Dr. K. C. Wu a Savannah Professor

Dr. K. C. Wu on the cover of Time magazine after he became Governor of Taiwan

​The Chinese in Savannah have been here in force ever since 1889 when the first Chinese ‘settler’ Chung Ta-Ping came by way of San Francisco. Since then the Chinese have been doctors, teachers, and business leaders in Savannah. The Savannah Chinese population has produced one poet of note, Gerald Chan Seig, whose works were published in the New Yorker among other places. But one of the most famous of Savannah’s Chinese population was Dr. K. C. Wu. He was the former Mayor of Shanghai and the former Chairman of Taiwan Provincial Government. He spent most of his life in China striving for a more democratic country.

He was born in Beijing. He went to High School and then Tsinghua University in China. He earned, in 1923, a master's degree in economics from Grinnell College followed by doctoral degree in political science from Princeton University. Upon his return to China he would marry Edith Huang in 1931 and become Mayor of Hankow the next year. He would prove his mettle as Mayor in 1936 by overseeing a large dike system that would prevent the Yangtze River from flooding the city.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Wu and his family fled to Chungking. In 1939, Chiang Kai-shek appointed him as mayor of Chungking, a position he held until 1942. He served as vice minister of Foreign Affairs from 1943-1945. He, with his former high school classmate Zhou Enlai, were part of a united front against the Japanese.

Proving his patriotism in time of war led to his appointment as mayor of Shanghai in 1943 and he served in that role until the Chinese Communists conquered the city in 1949. Wu, who was part of the Nationalist government, fled to Taipei where he served as Governor of Taiwan from 1949 to 1953. Wu, the constant reformer, attempted to bring a greater degree of self-governance to the Taiwanese people, allowing for the election of certain local officials by popular vote.

Wu, during this time as Governor of Taiwan, came into direct conflict with Chiang Kai-shek’s son. This conflict is thought to be at the core of an April 1952 alleged assassination attempt on Wu’s life. Having already offered his resignation to Chiang Kai Shek he offered it again in 1953 and this time Shek accepted it.  After his resignation was accepted he went on a ‘lecture tour’ as a premise to get his family and himself out of the country. Wu was charged with corruption after his departure and his associates were removed from office. That same year, Wu wrote an article in Look magazine entitled "Your Money is Building a Police State in Taiwan."

The United States at that time was trying to develop an alliance with the new Taiwanese government. They were not interested in challenging it. This caused Wu to realize his voice was not going to be heard. He immigrated to the United States and became professor of Chinese history at Savannah’s Armstrong State University.

Wu never gave up his advocacy for Taiwan. He continued to call on the Chinese Nationalist Assembly to enact reforms such as an end of one- party rule in Taiwan, and the establishment of greater guarantees of individual rights. He did this primarily through his writings, including a detailed analysis on Chinese culture in the context of mythology and early history in his book The Chinese Heritage.

Dr. Wu would teach at Armstrong State University for over twenty-five years. While teaching at Armstrong he was the second recipient of the H. Dean Propst Award in 1971. The Propst award is given by the students to a professor who exemplified good teaching. He died in 1984 in his home here in Savannah.

Wu is one of the many folks who came to Savannah in the final years of their lives. He also was one of the many Chinese who have contributed to the cultural and intellectual environs of our city. 


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Dr. K. C. Wu in his library

Wu with his family