Chiang Kai-shek

American  

[chang kahy-shek, jyahng] / ˈtʃæŋ kaɪˈʃɛk, ˈdʒjɑŋ /

Also Chiang Chieh-shih

noun

1. Chiang Chung-cheng, 1886?–1975, Chinese army officer and political leader: president of the Republic of China 1950–75.

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Chiang Kai-shek British  

/ ˈtʃæŋ kaɪˈʃɛk /

noun

1. original name Chiang Chung-cheng, 1887–1975, Chinese general: president of China (1928–31; 1943–49) and of the Republic of China (Taiwan) (1950–75). As chairman of the Kuomintang, he allied with the Communists against the Japanese (1937–45), but in the Civil War that followed was forced to withdraw to Taiwan after his defeat by the Communists (1949)

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Chiang Kai-shek Cultural  

1. A Chinese general and political leader of the twentieth century. He was president of China until he was overthrown in 1949 by Chinese communist forces under Mao Zedong, who established the People's Republic of China. Chiang fled to Taiwan, where he established the government of the Republic of China, or Nationalist China (see also Nationalist China), recognized by the United States until 1979 as the only legitimate government of China.

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Example Sentences

After Mao defeated Chiang Kai-shek during the Truman years, many in the U.S. debated who lost China.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026

The current dispute between China and Taiwan dates to a civil war between the nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek, who retreated to the island, and Mao Zedong's communist fighters.

From Barron's • Oct. 10, 2025

Visits to the front, rousing of troops, evading rampant typhoid, enigmatic encounters with notable leaders like Republican Chiang Kai-shek and Communist Zhou Enlai.

From Salon • Jul. 12, 2025

The defeated Nationalist government, led by Chiang Kai-shek, fled to Taiwan in 1949, while the Chinese Communist Party under Mao Zedong established the People’s Republic of China on the mainland.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2025

And immediately beyond Korea's borders, Chinese Communists led by Mao Zedong seized control of the mainland in 1949, following a four-year-long civil war with the nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau