Taiwan's buried treasure
By admin on 2014-12-26

The existence and whereabouts of more than 200 tons of hidden gold, taken to Taiwan by the retreating Kuomintang (KMT) at the end of the Chinese Civil War 60-plus years ago, has long remained a mystery. Puzzling historians and civilians alike, the secret remains no more, with a new book revealing exactly where the bounty lies.

The Chinese Secret Archives of Gold, by Sing-yung Wu, son of a former financial chief of the Kuomintang military, retells one of the country's most buried and sought-after secrets.

Ten years ago, Wu discovered a top-secret military expenditure log that belonged to his father Wu Songqing and began delving into the details related to the historical document. His father, once in charge of the KMT's military expenditure, was deeply trusted by Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the KTM leader at the time.

Since making the discovery, Wu spent the next 10 years consulting historical records in both China and the US, especially the newly-declassified diary of Chiang Kai-shek's at Stanford University. He also interviewed many people who were personally involved in the gold's transportation to Taiwan, including the pilot of one of the aircrafts used.

Wu found that around the year 1949, four batches of gold and silver dollars, weighing more than 200 tons in total, were transported to Taiwan by both air and sea, in a very confidential way.

"The greatest problem I encountered when writing the book was how to calculate the total sum of the gold accurately," Wu told the Global Times. "I have supported my findings with figures I obtained from historical records, personal diaries and people involved."

The book reveals that as early as 1948, Chiang Kai-shek was forced to prepare to retreat to Taiwan and planned the disposal of bank deposits, including gold, as part of the retreat.

The Chinese Secret Archives of Gold vividly retells that during the late evening of December 1, 1948, the first batch of gold, weighing approximately 90 tons, was transported to Taiwan from Shanghai by an anti-smuggling military vessel of the navy.