The Centennial of the Republic of China Air Force
Fighting for China’s Freedom
By: Samuel Hui, legal aide, office of legislator Charles I-hsin Chen, Legislative Yuan, Taiwan
Unknown author / Public domain
The Armed Forces Museum in Taipei is holding an exhibition from July to November to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF), established as the Aviation Bureau under Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Constitutional Protection Junta in Guangzhou on November 29, 1920. Because the ROCAF answered to the Kuomintang, rather than the entire Republic, it initially did not receive recognition as the legitimate Chinese Air Force. Considering the Beiyang Government also called itself the Republic of China, Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s air force was one of two different ROCAFs at its founding in 1920. However, the Kuomintang’s air force became the only air force that fought to defend China’s freedom during World War II. And eventually, an air force created in mainland China became the guardian of Taiwan’s airspace. The reasons for these turns of fate lie in the complicated history of the Chinese Republic’s early development of military aviation.
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