Pai Chung-hsi

Pai Chung-hsi (wg) or Bái Chóngxĭ (py) (Chinese: 白崇禧) (March 18, 1893 - December 1, 1966) was a general of the KMT and formerly a warlord from Guangxi.

Born in Guilin, Guangxi province and given the courtesy name Jiansheng (健生), he rose to fame in coalition defeat with Li Tsung-jen in support of Sun Yat-sen against the Chinese warlord Lu Rongting (陆荣廷) in 1924. Consequently Guangxi was under KMT jurisdiction; Li and Bai were considered the new generation of Guangxi warlords.

During the Northern Expedition, Bai won many victories against another warlord Sun Chuanfang (孫傳芳) in January, March, August and October 1927. Tang Shengzhi (唐生智), a subordinate general of Sun, was forced to surrender to KMT in Hunan in early 1928.

Bai supported the failed upraising of Feng Yuxiang (冯玉祥) and Yan Xishan (阎锡山) against Chiang Kai-Shek in 1930 and later fled to Vietnam. In 1932 Bai again worked under Chiang in various offices through support of Li Tsung-jen.

During the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), Bai was one of Chiang's tactical advisors in numerous KMT wins and crucial decisions including swift execution of Han Fuqu, which facilitated Li Tsung-jen's command in the victorius Battle of Tai er zhuang. These contributions earned him the nickname "the Little Zhuge" (after Zhuge Liang).

During the Chinese civil war, Bai was appointed the Minister of Defense in May 1946 and in charge of several major anti-communist operations in Central China and suppression of the February 28 Incident mobs. Fled to Taiwan in December 30 1945 after his last anti-communist operation on the Hainan island, Chiang appointed him several titular posts and exploited Bai to off-balance Li Tsung-jen according to some sources.

Bai passed away at the night of December 1 1966 of unknown illness, though sexual causes were rumoured.

Bai's son, Pai Hsien-yung, is a prominent writer and GLBT rights activist.