This paper examines the process of political ideologization of Chinese liberalism with reference to the intellectual experiences of Hu Shi (胡適). He was an anti-communist during the cold war period in China. He firmly believed in the legitimacy of the Nationalist Government, and stressed the freedom of expression and ideology while trying to secure safety and stability for “Free China” by utilizing the post-World WarⅡ order led by the United States.
Such activities carried out by Hu Shi were based on anti-communist liberalism. He embraced the view of Fridrich Hayek, who emphasized the freedom of individuals and the market, and laid the groundwork for anti-communism in the United States. By doing so, he ideologized freedom, and distinguished freedom and equality unlike the tradition of modern liberalism in China. His experiences during the anti-Japanese war were the background of his concrete belief in anti-communist liberalism. He participated in the war as an ambassador to the United States while joining the movement of modernization led by the Nationalist Government. At the same time, he proactively adopted “Powerful Wilsonism” under the influence of the then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Hu Shi saw the world as a field for ideological competition between liberalism and totalitarianism while recognizing the United States as a guardian of liberalism. Meanwhile, he designed the regional order of East Asia and post-World WarⅡ politics of China with the premise that the international community after the war has to be managed through strong force of the United States.
After that, he actively participated in Chinese politics. He promoted anti-Soviet and anti-communist activities while anticipating China’s shift to the constitutional system of the United States. His point of view, however, should be distinguished from that of other liberalists who were trying to come up with a third system that differed from the United States or the Soviet Union while attempting to strike a balance between political freedom and economic equality.
His anti-communist activities became stronger and more active after China becoming a communist state. He published Free China which supported anti-communism, and vigorously worked to stir up the public sentiment in the United States. Through these efforts, he tried to stand against the brainwashing of intellectuals in China and the conservative swing in the United States. But, at the same time, it was also a process for him to become an anti-communist liberal intellectual from a mere enlightenment philosophe.