- há 1 hora
Positioning herself at the forefront of Chinese politics, first lady Madame Chiang Kai-Shek played a pivotal role in establishing her country’s position on the world stage.
Educated in America, she was vital in attracting support from foreign powers during the Sino-Japanese War and World War II. But a scandalous affair nearly ended her career and threatened to destroy her reputation.
Educated in America, she was vital in attracting support from foreign powers during the Sino-Japanese War and World War II. But a scandalous affair nearly ended her career and threatened to destroy her reputation.
Categoria
📚
AprendizadoTranscrição
00:04For nearly 50 years, Madame Chiang Kai-shek was one of the most powerful women in the world.
00:11She was neither president nor ruler of China, but for a woman of her time, she played an extraordinary role
00:18in world affairs.
00:23Married to an ineffective leader and blundering general, her relentless diplomacy guided China through war, famine, and the threat of
00:33bloody revolution.
00:35We shall fight. We are not defeated.
00:40Yet her ambition and hunger for power was nearly her downfall.
00:47An affair with a man who could have been American president nearly destroyed her marriage and her influence in China.
00:59But in the end, she triumphed over every adversity to place China at the heart of world affairs at a
01:07time when it would have otherwise been on its knees.
01:11For a time, she held the fate of millions in her hands.
01:15She was the greatest leader China never had.
01:20For that which is morally wrong can never be politically right.
01:55For a time, I was innocent.
01:55I was depressed.
01:55I was depressed.
02:04China in 1943.
02:17Embroiled in World War II and in deep crisis, the country was struggling to resist the invading
02:27forces of Japan in a war that was to see 20 million casualties and create 95 million refugees.
02:42China was on the brink of collapse.
02:49Madam Chang, the wife of China's leader, now set out on an emergency mission to America
02:56to beg for billions of dollars of war aid.
03:02As a woman and a Chinese national, she was about to make history and address both houses
03:09of Congress directly.
03:10It's a proud day for the United States of America.
03:15On this one performance was to rest the fate of hundreds of millions of her people.
03:21Let us not forget that during the first four and a half years of total aggression, China
03:29has borne Japan's sadistic fury unaided and alone.
03:37The story of how this extraordinary woman came to hold a position of such rare influence
03:43had begun nearly half a century earlier on the other side of the world.
03:56By the time of her birth in March 1897, the country of Madam Chiang Kai-shek's childhood has
04:04seen 2,000 years of ruling emperors.
04:08This was a traditional and conservative China.
04:17Named Mei Ling, meaning beautiful mood, she was born into one of the wealthiest families
04:22of the era.
04:26But Mei Ling's family wasn't typical of their time.
04:30Her family was politically influential with strong links to Western culture.
04:38Yet despite her position of privilege, as a female in the 1890s, the young Mei Ling was
04:45in many ways a second-class citizen, especially when it came to education.
04:53Boys from wealthy families were educated, but there were no schools for girls older than
04:5815.
05:00If Mei Ling's family wanted more for her, they would have to take an extraordinary step
05:06and send her abroad for her education.
05:18In 1907, aged just 10, little Mei Ling arrived in America.
05:29The country Mei Ling's parents chose for her education couldn't have been in more stark contrast
05:34to imperial China.
05:37Mei Ling was about to spend her impressionable formative years thoroughly immersed in Western
05:43culture.
05:50She first attended a school for young ladies in Georgia.
05:53Then, aged 16, she transferred to the prestigious Wellesley College in Massachusetts.
06:01Her unlikely southern drawl, picked up in Georgia, amused her teachers.
06:07She thrived at Wellesley, immersing herself in the arts and music society, and taking full
06:14advantage of every aspect of a well-rounded Western education.
06:21In her senior year, she was awarded the highest academic distinction, and was named a Durant
06:28scholar.
06:30By the time she graduated age 20, a confident, feisty Mei Ling had a degree in English literature,
06:38a flawless accent, and so little Chinese that for a time she had to have a language tutor.
06:45Mei Ling told an American friend from Wellesley,
06:48the only thing oriental about me is my face.
06:53But all along, her love for her homeland had remained strong.
07:05Mei Ling's homecoming in 1917 was to the cosmopolitan city of Shanghai.
07:22She initially slipped back into the cushioned, leisurely lifestyle of her privileged upbringing,
07:28but quickly grew bored.
07:35Mei Ling complained in letters to a close friend from Wellesley that, as a socialite, her education
07:41and intellect was being wasted.
07:43Mei Ling did.
07:46I did.
07:47You cannot believe this of the little vehement Spitfire, can you?
07:51I just feel my mental powers getting more and more dulled every day.
08:00So, in a manner quite unbecoming of a Shanghai lady, but precisely in keeping with the actions
08:06of the Wellesley Spitfire, mailing through herself into local politics.
08:17she began to investigate working conditions in shanghai
08:24for a woman of her privileged upbringing what she witnessed horrified her
08:30for everyone but the very wealthy china was falling apart
08:35the people were in a dire state of deprivation hunger and poverty was widespread
08:43the sanitation was appalling so much misery everywhere sometimes when i look at the dirty
08:50ragged suffering humanity in our slums i feel the sense of utter futility for a great and new china
09:01she was beginning to think and talk like a politician
09:07but mailing was known for more than just her work in the slums
09:11her confident and flamboyant style was getting her noticed in wider circles
09:18so it was hardly surprising that age 26 she caught the wandering eye of one of chinese politics rising
09:29stars
09:30chiang kai-shek was an army officer whose dream was to bring democracy to china
09:38politically progressive and personally ambitious he was also fast gaining power and influence
09:49the fall of the monarchy in 1912 had left a political vacuum in china
09:54which did nothing to ease the country's poverty or stem the widespread civil unrest
10:03the emerging nationalist party led by sun yat-sen sought to unite china
10:09but when in 1925 sun yat-sen died there was a tussle for power within the party
10:16of chang played his cards right the position of new leader could pass directly to him
10:26mei ling's eldest sister ching ling had been married to sun yat-sen the man whose boots chang
10:32wanted to fill so the political benefits of a potential union with mei ling were obvious
10:41according to mei ling she and chang met for the first time in 1923 it was no coincidence her middle
10:50sister ailing had purposely arranged their meeting
10:55mei ling would later describe how she was attracted to chang's shining eyes but he was also now a
11:02potentially powerful man but this was more than simply a relationship of political convenience
11:09the couple fell deeply in love so much so that neither of them seemed to mind that he already had
11:18a wife and a son
11:25within weeks chang would flatly deny knowledge of his wife
11:32he sent her away to america directly she set sail he wrote to mei ling
11:39i am no longer interested in political activities but thinking about the people i admire in my life
11:47you my lady are the only one
11:53later that year chang and mei ling discussed their future together
11:59we love each other i think this is the happiest day of my life
12:04soon after chang proposed they were married on the 1st of december 1927
12:25the wedding was the highlight of the political calendar
12:28and the happy couple made sure the great and the good were present to witness the union
12:36of the united states of america
12:37by now chang was a major political figure
12:40so foreign diplomats and even the commander-in-chief of the american pacific fleet attended
12:47the guest list ran to over a thousand
12:52this high-profile couple were firmly on the political map
13:02just two days after their marriage mei ling's new husband was named supreme head of china's military
13:08forces effectively assuming the role of president may i introduce to the audience
13:14the president of the national government of the republic of china
13:22long live the three people's principle
13:28long live the revolutionary spirit of the nationalist china
13:35in the first week of 1928 chang traveled to china's new capital nanking to try to unite
13:42his troubled country once and for all under his nationalist flag
13:50traditionally the new madam chang would have been expected to be submissive to her husband
13:55and to fall back into the restricted life of a married woman
14:00but this was not her style
14:05she wrote once again to her friend from wellesley
14:09he wants me to be identified as his wife but i say nothing and i am going to stand for
14:15something
14:16myself i want to be recognized because i'm i and not because i happen to be his wife
14:26so madam chang did the unthinkable she defied convention and followed her husband the 170
14:33miles to nanking the seat of china's government she was the only official wife there
14:43it was a taste of things to come
14:46madam chang was set to become a political wife the likes of which had never been seen before
14:57but the china her husband now ruled was in political meltdown on the brink of civil war
15:09chang's nationalist party hadn't been the only political force to emerge in the post-imperial era
15:1819otea
15:19mao sei tung's rival communist party with its army of peasants and workers backed by the might of soviet russia
15:26was using the civil unrest to fuel the pathway to revolution
15:39to make matters worse in 1931 the old enemy japan invaded and took control of the entire northern
15:48province of manchuria installing their own puppet government there throughout china there was outrage
15:59but chang did nothing he firmly believed he would not be in a position to fight the japanese
16:04until he had first united his own countrymen
16:12chang never doubted he was the right man to unite china but he couldn't do it alone
16:21until now madam chang had played the role of supportive wife present but not politically active
16:30that was about to change
16:35when foreign embassies moved en masse to nanking chang was at a loss
16:41he spoke no english and had little knowledge of western culture madam chang stepped in
16:51she became her husband's secretary and interpreter
16:56wherever chang went madam chang went too
17:07at the same time their personal relationship blossomed chang wrote in his diaries
17:14my wife is very happy to see that i put national affairs before everything else
17:19i know that she's always thinking of me i believe that she understands me
17:25the feeling was mutual chang was protective of his new young wife and looked out for her
17:32at the time madam chang wrote chang takes care of me sometimes i get so overworked i cannot think
17:41then my husband says now you go over to the south bank to the country and stay there a few
17:46days
17:48he just picks me up and sends me off
17:56by now madam chang had reason to feel overworked
18:00in 1934 she had been given her first official government position
18:05secretary general of the chinese air force responsible for modernizing china's and adequate air defenses
18:14general and madam chang were beginning to develop a formidable partnership
18:19but it wasn't long before chang was to run into trouble
18:27factions of chang's nationalist party considered him to be a dictator
18:35angry and frustrated at his lack of impact against the japanese invasion of manchuria
18:41dissenting generals took chang captive but kai shek premier and commander-in-chief of the army
18:46fell into the hands of the rebels and for some time anxiety was felt for his safety
18:51madam chang stepped in she held a series of stormy meetings with the rebels holding her husband
19:00within two weeks chang was released
19:09madame chang's reputation as a political heavyweight was sealed just as her husband's was beginning to crumble
19:18but chang's weakness had not gone unnoticed abroad
19:24in the south of july 1937
19:35on the 7th of july 1937 the japanese launched a full-scale invasion of a weakened and chaotic china
19:42the aim was to conquer the entire country
19:48china was completely unprepared within just five months japanese forces pushed ever deeper into
19:56northern china and from there advanced to the capital nanking
20:12in just one encounter in nanking over 300 000 chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers were massacred
20:21no defense that china can devise can withstand this relentless advance triumph is to the invader
20:31the brutality rape murder arson and looting shocked the world millions were made homeless
20:39hungry orphans who could wish starvation for these little ones the governments of the civilized world
20:47condemn war but there can never be any stronger condemnation than this
20:54chang was in a real crisis his exhausted troops lacked advanced military technology
21:02china's forces simply couldn't cope on their own
21:10so
21:10chang saw only one possible solution to concede territory to japan and buy time
21:17time in which china could beg for american arms with which to fight the japanese
21:23it was a high-risk strategy
21:29but chang had a formidable weapon
21:32in his wife he had a master of diplomacy with important american connections
21:37she was his and china's only hope
21:44madam chang immersed herself in her new high-profile role
21:49in the spring of 1937 as unofficial ambassador madam chang gave an impassioned speech to the american press
21:58i am speaking to you just as the echoes of exploding bombs have died down
22:05death comes from the clear blue sky just as it has come to thousands of our innocent people throughout the
22:13length of our land
22:16you have seen in the pictures and you have read of the destruction of homes and the terrible slaughters
22:25being carried out by the japanese throughout our country wherever their bombers could fly
22:32no nation could carry on such wanton destruction and yet retain the respect of the world
22:47madam chang hit the american press circuit hard
22:50between 1937 and 1938 the american press published more than 100 speeches press statements and interviews of hers
23:02she was reported to be regularly working through the night generating a momentum in china's favor
23:11she also never passed up a photo opportunity
23:17sewing soldiers uniforms visiting orphanages and the wounded and she do anything to make sure her work was
23:26noticed overseas
23:29she wanted america to recognize china as a nation under siege and deserving of help on a grand scale
23:40yet despite madam chang's high-profile work
23:44very little american aid was forthcoming
23:48then a most shocking chain of events would begin to turn the tide in her favor
24:04of the war
24:05by 1939 europe too was at war in a brutal fight with the nazis allies of japan
24:17america was appalled by the aggression but untouched by the direct actions of either the germans or the japanese
24:23She was reluctant to become involved.
24:29Madam Chang was undeterred.
24:32She appealed directly to America's rulers.
24:35Either congressmen should stop expressing horror at aggression,
24:39or they should stop encouraging aggression by permitting gasoline,
24:44oil and other war materials to be sent to Japan.
24:53In 1940, President Roosevelt did freeze Japanese assets
24:58and put an embargo on exports to Japan.
25:01He also sent 100 American pilots to serve as mercenaries in China.
25:09Madam Chang's desperate pleas had made an impact.
25:13But Roosevelt's was a small contribution to a huge problem.
25:19It would take something of much greater significance
25:22to fire up America.
25:34On December 7th, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
25:48Within just 24 hours, America had declared war on Japan.
25:56Now Britain, America and China had a common enemy.
26:04Madam Chang was at the heart of this powerful relationship.
26:08It gave her the opportunity to exert even more pressure and influence,
26:13and perhaps this time gain significant war aid for China before it was too late.
26:20But behind the scenes, cracks were beginning to appear.
26:32The war with Japan highlighted the fast deteriorating state of Chang's army,
26:37and the appalling conditions of his soldiers.
26:43Corruption was rife.
26:45Corruption was rife.
26:46Disease spread through the ranks.
26:48Typhus and smallpox took the lives of thousands of his men.
26:52Morale was at an all-time low.
26:55War had been a disaster for China, and a disaster for Chang.
27:00The Allies began to view him as the incompetent general behind a badly run and bankrupt army.
27:07The Americans in particular were all too aware of his faults.
27:11It was down to Madam Chang to soothe the uneasy relationship between America and her floundering husband.
27:19But there were personal shortcomings to deal with too,
27:22because a rift was beginning to develop in the Chang's marriage.
27:29Beneath the surface, the seemingly unbreakable partnership of love and loyalty was crumbling.
27:37Madam Chang told a confidante that her marriage to Chang was now one of convenience.
27:43At the same time, rumours spread of Chang's impotence.
27:50Others said his indulgence in Shanghai brothels as a young soldier,
27:54where he repeatedly caught venereal diseases, was said to have rendered him infertile.
28:01Madam Chang began to realise the man she was fighting so hard to protect had numerous failings.
28:09Her desire to loyally serve her husband faded.
28:13She would still put China before all else, but she was now also in search of personal glory.
28:19And if her husband didn't admire her physically, then others certainly did.
28:33In 1940, Republican politician Wendell Wilkie lost the presidential election.
28:39First one of the state leaders, and I'm never about to bear in my life.
28:45Wilkie planned to run again in 1944,
28:48and in the interim spent his time criss-crossing the globe, meeting heads of state.
28:56Described by one of Madam Chang's friends as a great hulk of a man,
29:00Wilkie had been invited to China's wartime capital of Chongqing.
29:04It was an opportunity to impress a man who may one day be President of the United States.
29:11It was 1942, and Madam Chang had been married for 15 years.
29:19Wilkie had asked his journalist friend, Gardner Cowles, to cover his visit to China.
29:30Cal's diary recalls how during an evening reception, Wilkie's temporary absence was noted,
29:37as was Madam Chang's.
29:42Wilkie returned to his apartment at 4am,
29:45looking as cocky as a young college student after a successful night with a girl.
29:54Wilkie then confessed he'd invited Madam Chang to return to Washington with him.
30:01It fell to Cowles to tell Madam Chang this was neither possible nor advisable.
30:07When he broke the news to her, Madam Chang scratched Cowles' cheeks so deeply
30:12that marks were said to have remained for a week.
30:23In fact, Madam Chang didn't need Wendell's invitation to visit America.
30:27She once again threw herself into gathering support, money and war aid for China.
30:35And launched a whirlwind tour of the United States.
30:38In just eight months she crossed the whole of America, from Los Angeles to New York.
30:45Let us not forget that Japan in her occupied areas today has greater resources at her command than Germany.
30:54And it was not by coincidence that she ran into Wendell Wilkie several times en route.
31:01New York, most sophisticated and celebrity wise of cities, sets a new high in welcomes.
31:07For like the rest of America, New York realizes Madam Chang is no ordinary celebrity.
31:13The wife of one of the world's greatest military and political leaders, she is also a leader herself.
31:24While in New York, Madam Chang invited Wilkie's friend, Gardiner Cowles, to dine in the Ward of Astoria Towers.
31:36That night, Cowles claimed Madam Chang instructed him to spend whatever was necessary to get Wilkie the Republican nomination for
31:45the next presidential race.
31:48She promised China would foot the bill.
31:53Cowles recalls her saying,
31:55If Wendell could be elected, then he and I would rule the world.
32:00I would rule the Orient, and Wendell would rule the Western world.
32:06It was an absurd proposal, but Cowles later claimed he was so mesmerized by her that he would not have
32:13dismissed anything she said.
32:20Japan has moved one stage farther into China.
32:25But by now, China was on the verge of defeat.
32:29Japan held all China's northern and eastern territories.
32:37Chemical and biological weapons had taken a deadly toll and made even more millions homeless.
32:44The immediate problem for Madam Chang was securing the billions of dollars of war aid that China so desperately needed.
32:54Then, in 1943, she was handed a golden opportunity to make her case directly to the people who mattered, before
33:02it was too late.
33:05Aroving at Washington, Madam Chang is greeted by Mrs. Rosa.
33:10Madam Chang was invited to the White House.
33:13She drives off with President and Mrs. Roosevelt.
33:15She would stay there for a week as a special guest of the Roosevelt's.
33:26She did nothing to temper her grand manner and arrived in style, with her own silk sheets and expecting the
33:33red carpet treatment, clapping her hands to summon the White House servants.
33:41As Eleanor Roosevelt later said, she can talk beautifully about democracy, but she does not know how to live democracy.
33:55For all the cordiality, Roosevelt remained unconvinced he should send large sums of aid to China.
34:04But that didn't deter Madam Chang.
34:08She was about to address both houses of Congress and become the first foreign woman to do so.
34:15If she was to secure the billions of dollars of American loans that China needed, then she'd have to charm
34:21Congress and exert her influence like never before.
34:28On February 18, 1943, in the Capitol building, she took her position at the podium.
34:35It is my great pleasure, my high privilege and my distinguished honor, to present to you, Madam Chang-Kai Czech.
34:46Mr. Sito, members of the Congress of the United States.
34:51What followed was a powerful and impassioned plea for assistance in fighting the Japanese.
34:57Let us not forget that during the first four and a half years of total aggression,
35:04China has borne Japan's sadistic fury unaided and alone.
35:17It now remains for you, the present representatives of the American people, to point the way to win the war,
35:26to help construct a world in which all peoples may henceforth live in harmony and peace.
35:37Let us know.
35:38Her words brought some to tears.
35:41Congress had never seen anything like it.
35:46Watching in the Senate gallery, Eleanor Roosevelt commented that Madam Chang's speech marked the recognition of a woman who,
35:54through her personality and her own service, had achieved a place in the world.
35:58When she spoke, it was no longer as a woman that one thought of her.
36:06Madam Chang had both houses of Congress in the palm of her hand.
36:11Congress and Senate were united.
36:14They must send as much aid to China as possible.
36:20Roosevelt was forced to reverse his policy.
36:28She had secured billions of dollars of surplus American military supplies and generous loans for the extra hardware her country
36:36so desperately required.
36:39In order to accomplish this purpose, we must now so prosecute the war that victory will be ours decisively and
36:48with all good speed.
36:50She was now the most powerful woman in the world.
36:54But at home, trouble was brewing once again.
37:02Rumours began to circulate that Chang had taken a mistress.
37:05The affair caught everyone's attention.
37:10American journalists reported seeding domestic troubles in the couple's home in Chungking.
37:15They quoted Madam Chang as being tired, ill and hiding away from the public eye.
37:22Even the Chinese Communist Party joined in and predicted Madam would sue for divorce.
37:28London's Daily Mail exclaimed that Chang and Madam had already split.
37:34It was a very public and humiliating payback for her affair with American Wendell Wilkie and the first of a
37:41series of personal hammer blows.
37:49To the whole free world, the stunning news has come that Franklin Roosevelt is dead.
37:56On April 12, 1945, President Roosevelt died.
38:01He was replaced by President Truman, who Madam Chang did not know.
38:08Madam Chang's old lover, Wendell Wilkie, never made it to be president.
38:13He dropped out of the last presidential race and shortly after died of a heart attack.
38:22With fewer friends on the world stage, now more than ever, Madam Chang couldn't afford to split from her husband
38:29and to be usurped as China's first lady.
38:33Especially as there was more trouble ahead for China.
38:42While the rest of the world was celebrating the end of war, China was facing a humanitarian disaster.
38:53Despite the end of hostilities, there had been few improvements in living standards.
39:00Chang's military miscalculations and his administration's notorious corruption meant there had already been several attempts to remove him from government.
39:10Chang's position was becoming increasingly untenable.
39:14His country was now ripe for revolution.
39:21The communists could not be held at bay any longer.
39:27Stalin had promised his Chinese comrade Mao Tse Tung thousands of rifles, machine guns and tanks, which had been taken
39:34from the defeated Japanese.
39:37Then, in June 1946, full-scale civil war broke out.
39:48Chang's beleaguered army was now facing the same military hardware, but in the hands of a different enemy.
39:54The communists were finally a force to be reckoned with.
40:03Now, they were down with the mainland, there is a force to be a force to fly to the United
40:04States.
40:04Madam Chang, once again keen to prove herself irreplaceable both to her nation and to her husband, stepped in.
40:14She arranged a visit to America to beg for more aid.
40:17This time to fight the communists.
40:21It was a desperate mission.
40:23A final attempt to save the nationalist movement
40:26to which she and her husband had dedicated their lives.
40:31Her departure would mark the last time she would set foot
40:34upon the Chinese mainland.
40:40But this time, America gave her a very different reception.
40:47President Truman made her wait nine days
40:50before he granted her a brief audience.
40:54Despite the smiles and diplomatic overtures,
40:57this time there was no invitation to stay at the White House.
41:02Truman believed Chang lacked popular support.
41:06And he was right.
41:11By the time Truman withdrew American aid,
41:14Chang's troops were already surrendering to the communists.
41:20On January 21st, 1949, Chang resigned.
41:28Within six days, his party was in peace negotiations with Mao.
41:33The communists emerged as victors.
41:39Nationalist rule was at an end.
41:42from all políticos.
41:44Many progressive Christians would eat.
41:50He was in peace.
41:53He was in peace.
41:54G
41:54Chang, his defeated army and around 2 million nationalist Chinese fled the People's Republic of China....
42:01across the narrow channel to the island of Taiwan.
42:09During this time, Madam Chang had remained in the US, but in 1950, she prepared to return
42:16to her husband in Taiwan.
42:18I wish to take this opportunity to thank the many friends who have sent me telegrams and
42:24have written me and telephoned me to express your sympathy and love for my country.
42:32I wish you all all the luck in the world, and God bless you, goodbye.
42:51Their marriage may have been at times tempestuous, but it seemed they had now forgiven each other.
42:56I hope we can be together every year from now on, and never separate again.
43:06Chang had set up a nationalist government in exile.
43:11On her arrival in Taiwan, Madam Chang once again became a central figure in her husband's administration.
43:19She resumed her role as international ambassador, determined not to give up on a united nationalist
43:28China.
43:32With or without help, we shall fight.
43:36We are not defeated.
43:39Millions of my countrymen are yet dedicated to the long fight.
43:45As long as a breath remains in us, and with faith in the Almighty, we shall continue the struggle.
43:58Chang proclaimed his government to be the true government of all China.
44:06With two rival regimes claiming the same thing, Madam Chang's power of persuasion would once
44:12again come to the fore.
44:15The United Nations, symbol of man's hope.
44:20Through an unrelenting diplomatic drive, Madam Chang persuaded the United Nations to recognize
44:27her husband's tiny island state as the sole legitimate government of all China, representing
44:32over 660 million Chinese people.
44:40Proceeding a nationalist China's delegate on the Security Council.
44:43Chang's nationalists even represented China on the UN Security Council for over 20 years.
44:51It was one of her most remarkable achievements.
45:02Chang's nationalists.
45:03Under Chang, Taiwan was a one-party state, governed under martial law.
45:08But it nonetheless began the steady development into one of the world's most prosperous countries
45:13with a strong and dynamic economy.
45:20Gradually, General and Madam Chang became resigned both to having failed to unite China and to their life in exile.
45:29What do you miss most by being exiled from your homeland?
45:33Well, I wouldn't say that I'm exiled from my homeland because Taiwan is a province of the Republic of China.
45:40But if you mean what do I miss most on the mainland, I would say my compatriots.
45:47Of course, all the people here are also my compatriots.
45:51But there, there are so many of them.
45:53And the vastness.
45:55600 million of them.
45:56And the vastness of the spacious skies and the diversity of climate and locale.
46:04We really, what we have there is not a country but a continent.
46:08And I miss that.
46:12On April 5th, 1975, aged 87, General Chang died.
46:20Madame Chang's husband and political partner of nearly 50 years was gone.
46:26The president's departure from this world was very hard for me to quite accept as reality.
46:36Shortly after, Madame Chang returned to America for good.
46:42Instead of pursuing politics as she had in the past, she turned her hand to something different.
46:48Madame Chang took up painting.
46:52An astounding thing has happened.
46:55You simply won't believe it.
46:57I have been learning Chinese painting these past five months.
47:01And all the artists and connoisseurs of Chinese painting say that I have the possibilities of a great artist.
47:12At the great age of 103, Madame Chang held an exhibition of her work in New York.
47:20She died two years later, aged 105.
47:25None of her works have ever been put up for sale.
47:34Madame Chang was at the forefront of Chinese politics at a crucial time in her country's history.
47:44She and her husband may not have unified China as they wanted, but they did deliver their country from widespread
47:51poverty and deprivation and stalled the spread of communism.
47:56The goal of our common struggle should be to shape the future.
48:02Madame Chang secured huge international support and placed the Republic of China at the very heart of world affairs.
48:14To their opponents, she and her husband were sometimes ruthless leaders of a corrupt regime.
48:20But to their followers, they embodied China's struggle for freedom.
48:26Whatever their view, one thing is acknowledged.
48:29In a remarkable life that spanned three centuries, Madame Chang rose to become, for a time, the most powerful woman
48:37in the world.
48:39And a true politician to the very end.
48:42For that which is morally wrong can never be politically right.
49:07And a true politician to the very end.
49:18As always, you are costing thousands of thousands of the times and thousands of buildings.
49:24You