What happens
This episode of The Pacific Story, broadcast in August 1945 by the National Broadcasting Company, traces the split within China's Guomindang party between its left and right wings. Sun Fo, a leftist party member and son of Sun Yat-sen, argues that the party must become one political party among many, while rightists favor ending ties with Soviet Russia. Dramatized scenes show Chiang Kai-shek's northern expedition, the Hankau government's rift with him, and the party's later turn against the Communists. Commentary by Lawrence Rosinger follows, describing the liberal Democratic League and its hopes for a coalition government in postwar China.
China and the Pacific region, from the 1920s northern expedition through the late 1930s and the postwar period, with the Guomindang government based in Canton, Hankau, Nanking and later Chungking.
Characters: Sun Fo, Chiang Kai-shek, Mikhail Borodin, General Blücher, Sun Yat-sen, Madame Sun Yat-sen, T.V. Soong, General Feng
Listen for: Sun Fo's argument that the Guomindang must give up its dictatorial powers, and the shifting alliances between leftists and rightists over Soviet Russia and the Communists.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.