story

WASHINGTON - When 99-year old Soong Meiling addressed the US Congress in 1995 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of World War II, Chi Wang retreated to a far corner of the room and listened.

It was the second time that Soong, wife of Chiang Kai-shek, addressed the US Congress after the 1943 Cairo Conference.

One of the many organizers of the occasion, which gathered about 700 and included nearly 200 legislators, Wang didn't respond when the host called him to the stage.

"This was Madame Chiang's special day, not mine," he said.

Wang said it was the advice of Soong and Zhang Xueliang, a hero in China who helped lead the "Xian Incident" in 1936, that inspired him to write his memoir, A Compelling Journey from Peking to Washington: Building a New Life in America.

Wang said he had developed special bonds with Soong and Zhang, who were friends of his father, General Wang Shuchang.

"In my conversations with them, I inquired why they had not written their stories. Both responded that their lives and roles in Chinese history were controversial, but recommended that I tell my story," Wang said. "They said my life was not controversial and could serve as inspiration and guidance to Chinese students today."

In the 210-page memoir about his childhood and life promoting Sino-US relations, Wang devoted two chapters to his relationship with the two controversial Chinese figures.

"There should be no doubt about Soong's patriotism. She wanted China to be strong," Wang said.

He said he paid visits to Soong in her house in New York during her last years.

Wang said he once asked Soong where she hoped to be buried, to which Soong replied that she wanted to be buried in the Soong family graveyard in Shanghai.

"People criticized and defamed her, but when you really know her, you will like her," Wang said.

It was under Soong's protection that Zhang was not killed for kidnapping her husband in the "Xi'an Incident". Zhang sent his troops to seize Chiang on Dec 12, 1936, until Chiang promised to work with the Chinese Communists in battling the Japanese.

Wang said Zhang told him that he has never regretted the kidnapping, which landed him in house arrest for more than 50 years.

"He did this out of his love for the country, and he said he would take full responsibility for this," Wang said.

Zhang passed away in 2001 in Hawaii at the age of 101.

China Daily