In a letter to Taipei Times (May 22, 2007), Arthur Waldron, Lauder Professor of International Relations, University of Pennsylvania, states that the current Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) campaign against Chiang Kai-shek ignores an ironic but simple fact that had Chiang and the Nationalists not taken refuge in Taiwan, it is a near certainty that the island would now be a province of China.
Chiang was able to draw on his broad US connections to maintain a military alliance crucial to the island and his son opened the way to democratization, says Waldron.
Waldron points out: "I believe that every scrap of evidence about the 228 Incident and the White Terror must be dug out of party and government archives, brought to light, and properly dealt with. But I also believe that the contribution made by Chiang and his government -- which was no less than to keep Taiwan separate from China at a time when, arguably, no other group could have done so -- must not be ignored. Maintaining the separation in turn made it possible for Taiwan eventually to become a free and democratic state and determine its own future. Chiang Kai-shek had a lot to do with that."