[quote=“lurkky”]Found this on CNN.com:
I wonder what they mean by “founder of Taiwan”? The closest I can think of is that they’re trying to say he’s the “founder of the de facto state known as Taiwan”. I’m not saying that he is — I would have just described him as a “former strongman/dictator/generalissimo”. I don’t think that CNN’s characterization is either pro-green or pro-blue. I just think it’s weird and inaccurate, and I’ve never heard anyone describe him as such, in English or Chinese. Is there a Chinese phrase about him that could be literally translated this way?
I guess, while he was alive, you could have gotten in trouble for describing him as the founder of Taiwan, if you were in taiwan. “Future retaker of the mainland” would have been more up his alley.
What’s your take? Did CNN just flub their research? Is this an accurate way to represent CKS to a readership who probably don’t know his name?[/quote]
Personally, I prefer Vinegar Joe’s label for CKS—“peanut.”
[quote=“wikipedia”]
General Joseph Warren Stilwell (March 19, 1883 – October 12, 1946) was a United States Army four-star general best-known for his service in China. He was nicknamed “Uncle Joe” and “Vinegar Joe” for his purported concern for the average soldier and forthright manner.
Stilwell was constantly embroiled in disagreements with Chiang - whom Stilwell labeled “Peanut” in his official reports - about engaging Chinese forces against the Japanese. Stilwell would press Chiang to fight, while Chiang, with some legitimacy, preferred to preserve a defensive posture for political and military reasons. Chiang was concerned that his troops lacked training and supplies, and he also wanted to keep Chinese Nationalist forces ready to fight the Communists, under Mao Zedong after the end of the war with the Japanese. Infuriated by what he regarded as Chiang’s corruption, incompetence and timidity, Stilwell constantly filed reports to Washington complaining of Chiang’s inaction. Eventually, Stilwell’s belief that Chiang and his generals were incompetent and corrupt reached such proportions that Stilwell sought to cut off Lend-Lease aid to China. In his diary, which he faithfully kept, Stilwell began to note the corruption and the amount of money ($380,584,000 in 1944 dollars) being wasted upon the procrastinating Chiang and his government. [/quote]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stilwell