The Relationship between Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Cheng in Taiwan as Appears from Chen Cheng’s Diary

In recent year Chen Cheng’s personal diaries have been donated to the Academia Sinica’s Modern History Archives. This is a very valuable source to study Chen Cheng’s personal history as a military and a politician, but also to gain a better understanding of the inner history of the Guomindang and its government and political dynamics before and after 1949. Using both Chen Cheng' diary and Chiang Kai-shek’s diary, this paper investigates the relationship between Chen and Chiang Kai-shek in Taiwan as transpires from these documents. It focuses on some key moments of their relationship in the after-1949 period, as the first month after the Guomindang's retreat to Taiwan, and the span of time between 1958 and 1961, just before Chen Cheng’s withdrawal from the political scene.