Ku Cheng-kang

Ku Cheng-kang or Gu Zhenggang (; 30 April 1902 – 11 December 1993) was a Chinese politician, scholar and ranking member of the Kuomintang in service to the Republic of China. He was the co-founder of both Chinese Association for Relief and Ensuing Services and World League for Freedom and Democracy and widely regarded as the "Father of Disaster Relief in the Republic of China", "Social Welfare Advocate" and the "Iron Man of Anti-Communism".

Early life and education

Ku Cheng-kang was born in Anshun, Guizhou Province during the late Qing Empire. He had an older brother, Ku Cheng-lun (1889–1953), a general known as the "Father of the Republic of China's Military Police," and a younger brother, Ku Cheng-ting (1903–1974), who, along with his wife Pi Yi-shu (1905–1974), served as a member of the first Legislative Yuan.

Ku attended school in Germany where many of the Kuomintang's elite were also educated. He obtained his bachelor's degree from Humboldt University of Berlin. In 1924, whilst still a student, Ku and his younger brother joined the Kuomintang.

In 1925, the two brothers traveled to the Soviet Union to continue their studies at Moscow Sun Yat-sen University, a comintern school.

In 1926, as tensions emerged within the First United Front, Ku and his younger brother Ku Cheng-ting, then studying at Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow, were deeply affected by the political crisis. Together with a number of KMT students, they became active in forming the “Sun Wen'ism Society, Sun Yat-sen University Branch,” which openly criticized the Chinese Communist Party. Their activities provoked resentment among KMT students sympathetic to the CCP. After the group’s activities were exposed, the Ku brothers and their associates were expelled and sent back to China.

Early Political career

The brothers returned to China in 1926. In 1928, they fell in with Chen Gongbo and Ku Meng-yu to form the Reorganization Group, a faction loyal to Wang Jingwei.

In May 1927, Ku was appointed a member of the Preparatory Committee for the Central Political School, established under Chiang Kai-shek, and was charged with related organizational work. After the school opened, he served as Deputy Director of the Moral Training Department. Because Director Ding Weifen was unable to be present at the school to oversee daily affairs, Ku effectively managed the department’s work. Known for his oratorical skill and strong persuasive appeal, he gained considerable influence among the students.

On 22 November 1927, during a public mass rally in Nanjing celebrating the Northern Expedition’s recent victories, Ku—representing the Central Political School—called on the crowd to “support Generalissimo Chiang’s reinstatement” and to “overthrow the Central Special Committee and the Western Hill faction.” Demonstrators then set out on a coordinated protest march. Troops aligned with the Western Hill faction intervened to halt the procession and opened fire, resulting in dozens of casualties.

In 1928–1929, amid the intra-party power struggle between Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Jingwei, Ku Cheng-kang, then a member of the Reorganization Group, became directly involved in opposition to Chiang’s consolidation of power. Chiang and his close ally Chen Guofu announced plans to alter the selection of delegates to the Kuomintang’s Third National Congress, changing the process from elections held by local party branches to direct appointment by the central leadership, a move widely criticized as authoritarian.

On 14 March 1929, Ku presided over a protest rally in Nanjing under the slogan “Oppose dictatorship, oppose centrally appointed representatives,” an event organized in line with the speeches delivered by Wang Jingwei and Chen Gongbo three days earlier, which called for resistance against Chiang Kai-shek’s attempt to centralize control of party representation. The demonstration was violently suppressed by police dispatched by Chen Guofu; Ku was reportedly beaten so severely that his life was nearly endangered. However, he was spared from imprisonment, reportedly due to the political connections of his elder brother, Ku Cheng-lun, who was an ally of Chiang Kai-shek.

Throughout 1929, Ku remained an active supporter of Chen Gongbo and Ku Meng-yu in their efforts to resist Chiang’s dominance within the party. On 25 May, he published a strongly worded article condemning Chiang’s leadership, accusing him of usurping control of the Kuomintang and abandoning its revolutionary ideals. In this piece, Ku argued that since Chiang’s rise, “the party’s revolutionary doctrine has been discarded, its program destroyed, its forces broken, and its spirit lost. The present Kuomintang has become merely the instrument of warlords and bureaucrats, a conglomeration of corrupt elements.” Ku To-yi (zh: 谷多儀, born 1936) Ku To-lin (zh: 谷多齡, born 1940) Ku Chia-tai (zh: 谷家泰, born 1942) Ku Chia-hua (zh: 谷家華, born 1944) Ku Chia-sung (zh: 谷家嵩, born 1946) (zh: 谷秀衡, 1948–2005) - he went on to become director of Taiwan Cyanamid Company Ku Chia-heng (zh: 谷家恒, born 1948)

Wartime service In 1937, with the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, he was appointed Deputy Minister of the 5th National Government Military Commission. In June 1938, he served as interim secretary for the society of the Three Principles of the People Youth Corps and was also made the group's Central Executive Officer. In addition, he served as KMT Chairman and party boss for Zhejiang Province.

In November 1939, Ku was appointed as the minister of social affairs and was placed in charge of all wartime social welfare projects. In 1940, the ministry was reorganized into the National Social Department where Ku continued to serve as Minister of National Government Social Affairs, a position he held until March 1949.

As the only Minister of Social Affairs under the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China (distinct from the Kuomintang Party’s own Ministry of Social Affairs headed by Chen Lifu before him). Ku’s state-published biography asserts that Ku played a formative role in the origins of modern social welfare administration in the Republic of China. At the time, most legislation and regulatory frameworks concerning social affairs had yet to be created. While overseeing wartime relief and the resettlement of displaced populations, Ku simultaneously initiated studies on national social security policy and welfare institutions. The biography states that, through Ku’s efforts and personal appeals, a number of scholars and intellectuals participated in the drafting of early social policy proposals.

During his tenure, a series of social laws were promulgated, including the People’s Organizations Act, Social Relief Act, Employment Service Act, Child Welfare Act, Mining and Industrial Inspection Act, Trade Union Act, and Farmers’ Association Act. According to the biography, Ku not only promoted legislation but also sought practical implementation by establishing social administration organs in both rear-area and frontline provinces. He further advocated cooperative economic institutions, encouraging local communities to establish production, marketing, labor, credit, and consumer cooperatives.

In 1941, Ku was in charge of casualty processing during the Japanese bombing of Chongqing and in 1944, he was in charge of Chinese military and civilian casualties on the Guangxi, Guizhou warfronts.

In 1945, Ku was elected to the Chinese Kuomintang Central Executive Committee and the 6th Standing Committee. He also served as Chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang Central Committee of agricultural workers.

In May 1945, with the end of the Second Sino–Japanese War approaching, the Kuomintang convened its Sixth National Congress in Chongqing. Based on wartime administrative experience, Ku submitted to the congress four major social policy programs—national protection, rural policy, labor policy, and preliminary postwar social security measures—proposed as a framework for postwar reconstruction. His biography claims that these policies, organized around clear objectives, implementation items, and procedural steps, were adopted by the congress and incorporated into the party platform. When the Constitution of the Republic of China was later drafted, provisions relating to social security were included in the chapter on Fundamental National Policies; the biography attributes this development partly to Ku’s advocacy.

In 1947, he began involvement with Chen Lifu, Fang Chih and the CC Clique and became active in the Shanghai political scene.

Ku retreated with the nationalists to Taiwan in 1949.

Postwar career in Taiwan

After the central government’s relocation to Taiwan in 1950, the Kuomintang undertook a major party reorganization. During this period, Ku served as Director of the Second Department of the Party Reform Program, overseeing youth, industrial, agricultural, labor, and social movements. His biography states that he formulated guiding programs for the party’s youth, industrial, agricultural, labor, and social mobilization efforts, and directed their implementation throughout party organizations.

The biography further asserts that Ku encouraged the establishment of Taiwan’s early labor insurance system, and promoted the creation of industrial party branches within public and private enterprises. Based on the principles of “balanced economic and social development” and the coordination of “production and welfare,” the party undertook a range of social programs in coordination with government initiatives on social security and welfare. According to the biography, Taiwan’s social development during the subsequent decades was closely connected to Ku’s administrative and organizational work.

In January 1950, Ku was appointed minister of the interior. He served as director of the Mainland Disaster Relief Organization together with Fang Chih. Together with Fang, Ku set up the Free China Relief Agency, and the Sino-Laotian Friendship Society and the ROC branch of the Asian People's Anti Communist League. The pair were active in South Korea, Vietnam, Burma, Laos, Camboadia and Thailand on various KMT special projects. While presiding over the January 23rd Freedom Day rallies, he led crowds in chanting slogans such as "Down with Communism" and "Oppose Enslavement." It is believed that Ku demanded loyalty from every WACL member, specifically towards himself personally.

In 1958, following the death of Hung Lan-yu, the first secretary-general of National Assembly, Ku was personally appointed by Chiang Kai-shek as his successor the following year, later officially elected in 1960. In 1966, he received the highest number of votes—100 in total—in the election to select the 85-member Presidium of the Assembly, making him the top-ranking chair. Ku's growing power sparked controversy, with critics arguing that he had accumulated excessive influence within the National Assembly. According to New News Weekly, Chiang Kai-shek himself remarked: " (Ku) wants to run for president now."

In 1987, during the Iran-Contra Affair, Ku's covert military aid to the Contras was exposed and later confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ku died on 11 December 1993 in Taipei at the age of 91.

Personality A widely circulated account, documented in Ku Cheng-kang's state-published biography, describes how he twice gained trust and power through tears.

The first occurred in 1939 after Wang Jingwei's defection. As a member of Wang's Reorganization Group, Ku wept before Chiang Kai-shek, declaring his loyalty to the party-state and proclaimed: "I once served Wang out of loyalty to the party and the nation; now, I will serve you with the same loyalty." and the second time took place during the Chinese Civil War when Li Zongren pressured Chiang to step down. Ku again used tears to affirm his unwavering support. This story is frequently cited in modern books.

According to Ku's state-published biography issued by the Legislative Yuan, he maintained a deliberately austere lifestyle throughout his life. The biography records that Ku declined government-assigned official housing for senior officials and instead rented modest accommodation. In 1964 he was reportedly sued over unpaid rent, declared bankrupt and relocated to Minsheng New Village, then a rural, flood-prone area. The same source notes that Ku used second-hand furniture inherited from his younger brother Ku Cheng-ting and at times sold personal gifts—such as pens and radios he had received from President Park Chung-hee and Prime minister Nobusuke Kishi—to help pay his children's tuition fees.

The same biography portrays Ku as an assertive and confrontational public figure who cultivated close contact with the press and frequently used it to expose and denounce political opponents. The biography recounts a widely cited incident during a 1985 trip to South America in which Ku discovered that his sun hat had been manufactured in the Mainland China and, in protest, threw the hat to the ground.

Chen Kewen, a close colleague and friend of Ku, recorded sharply critical views of Ku in his diary. Chen described him as a “revolutionary ruffian” and a “party hoodlum,” and further noted that among members of the Reorganizationist Group, “hardly any were satisfied with Ku; only Mr. Wang seemed to rely heavily on him.” Chen added that he himself “could not understand the reason for this contradiction.”

Literary works The following is an incomplete list of the literary works of Ku Cheng-kang Ku Cheng-kang 谷正綱編，世盟重要文獻，台北市：世界反共聯盟中華民國分會，1967年 Ku Cheng-kang 谷正綱，發揚胞愛精神團結反共力量，台北市：中國大陸災胞救濟總會，1973年 Ku Cheng-kang "Expose and Destroy Peiping's "Peaceful Unification" Intrigue", World Anti-Communist League, China Chapter, 1979, Taipei. Ku Cheng-kang "The 12th [Twelfth] C.C.P. Congress and the Future of Teng's Line", World Anti-Communist League, China Chapter, 1982, Taipei. Ku Cheng-kang 谷正綱，為人類自由而奮鬥：世盟榮譽主席谷正綱博士言論選集，世盟榮譽主席谷正綱言論選集編委會，1985年