Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937-1945

by Rana Mitter

their discipline. Carlson characterized the Nationalists as moving toward “fascism” and demanded that in return for funding from the US, Chiang’s government should be forced to institute more “democratic” structures.46 Johnson disagreed strongly. The Nationalists wished to retain power, which was “only normal and natural,” but during the war years they had established the National Political Consultative Council, a body on which various parties including the Communists were represented. He also pointed out that the CCP were able to publish their own newspaper in Chongqing in a way that would not have been possible before the war. One might have expected the Nationalists to use the excuse of war “to extinguish . . . all political opposition,” but instead they had preferred to “muddle along.” Johnson also felt that the influence of the various cliques within the Nationalist Party had been exaggerated. Chiang Kai-shek, in contrast, had “grown in stature, as he has come to be recognized as the symbol of united resistance to Japanese encroachment”; in the end “it is he who makes the final decisions.” Johnson did agree with Carlson’s assessment that Chiang’s government was reluctant to sponsor a mass popular movement