Mao Bangchu or Mow Pang Tzu (; also transcribed as Mow Pang Tsu, Mow Pong Tsu, or Mow Pang Chu; 5 March 1904 22 June 1987) was a high-ranking military officer in the Chinese Chiang Kai-shek government. He was the main figure in an embezzlement scandal that pitched him against the Taiwan government in the early fifties. The charges and countercharges of fraud and misappropriation of millions of dollars, ensuing legal battles, and John-le-Carré-like plots involving private detectives, Mexican prisons, night-club dancers, US Congressmen, suspicious deaths, and the US Supreme Court, were covered in over 2,000 articles published in the US, China, Australia, India, and many other countries around the world.
Early life Mao Bangchu was born in Shanghai, China, in 1904. His ancestral hometown is Fenghua, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. His mother was the older sister of Mao Fumei, the first wife of Chiang Kai-shek, and mother of Chiang Ching-kuo."The Last Empress: Madame Chiang Kai-shek and the Birth of Modern China," by Hannah Pakula, Simon and Schuster (3 November 2009), pp. xvi, 285, 286, 612, 613 Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Republic of China between 1928 and 1975, was born in 1887 in Xikou, a town approximately 30 kilometers (19 mi) southwest of downtown Ningbo. Mow Pang Tzu's father worked for Standard Oil in Shanghai.
Military career Mao graduated from the 3rd class of China's Whampoa Military Academy in 1927. The academy was established in 1924 by the Kuomintang (KMT) with funds and support from the Soviet Union. Soviet officers initially focused their teaching on basic infantry topics and provided special classes for artillery, engineering, communication, logistical and machine gun units. After this basic training, Mao was sent to Moscow and Italy where he received additional flying training."Mussolini recibe a la mission de la aviacion militar sovietic -Tambien recibio a la mission aeronautica china," La Vanguardia (Spain), 10 August 1934, p. 24. When he returned to China, he became Chiang Kai-shek's personal pilot and distinguished himself during the Northern Expedition that substantially increased Chiang's and the KMT's sphere of influence. During the Northern Expedition, Chiang and his followers, including Mao, decided to purge the KMT of its communist wing."A Nation-state by Construction: Dynamics of Modern Chinese Nationalism," by Suisheng Zhao, Stanford University Press (2004). , pp. 96, 109, 114, 121 The Shanghai Massacre of 12 April 1927, during which KMT's left wing members, students and worker union members were purged, heralding the beginning of the Chinese Civil War.
Further enhancing his standing with Chiang Kai-shek, Mao commanded the air assaults on a rebellious, heavily-fortified city in the Fujian Province, in 1934. The successful assault proved crucial for Chiang's ground forces to take control of the city. Subsequently, as member of the National Government Aviation Committee, Mao was sent to the United States to explore the purchase of new airplanes for the Chinese air force. While he attend an airshow in Miami, Florida, he met Captain Claire Chennault, who let a demonstration by the Army Air Corps. Impressed by his skills, Mao invited him to come to China. On 25 May 1940, Mao was promoted to major general, and in 1941 he helped Captain Chennault to established the 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Chinese Air Force. Under the leadership of Chennault the AVG successfully engaged the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force on many occasions, becoming the famous so-called "Flying Tigers". The Flying Tigers were primarily tasked in the defense of the airlift-route over "The Hump" - the lifeline for wartime supplies into China following the cessation of the Sino-Soviet supply line due to the prioritization of war in Europe and the blockade of the Chinese coastline and southern borders. Mao was part of a group of aviators that sought suitable routes over the extremely difficult terrain of the Himalayas, commissioning Charles L. Sharp for the first-ever recorded flight between Dinjan, Burma, and Kunming, China, in what will eventually become known as The Hump heavy-airlift supply line in November 1941.
Air Force Procurement Officer In 1942 Mao was assigned to the U.S. to establish the Chinese Air Force Office in Washington, DC and was placed in charge of aviation procurement activities."Chinese Envoy, General Speak at Bond Rally", The Washington Post, 7 May 1943."The Southland: Chinese Flyer Visits Cadets at Santa Ana," Los Angeles Times, 4 October 1943. Over the years he was entrusted with over $50,000,000 (worth about half a billion dollars in 2015)Inflation Calculator for the purchase of military aircraft and supplies. On 14 August 1944, Mao was given the Medal of the Kuomintang, and in August 1945, President Harry Truman awarded him the U.S. Legion of Merit "for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States from February 1943 to August 1945."Legion of Merit Database Subsequently, he was promoted to lieutenant general of the Republic of China Air Force. In May 1945, Mao was appointed as a member of the Sixth Kuomintang Central Executive Committee. He eventually became the national government's representatives in the United States Aviation Committee and the United Nations Security Council.Mow Pang Tzu's biography on Baike webpage (in Chinese) In 1949 his wife, Wong Ay Chuan (also known as Pauline), and five of his six sons (Van, Maurice, Donald, Harry and William) joined General Mao in Washington, DC, where they lived in a diplomat residence on 32nd Street, N.W. in the Woodley Park neighborhood. His oldest son, David, who served in the Chinese air force, stayed in Taiwan.
Scandal In the early fifties, Mao became entangled in an embezzlement scandal that was covered in great detail in major US and Chinese newspapers.Lt. General Mow Pang Tsu (毛邦初) Webpage The Chiang Kai-shek government of the Republic of China alleged that Mao failed to account for $19,440,000 (equivalent to about $180,000,000 in 2015)Inflation Calculator and removed him from all official positions at the UN."Mow Barred From U.N", New York Times, Saturday, 1 September 1951, p. 2. General Mow responded that the charges were only brought in retaliation for his discovery of corruption in the inner circles of the Chiang government."Gen. Mow, Ousted By Chiang, Submits Corruption Details", New York Times, Thursday, 6 September 1951, p. 1."Texts Of Two Memorandums Made Public By General Mow," New York Times, Thursday, 6 September 1951, p. 4."General Mow and the $19,000,000," by Roy Langdon, CLIMAX, June 1957, pp. 2–9. Ambassador Wellington Koo recalled in his memoirs that at the heart of the matter were strong personal animosities between General Chou, who was leading the Chinese Air Force, and General Mao, who "always felt that he should have been the commanding general of the air force."The Wellington Koo Memoirs (Chinese Oral History Project of the East Asia Institute of Columbia University, Vol. VII, Part C, 1978, page C-8(a) and page C-241(b), (Madame Chiang Kai-shek had accused both generals as early as 1938 of corruption and was dismayed they had not been punished more severely."Madame Chiang Kai-shek: China's Eternal First Lady," by Laura Li, Grove Press; First Trade Paper Edition, 1 September 2007, p. 144. Similarly, in 1943, American General Joseph Stilwell, a military adviser to Chiang during World War II, strongly criticized Chiang and his generals for what he perceived as their incompetence and corruption."The Eagle-Dragon Alliance: America's Relations with China in World War II," by Wesley Marvin Bagby, Univ of Delaware Press; First Edition (January 1992), pp. 50, 51, 126, 127, 128, 150, 153, 159, 185. "Stilwell's Command Problem," by Romanus and Sunderland, Series: United States Army in World War II: China-Burma-India Theater, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (8 August 2015), p. 369.) Koo furthermore found proof that Mao had diverted large sums of government funds into his own accounts in the US and around the world, which include $2,000,000 in United States Treasury bearer bonds. Fearing extradition to Taiwan and possibly execution, General Mow did not appear in court as ordered,"Gen. Mow Is Directed To Answer In Court," New York Times, 11 January 1952, p. 4."Default Judgment Against Gen. Mow: Accused Nationalist Failed to Appear in Court," New York Herald Tribune, 4 March 1952, p. 4."Judgment Ordered Against Mow," New York Times, 4 March 1952, pp. 1 & 3. and instead fled to Mexico in January 1952.New York Times, "Gen. Mow In Mexico; Bars Return In Suit," Friday, 22 February 1952, p. 2"The General & the Blonde," Time Magazine, Vol. 60 Issue 8, p33, 8/25/1952."Mexico Arrests China General in Funds Theft," Chicago Tribune, 14 August 1952, Part 2, p. 4. Initially he flew to San Antonio, TX with his assistant Frances Yuan, who later detailed the journey in a congressional hearing.CONGRESSIONAL HEARING HRG-1952-SJS-0024, Subcommittee To Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws; Committee on the Judiciary, "Testimony of Frances Yuan and Col. Ve-Shen Hsiang", Hearing Dates: 1, 10 Jul. 1952; Senate Sudoc Number: Y4.J89/2:Y9/3; Length: 61 pp.; Legacy CIS Number: 87 S1543-3. Subsequently, he flew to Tucson, AZ, took a bus to the border town of Nogales, AZ, and eventually arrived in the resort town of Cuernavaca, approximately 50 miles to the south of Mexico City. The first weeks he stayed with Oliver Kisich, a friend and nightclub entertainer from San Francisco. Mao went on to buy 250,000-Peso villa, hired 4 servants, and arranged for his secretary, Agnes Kelly, a "tall, blonde, ex-showgirl," to join him. When he attempted to obtain a Mexican passport under the cover name of Carlos Gomez Lee Wong, his identity was discovered, and Mexican authorities arrested him for illegal entry into their country."Mexico Holds Mow At Chiang Request", New York Times, Thursday, 14 August 1952, p. 2."La Detencion de Teo Mow: Los E. Unidos Solicitaron la Extradicion de ese General Chino," El Siglo de Torreon, 14 August 1952, pp. 1, 9"El Gral. Pang Tsu Mow fue a dar a la Penitenciaria," El Siglo de Torreon, Domingo, 17 August 1952, p. 9"Chinese On Fund Count," Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW, Australia), Saturday, 23 August 1952, p. 1.
A protracted legal and political battle ensued during which Taiwan sought an extradition of General Mow from Mexico, and the recovery of $6,400,000 million in US courts. General Mow never disputed that he embezzled the funds. He claimed to be a "patriot, preserving all the millions for the people (of China), when they should cast off their present government." Richard O'Connor from the Coronet Magazine commented, "Meanwhile, he spread plenty of their money around as a highly unofficial ambassador of good will." It was reported that the Chiang Kai-shek government hired John Broady, an infamous private investigator, to find and recover the missing funds, and to extract General Mow from Mexico. The attempt of removing Mow from Mexico failed, and an attempt to bring some of the recovered security notes to New York ended with the shooting death of Clarence Sopman, a Broady associate, near Mexico City. In the end, General Mow was imprisoned in the Black Palace of Lecumberri, in a prison cell next to Leon Trotsky assassin Ramón Mercader, from 1951 until 1955. Allegedly he paid $350 per month to have "luxury" prison housing, including a valet, cook, and weekly conjugal visits by Agnes Kelly.