Ep. 289 | China’s Himmler, Dai Li (Part 3)

We continue with the conclusion of this series that looks at the life and times of Chiang Kai-shek's Spymaster, Dai Li, and his eight-year reign of terror. After being dealt a heavy blow in the Yan Baohang and Zhang Shuping spy cases, Dai found himself back on his heels with a legion of haters trying to tear him down.

But it's always darkest before the dawn. And after Pearl Harbor and the sudden proliferation of Americans in Chongqing and other parts of China, opportunity knocked on Dai Li's door. SACO is born after Dai Li and Milton Miles meet and begin to discuss cooperating against the Japanese in China. It won't be long after SACO is operational that Dai uses the resources of the organization to also go after his and the KMT's political enemies, the CCP most of all.

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Terms in Episode

Pinyin/Term	Chinese	English/Meaning
Dài Lì	戴笠	1897-1946, KMT spymaster, a.k.a. Chiang Kai-shek's Sabre, headed the Nationalist government's secret police and spy organizations
Wànglóngmén	望龙门	District locasted in the south of Chongqing where the head office of the MSB was located
Jūntǒng	军统	The National Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (Military Commission),(NBIS or BIS) (Chinese: 國民政府軍事委員會調查統計局; pinyin: Guómín zhèngfǔ jūnshì wěiyuánhuì diàochá tǒngjìjú),commonly known as Juntong
Yán Bǎoháng	阎宝航	1895-1968, former KMT member who defected to the Communists and served as a spy inside the halls of power in Chongqing. His son was Yan Mingfu
Zhāng Lùpíng	张露萍	1921-1945, a young spy who operated inside the Juntong for several years alongside others
Wāng Jīngwèi	汪精卫	1883-1944, another major KMT leader and major political rival to Chiang Kai-shek
Chén Lìfū	陈立夫	1900-2001, brother of Chen Guofu, KMT politician, later headed up the Investigation Section of the Organization Department of the KMT
Chén Guǒfū	陈果夫	1892-1951, KMT politician, brother of Chen Lifu, also served in the Nationalist government. CC Clique member
Hú Dié	胡蝶	Also known by her stage name of Butterfly Wu. She was, if not THE hottest actress appearing in Chinese movies, certainly was one of the biggest names at the time
Chén Huá	陈华	1912-1994, Chinese actress and Juntong spy who was run by her lover Dai Li
T.V. Sòng	宋子文	Known as Soong Tse-vung, 1894-1971, a major figure in Nationalist China politics
Zhōng Tǒng	中统	The Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS) Chinese: 中國國民黨中央執行委員會調查統計局 (Zhōngguó Guómíndǎng Zhōngyāng Zhíxíng Wěiyuánhuì Diàochá Tǒngjì Jú),an intelligence unit under the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang.
Gēlèshān	歌乐山	Also known as Happy Valley, one of the Juntong's most notorious jails and interrogation centers was locaterd there. Part of the complex included the former residence of the Tang poet Bái Jūyì 白居易
Shāpíngbà	沙坪坝区	A district in the western part of Chongqing
Kāng Shēng	康生	1898-1975, early CCP member who's slavish devotion to Mao was well-known. He was Dai Li's "counterpart" as spymaster and secret police chief for the CCP
Yán’ān	延安	City in northern Shaanxi where Mao setup his revolutionary base during the 1930's and 40's
Qīngdǎo	青岛	Beautiful port city on the Shandong coast
Jiāngníng	江宁	city just south of Nanjing where Dai Li's plane went down
Jiāngshān	江山	Southern Zhejiang city where Dai Li was born
Máo Rénfèng	毛人凤	1898-1956, Nationalist general and spymaster who (as we'll see in Part 3) succeeded Dai Li as head of the KMT spy agency
Jiǎng Jièshí de Pèijiàn	蒋介石佩剑	"Chiang Kai-shek's sabre", one of Dai Li's many surnames

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