Last resort before execution

Author: Feng Shirong / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: Around 6 a.m. on March 21, 1946, five police cars left Zhongshan Gate and drove silently eastward along the narrow, uneven road at the foot of Zhongshan. The two leading and trailing cars were fully loaded with armed military and police, while the three in the middle were completely covered with black curtains. People didn’t know whether it was to execute war criminals or traitors—such things were common after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. But strangely, as the convoy passed through the deadly and terrifying forest area, neither sirens were sounded nor did they stop. Only one person knew for sure—Chen Gongbo, the great traitor, who was being escorted in the second car.
Just a week earlier, the Nanjing government had informed him that regarding his crimes, the Central Political Committee of the Nationalist Government had decided to hand him over to the Jiangsu Higher Court in Suzhou for trial. The other prisoners included Chen Biqing, the wife of Wang Jingwei, and Chu Minyi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Wang government. At this moment, Chen Gongbo, the former acting president of the Nationalist Government, closed his eyes tightly in the car. As flashes of lightning pierced the gaps in the black curtains, they his swollen face one by one. He listened intently to the sound of raindrops from the roof, as if they were the rage of a furious storm, which startled him and also made his heart, which had been hanging in his chest since his return from Japan and had slowly calmed down, begin to "boil" again, unable to be soothed.
He thought back to November 1944, when Wang Jingwei died in Japan. How had the presidency fallen to this unlucky man? Was it because he was out of touch with the times, or was it because his ambition was too great? Was it because he stood up in the face of danger, or was it an unexpected "crown" placed upon him? Was he destined to be the "last emperor," or the destined scapegoat? He had hoped that by thinking about these things, his mind would calm down. But the more he thought, the more he couldn’t calm down. His breathing grew rapid, and sweat trickled down his forehead.
Around 3 p.m., the convoy stopped in front of the gate of the Jiangsu Higher Court in Suzhou. Chen Gongbo, already weak, was escorted into the black iron gate leading to the detention room by two young military and police officers. When the tall iron gate closed behind them with a heavy sound, Chen Gongbo felt his body tremble slightly. He looked back at the black iron gate that separated him from freedom and clearly realized that he had entered a world with a specific meaning. This was different from his time in the Kuomintang’s detention center at 23 Ninghai Road after his return from Japan. He had thought that was just a political solution imposed by the KMT under specific circumstances—a one-sided optimistic assumption on his part.
Now, being escorted to the Jiangsu Local Court in Suzhou for trial was just an excuse for the KMT to refuse to forgive him while deliberately avoiding him. He knew the personality of Jiang Jieshi too well, so he felt that all his hardships in Beijing over the past year, his deep repentance, and his willingness to endure humiliation in exchange for a little mercy and tolerance from the KMT—all were futile self-consolation.
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