The blackest figure in World War II.
Dai Li was mysterious figure, always lurking in the shadows of the room while others spoke openly. Despite his elusive presence, Dai Li left a strong and multifaceted impression on the few Westerners who encountered him during the Pacific War's apex.
Descriptions of him ranged from being "the blackest figure in World War II from one perspective and the whitest from another." His piercing gaze, a striking feature to all who encountered him, left a lasting impression.
Dai Li's physical attributes were noted by those who crossed paths with him. A rugged and well-built man of medium height, he exuded a crisp military demeanor. Descriptions highlighted well-defined features, sharp eyes with a direct gaze, and a firm, determined mouth.
An OSS agent, operating under Dai Li's guidance behind enemy lines, noted his handsome, slender appearance and tiny, beautiful hands. Others observed his distinctive walk, akin to the exaggerated stride of a hero in Chinese theater, and a sharp, appraising eye that seemed to scrutinize a person's features and character for future reference.
For many foreigners in China during the 1940s, Dai Li was a legendary figure, often likened to "China's Himmler." Descriptions painted him as brilliant, imaginative, ruthless, and unscrupulous, attempting to unify China under Chiang Kai-shek through iron control. The comparison to Heinrich Himmler, the Nazi S.S. chief, persisted among Westerners, who sometimes referred to Dai Li as "China's Himmler" despite using the abbreviation "T. L." for short.
Within U.S. government intelligence circles, Dai Li was widely believed to be an assassin leading a Gestapo-like organization known as the "Blue Shirts." Rumors circulated about his alleged concentration camp for political enemies, his dislike for foreigners, and the limited encounters they had with him.
Dai Li, aware of this reputation, tried to persuade his American acquaintances that he stood for democracy. During a gathering in April 1945, he interrupted a performance to address the crowd, denying comparisons to Himmler and asserting himself as "the Generalissimo's Dai Li and nothing more."
Despite the controversies surrounding him, Dai Li's most prominent trait was his unwavering loyalty and servitude to his leader, Chiang Kai-shek. His chosen name, which literally meant "to wear a rain hat" and figuratively signified "to be a servant," underscored his deep sense of devotion, resembling an almost animal-like dedication to his master.
Contemporary Chinese historians are well-acquainted with the narrative of SACO, the Sino-American Cooperative Organization, which was established under the joint leadership of General Dai Li and Admiral Miles during the Pacific War.
While SACO was initially lauded by the U.S. media in the war's final year as an exemplar of successful Sino-American guerrilla activities against the Japanese, a less flattering aspect emerged later -the training of Dai Li's secretive law enforcement officers by American military and police advisers. These advisers employed "scientific" techniques that were eventually turned against the Communist underground movement.
The delayed revelation of SACO's darker side was, in part, a result of deliberate efforts on the American side to exclude "China hands" from staffing units responsible for training Dai Li's high-level special agents. Additionally, until the 1980s, Western historians primarily accessed positive Nationalist accounts of SACO rather than the critical analyses by Communist historians who scrutinized the Americans' role in training Chiang Kai-shek's counterespionage personnel.
Today, a more comprehensive understanding of the alliance between the Nationalists' Military Statistics Bureau (Juntong) and the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence and Office of Strategic Services is possible. It is evident that American training of Chinese police agents commenced a decade before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Chiang Kai-shek's covert representative, Dai Li, governed his agents in the manner of a traditional elite patriarch. Emphasizing the organization as a "large family," he stressed the significance of group spirit and assured his followers that he would personally bear responsibility for their lives and deaths in exchange for loyalty and devoted service.
In a brainstorming session held near Hangzhou's West Lake in early January 1935, Dai Li rejected suggestions to adopt the organizational ethos of the KGB or the Gestapo, although he readily accepted their operational techniques, tradecraft, and organizational models. Instead, he insisted that the Chinese secret service be grounded in Chinese values of benevolence, righteousness, loyalty, and filial piety. According to Dai Li, comrades united through benevolence and righteousness, forming a collective bond based on mutual loyalty and obligation.
Dai Li's role as a traditional patriarch dictated exaggerated courtesy towards high-status "guests" within his household. Quoting the maxim "a gentleman would rather lose his life than endure humiliation," Dai Li demonstrated great kindness and consideration to elite field agents, high-ranking officers, and accompanying scholars.
However, he demanded absolute obedience and total dedication from his own students and subordinates, imposing the strictest discipline. Violations of regulations resulted in three forms of punishment: verbal reprimands, confinement, and death by firing squad. Despite elaborate courtesies, Dai Li's short temper and sharp tongue revealed the tension between postured humility and visceral willpower.
When angered, Dai Li became verbally aggressive, chastising his followers for breaking his "household regulations." These rules, representing the patriarch's orders to his "household," governed personal behavior and dictated individual attitudes. One notorious order during the War of Resistance prohibited marriage, with Dai Li expressing jealousy over the influence of women on his men's lives. To enforce these rules, Dai Li established a complex surveillance system within the special services, assigning numerous personnel to internal supervisory and surveillance duties.
These inspectors reported through a chain of command reaching directly to Dai Li, who personally reviewed all evaluations, regardless of the officer's rank. Violations of the rules often led to scolding, solitary confinement in Dai Li's prisons, or concentration camps.
Over the years, the April first meetings evolved into elaborate events, with increasingly dramatic rituals. When Juntong headquarters relocated to Chongqing, an intricate "Mourning hall" was erected for the ten-day ceremony. The auditorium would be adorned with banners proclaiming sentiments such as "Blood shed in a just cause [will last] a thousand autumns" and "A noble spirit is imperishable." Assisted by Dai Li, Chiang Kai-shek made offerings to the spirits of those who had been "killed in the line of duty", those who had been "killed because of illness", and those who had been "killed because they had broken the law".
After the ceremony, Chiang toured the hall, inspecting higher-level secret agents, and then the audience presented offerings to honor the fallen. Dai Li would then address the section leaders, recounting the founding of the MSB and emphasizing Chiang's concern for them. Following Dai Li's remarks, a banquet of over four hundred tables, personally selected by him, unfolded. Toasts were given to Chiang Kai-shek's health, Dai Li's longevity, and the well-being of everyone else.
The secret agents then sat down to eat, with banquets and entertainment provided by an MSB theatrical troupe continuing for several days. Dai Li usually led Juntong office and division cadres, along with representatives from each local bureau, to the tomb of the "anonymous heroes" on the last day, marking the conclusion of the closing ceremonies. Dai Li then took the MSB provincial representatives to the Central Training Unit for a private audience with Chiang Kai-shek. With this, the ten-day ceremony concluded, and the representatives returned to their individual units.
While the ceremonies, especially after 1941, adopted an august Confucian cadence, Dai Li's earlier remarks were more down-to-earth and less elevated. In the 1930s, his conversations revealed average literacy but showcased a quick and facile mind, adept at manipulating aphorisms and spatial relationships.
His language was influenced by the tradition of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, discussing renegades, bandits, and outlaws in the context of the "rivers and lakes". Compared to Mao Zedong, Dai Li's language was more worldly and reminiscent of a literary scribe or tent guest, positioned above the illiterate yamen runner but not reaching the level of one with a higher degree.
The most hated man in Chiang Kai-shek's government was General Dai Li, the ruthless chief of the secret police, whom even the Chinese called "the Himmler of China.!" Assassinations and executions were so common that his name was something to be whispered.
When Japan surrendered Dai Li and his staff in Chongqing boarded his plane to fly to Beiping where a great purge of all Chinese who were even rumored to have collaborated with the Japanese was to be organized. Everyone felt this would be a bloodbath without justice. Dai Li's plane had risen about five thousand feet when the tail section exploded. The Juntong team that arrived at Daishan later that evening easily found the remnants of the airplane at Horse Saddle Mountain, but there were no survivors.
Central Daily reported on March 24 that: According to information released by concerned quarters, General Ye Ting, an important leader of the Communist Party who was released not long ago, was also in the plane. During the course of the flight, Ye Ting and Dai Li supposedly got into an argument, drew their pistols, and with the ensuing exchange of shots set the plane on fire.
Others claimed that the plane crash was a case of Communist sabotage. Yet another speculation was that the American OSS had planted a bomb aboard the aircraft. According to this theory a barometric fuse or "anerometer" was set to go off at five thousand feet of altitude. Although he erred in such critical details as the place of origin of Flight 222, Stanley Lovell, inventor of many of the OSS spy gadgets, firmly believed that Dai Li had been assassinated in this way.
Art Style 2024
