In the snug atmosphere of Chiang Kaishek's sitting room—among the potted plants, old scrolls, Sung urns and leather chairs—the 20-year single-party monopoly of the Kuomintang (National People's Party) was, nominally, coming to an end. The Generalissimo ran his eye over the hand-charactered document. "Hao hao!" he exclaimed, "let us sign and have this copy as a souvenir." Across the agreement for a coalition government, the spokesman for the Young China Party, the Democratic Socialists, and the nonparty independents added their brushstroke signatures to Chiang's own Kuomintang endorsement.
Little Parties In. The...