Not that Chiang was happy to trust Stalin’s good faith, and as it turned out, with good reason. On April 30 Adolf Hitler killed himself in his bunker under the ruins of Berlin. On May 8, 1945, the war in Europe ended. Now, at last, Asia would be at the center of the conflict, and the USSR would be part of that effort. In early July Chiang sent T. V. Soong, along with his Russian-speaking son Ching-kuo, to Moscow to negotiate terms with Stalin. Stalin agreed to recognize only Chiang as the ruler of China, but made extensive demands in return, including China’s recognition of Outer Mongolia’s
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