Fighting for the leadership of the Chinese Revolution: KMT delegates’ three visits to Moscow

Between 1923 and 1927, the KMT dispatched three delegations to negotiate with the Comintern, the first led by Chiang Kai-shek, the second led by Hu Hanmin, and the third led by Shao Lizi. During his visit, Chiang Kai-shek talked with the Comintern about the KMT’s interpretation of Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principles of the People in its First National Congress proclamation and reached an agreement regarding Soviet Russia’s aid to the KMT in building a party-army, yet Moscow’s Outer Mongolia policy had a negative impact on Chiang’s future relationship with the Soviet Russia. Hu Hanmin’s mission was to seek Comintern advice on how to draft the KMT platform for its Second National Congress and to apply for KMT membership in the Comintern, or to win a status at least equal to that of the CCP. However, what he achieved was only the acceptance of the KMT as a sympathizer instead of a Comintern member. The delegation led by Shao Lizi aimed at transmitting Chiang Kai-shek’s assertions that the KMT must hold exclusive leading authority in China’s National Revolution and that the CCP should not strive for leadership or attempt to build its own army. The three delegations’ negotiations with the Comintern all focused on whether China should implement the Three Principles of the People or Soviet-style Communism and on which party should lead the Chinese revolution.