Rediscovering a Chinese legend: The untold wartime tale of Dr Li Linsi

Link between Chinese Leaders and the German Military Mission

The German Military Mission in China made a positive contribution to China's resistance against the Japanese aggression, and provided China with a range of military assistance. In a report to Chiang Kai-shek in 1934, the German advisory group highlighted Japan was China's primary enemy.

Li played a crucial role in the existence and development of the German Military Mission in China, and was a key facilitator of the China-Germany relationship during the 1930s. He was Chiang's right-hand man on China's diplomacy toward Germany, and a link between China's top leaders and the German military advisory group.

Li helped facilitate former commander-in-chief of the German Army Johannes Friedrich “Hans” von Seeckt's official visit to China in 1933, and persuaded him to accept the offer from Chiang Kai-shek to be his military adviser and chief of the German military mission. This move helped elevate the China-Germany relationship to a new height. In 1935, the diplomatic relationship between China and Germany was upgraded from a ministerial level to an ambassadorial level.

During his first visit to China, Seeckt gave Chiang a book, titled Thoughts of a Soldier, which he considered was a representative work of his own. The translator of the official Chinese version of the book was Li. The Chinese version of the book published in 1936 then became a key reference book for the Chinese military.