Editing H. H. Kung (section)

===During the Second Sino-Japanese War===
By the time of the [[Second Sino Japanese War]] (1937–45), Kung had achieved a reputation as an exceptionally powerful and manipulative figure within the [[Nationalist government]], sometimes in alliance with his brother-in-law, [[T. V. Soong|Soong Tse-ven]] and his sister-in-law, [[Soong Mei-ling]], and sometimes in rivalry with them.<ref name="Boorman"/> By the time the Nationalist government had moved to [[Chongqing]], Kung was running his own secret service. [[Zhou Enlai]], while serving as the [[Communist Party of China|Communist Party]]'s ambassador to the KMT in Chongqing, was notably successful in gaining the confidence of Kung's advisor, Hu Egong, allowing Zhou to conduct his intelligence work more efficiently.<ref>Barnoun and Yu 80</ref>

In January 1938, Kung, a 75th-generation descendant of [[Confucius]], greeted his relative, [[Kung Te-cheng]], who was also a descendant of Confucius, after Kung Te-cheng had fled to [[Hankou]] after the Japanese invasion of [[Shandong]]. After Kung Te-cheng fled, the Japanese blew up his residence on [[Mount Tai]]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine addressed Kung Te-cheng by the title "[[Duke Yansheng|Duke Kung]]", and referred to his residence as the "ducal seat".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,758870,00.html |title=Foreign News: Warlike Confucian |magazine=Time |date=January 17, 1938}}</ref>

After a string of Japanese mishaps in 1938, Kung gave a radio address in which he stated that "God is helping China!" Kung's radio speech came after reports that a Japanese attempt to seize Hankou had failed; and, with constant Chinese guerrilla activity, Chinese forces had seized territory captured by Japan.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,789138,00.html |title=War in China: Stars Mark the Spots |magazine=Time |date=August 29, 1938}}</ref>

In 1944, Kung gave a speech at China House in New York with one of [[Mencius]]'s direct descendants, [[Paul Chih Meng|Meng Chih]]. Both were alumni of American universities.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,885702,00.html |title=Education: China House |magazine=Time |date=September 4, 1944}}</ref>

Chiang had lost confidence in Kung by 1944, likely because of widespread reports of corruption by Kung.<ref name=":022"/>{{Rp|page=57}} Kung became unpopular among many different factions of the Kuomintang and was removed from politics.<ref name=":022"/>{{Rp|pages=57–58}} Among other issues, Kung was one of the Nationalist government insiders implicated in corruption during the 1942-1943 American Dollar Bond scandal.<ref name=":022"/>{{Rp|page=73}} After the 1941 Japanese declaration of war against the United States and the United Kingdom, the two allies sought to support China in a concrete way despite logistical limitations following the loss of [[British Burma]].<ref name=":022"/>{{Rp|page=73}} The two countries loaned significant amounts of money to the Nationalist government.<ref name=":022"/>{{Rp|page=73}} The Nationalist government decided to use USD$200 million to absorb excess fabi in an effort to curb inflation.<ref name=":022"/>{{Rp|page=73}} In theory, Chinese purchasers would use fabi to buy bonds at the official exchange rate and be paid in dollars when the bonds were redeemed following victory over Japan.<ref name=":022"/>{{Rp|page=73}} The American Dollar Bonds were issued on March 24, 1942.<ref name=":022"/>{{Rp|page=73}} The public response was poor, with few bond sales.<ref name=":022"/>{{Rp|page=74}} In October 1943, Kung sent a secret memorandum to Chiang Kai-shek asking that the bond sales end.<ref name=":022"/>{{Rp|page=74}} Subscriptions were closed on October 15, 1943 and a central bank official falsely announced that all bonds had been sold.<ref name=":022"/>{{Rp|page=74}} Secretly, insiders then purchased the remaining bonds using currency acquired on the black market.<ref name=":022"/>{{Rp|page=74}} The result was a windfall for Nationalist government insiders including  Kung, [[Long Yun]], [[Wei Tao-ming|Wei Daoming]], members of the [[Soong sisters|Soong family]], and others.<ref name=":022"/>{{Rp|page=74}}

In November 1944, Chiang replaced Kung with [[Yu Hongjun]] as the new minister of finance.<ref name=":022"/>{{Rp|pages=75–76}} Kung continued to hold positions as the vice president of the [[Executive Yuan]] and head of the Central Bank of China until he was likewise removed from those positions in spring 1945.<ref name=":022"/>{{Rp|page=76}} Chiang nonetheless appointed Kung as the chair of the Central Bank's Board of Directors in an effort to [[Face (sociological concept)|save face]].<ref name=":022"/>{{Rp|page=76}} In a further effort to protect Kung, Chiang dismissed lower level finance ministry officials as scapegoats and blocked newspapers from publishing allegations of Kung's corruption in the American Dollar Bond scandal.<ref name=":022"/>{{Rp|page=79}}

Among the KMT factions which criticized Kung in the period leading to his resignation was the [[Gexin movement]].<ref name=":022"/>{{Rp|page=138}}