Chen Cheng ([ʈʂʰə̌n ʈʂʰə̌ŋ]; Chinese: 陳誠; pinyin: Chén Chéng; wugniu (Qingtian dialect): Dzan2-yin2; January 4, 1898 – March 5, 1965), courtesy name Tsi-siou (辭修; Cíxiū), was a Chinese politician, military leader, revolutionary, and the leader of the Tsotanhui Clique. He is widely regarded as the chief architect of Taiwan's post-war land reform and economic modernization programs during the 1950s.
A close protégé of Chiang Kai-shek, Chen rose through the ranks of the National Revolutionary Army and played a major role as a senior commander during the Northern Expedition, the Warlord Era, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the Chinese Civil War. Following the Kuomintang's retreat to Taiwan, Chen was appointed Governor of Taiwan, during which he declared martial law, and later served as Premier and Vice President. In these roles, he led Taiwan's land redistribution and industrial transformation throughout the 1950s and 1960s, reforms that scholars often identify as key precursors to the Taiwan Miracle. These programs were widely credited with curbing the spread of communism on the island and consolidating public support for the KMT regime.
Chen Cheng was born in Qingtian County, Zhejiang, to a peasant family as the eldest son among three boys and one girl. He graduated from Baoding Military Academy in 1922, and entered Whampoa Military Academy two years later. It was there that he first met Chiang Kai-shek, Commandant of the Academy. Later, Chen joined National Revolutionary Army to participate in the Northern Expedition.
Chen Cheng married Wu Shun-lien (吳舜蓮), the younger sister of his classmate Wu Ziqi, in 1917. In May 1925, while on leave to attend his father’s funeral, Wu reportedly attempted suicide due to suspicions of Chen’s infidelity, but survived. The couple subsequently divorced, though Wu continued to reside at Chen’s family home in Zhejiang. She retreated to Taichung in 1949 and lived with her brother until her death in 1978.
In 1932, through the introduction of Chiang Kai-shek, Chen married Tan Siang (譚祥), daughter of the late Premier Tan Yankai. They had six children, listed here in birth order:
Chen Hsing (陳幸), who earned a master's degree in mathematics from Columbia University. She married Yu Chuan-tao, a biochemist who later served as Vice Minister of Education and President of National Central University. Yu was also the son of Young China Party co-founder Yu Jiaju.
Chen Li-an (陳履安), who obtained a Ph.D. in mathematics from New York University and later served as Minister of Economic Affairs, Minister of National Defense, and President of the Control Yuan, and ran as an independent candidate in the 1996 presidential election.
Of Chen’s grandchildren, only the eldest son of Chen Hsing and the eldest son of Chen Li-an were born during his lifetime.
During the Northern Expedition, Chen displayed good leadership ability. Within a year, he was promoted from commanding battalions to divisions already.
After the expedition, Chen became active in the wars against the warlords. His successes in the battles allowed him to be promoted again, to the commander of the 18th Army.
In 1931, Chen was assigned the task of suppressing the Red Army. In various campaigns searching for the main force of Red Army, Chen's units experienced heavy casualties. In the fifth campaign against the Communists, he finally managed to defeat them, which forced the Red Army to launch its Long March.
Campaigns against the Red Army came to an end after the Xi'an Incident in which Chiang and his staff were forced to agree to co-operate with the communists against the invading Imperial Japanese Army.
During the Battle of Shanghai, he was one of the top military assistants of Chiang Kai Shek. It was his idea to seek a decisive action in Southern China, rather than confronting the Japanese in Northern China, where Nationalist troops were in poor condition and lacked transporting vehicles. After the fall of Shanghai and of Nanjing, Chen moved to Hubei to command the Battle of Wuhan in 1938. Wuhan was the provisional headquarters of the Chinese Army. The Japanese, however, managed, despite heavy losses to defeat the Chinese and captured Wuhan on October 25, 1938.
In July 1938, Chen assumed the position of Secretary-General of the Three Principles of the People Youth Corps. The organization, established by Chiang Kai-shek in response to the Japanese invasion, was intended as an entity independent of the Kuomintang, designed to operate outside the party’s direct control and free from CC Clique influence. Due to the Chen’ military responsibilities, Chiang and Chen appointed Zhu Jiahua as acting Secretary-General, a move that has been interpreted as marking the beginning of Chen’s shift in focus from military to politic, and simultaneously regarded as a collaboration between Chen and Zhu against CC Clique.
In the last years of the war, Chen went on to command in the Battle of Changsha, the Battle of Yichang, and the Battle of West Hubei. In 1943, he was appointed the commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in the Burma Theater until he was replaced by Wei Li-huang because of illness.
In January 1938, Chen assumed leadership of the newly merged Political Department, which incorporated the Military Affairs Commission’s Sixth Department responsible for wartime party organization and training. This reorganization effectively transferred the KMT’s powers of organization, propaganda, and cadre training from Chen Lifu to Chen Cheng. In April of the same year, former CC Clique member Zhu Jiahua was appointed Secretary-General of the Kuomintang with Chiang Kai-shek’s support. From Chen Cheng’s perspective, the restructuring strengthened his control over party affairs and provided the institutional backing to counter the influence of rival factions, including the CC Clique, thereby consolidating his position within the KMT leadership. This restructuring marked the Whampoa Clique’s first significant senior-level intervention in KMT party affairs and constituted Chiang Kai-shek’s initial attempt to use the faction to curb the influence of the CC Clique.
As Secretary-General of the Three Principles of the People Youth Corps. Chen was mominally the second most important leader after Chiang Kai-shek. In practice, however, Chen’s control was constrained. The appointment of Kang Tse as acting head of the Organization Department, often have conflicts with Chen. General Xu Yongchang also critzed that Chen’s political commitments undermined his military responsibilities. Chiang Kai-shek’s subsequent decision to appoint Zhu Jiahua—an academic figure acceptable to both Chen and close to Kang Tse—as acting Secretary-General.
After the Second Sino-Japanese War, Chen became the Chief of the General Staff and commander-in-chief of the navy. He followed Chiang's orders and began to raid the "liberated" areas of the Red Army, which launched the Chinese Civil War.