Biography:Dai Li
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Dai Li Template:Langn | |
|---|---|
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| Director of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics | |
| In office 1928 – 17 March 1946 | |
| President | Chiang Kai-shek |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Mao Renfeng |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 May 1897 Jiangshan, Zhejiang, Qing dynasty China |
| Died | 17 March 1946 (aged 48) Nanjing, Republic of China |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Political party | Kuomintang |
| Other political affiliations | Blue Shirts Society |
| Spouse(s) | Mao Xiucong (1915–1939) |
| Education | Whampoa Military Academy |
| Awards | Order of Blue Sky and White Sun |
| Military service | |
| Nickname(s) |
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| Allegiance |  Republic of China |
| Years of service | 1927–1946 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Battles/wars |
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| Dai Li |
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Dai Li (Chinese: 戴笠; pinyin: Dài Lì; 28 May 1897 – 17 March 1946), courtesy name Yunong, was a Chinese lieutenant general and spymaster. Dai was born in Jiangshan, Zhejiang and later studied at the Whampoa Military Academy, where Chiang Kai-shek served as Chief Commandant, and later became head of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (BIS) within the Nationalist government of the Republic of China (ROC).
Early years
Through Du Yuesheng, he later met Chiang Kai-shek. It is unclear when Chiang and Dai first met, but it was probably around 1921. Dai later lost all his money and was forced to return to Bao'an. In 1927, Dai met his elementary school friend Mao Renfeng, who suggested that Dai enroll in the Whampoa Military Academy in Guangzhou, where Chiang served as Superintendent-Commandant (1924–1947). Dai followed the suggestion, obtained a letter of recommendation from Du Yuesheng, and made his way to Guangzhou. In 1925, Dai enrolled in the 1st Student Regiment of the Sixth Class of the KMT Officer Training Academy.[1] At this time, he changed his name to "Dai Li," which in Chinese refers to an assassin's hooded veil, reflecting the clandestine nature of his planned future career.[2] Chiang soon made him a student informant to spy on Communist activities within the academy, where he played an instrumental role in the Zhongshan Warship Incident of March 1926.
Role in KMT
The benign title of the Investigation and Statistics Bureau belied the true nature of its secret police work, which made Dai one of the most powerful men in Republican China. Dai was also the head of the fascist Blue Shirts Society.[3]: 171 In the 1930s and 1940s, his agents in the Military Statistics Bureau (then the KMT's military intelligence agency) successfully penetrated the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Imperial Japanese puppet organizations. To suppress Communist activities, Dai employed extrajudicial means including assassination, arbitrary arrests, and torture, with Chiang's explicit or tacit approval.[4]
Dai sought to use the Frédéric-Vincent Lebbe-led Military Commission North China Battlefront Supervisory Corps for anti-Communist intelligence gathering, in addition to anti-Japanese intelligence gathering.[3]: 171 Historical views of whether Lebbe was aware of this differ.[3]: 130–132
While he shunned public entertainment and remained a mysterious figure to his countrymen, Dai was privately known for his wild drinking parties. In Stilwell (2001), Barbara Tuchman called Dai "China’s combination of Himmler and J. Edgar Hoover".
Death
Dai died in a plane crash on March 17, 1946. It was speculated that this may have been arranged by the Chinese Communist Party's intelligence and security chief, Kang Sheng, of the Central Social Affairs Department (SAD). Rumors circulated that the crash had been arranged by the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) because of Dai's anti-Americanism,[5] since it occurred on an American plane.[6]
References
- ↑ Wakeman, Frederic (2003). Spymaster: Dai Li and the Chinese Secret Service. Philip E. Lilienthal book. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 396. ISBN 9780520234079. https://books.google.com/books?id=o3ckDQAAQBAJ. Retrieved 14 January 2023. "There are at least three different accounts of the way in which Dai Li managed to get admitted to the Wampoa Military Academy."
- ↑ "搜狐视频大视野：军统江山帮的覆灭第1集：江山如梦". 搜狐视频. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wsODvR5bG4.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Wong, Stephanie M. (2025). Making Catholicism Chinese: the Catholic Church in a Modernizing China. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-762369-5.
- ↑ Fang, Qiang (2024). "Understanding the Rule of Law in Xi's China". in Fang, Qiang. China under Xi Jinping: A New Assessment. Leiden University Press. pp. 123. ISBN 9789087284411.
- ↑ Lovell 1964, pp. 48–50.
- ↑ "俞劍鴻觀點：戴笠的幾個可能性-風傳媒". 25 April 2021. https://www.storm.mg/article/3609683.
- Lovell, Stanley P (1964). Of spies & stratagems. Pocket Books. https://archive.org/details/ofspiesstratagem00love.
- Wakeman, Frederic E. Spymaster: Dai Li and the Chinese Secret Service. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.
- Military Intelligence B – History
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