22 IN THE SHADOW OF THE DRAGON Globalization Flickers, Then Flames Out In 1925, Chiang Kai-shek, a relatively young army general, replaced Sun Yat-Sen, the first leader of the post-imperial Republic of China. Chiang quickly drove out the Soviets who had tried to gain influence with Sun by providing funding and advice. The Soviets were mainly interested in their struggle with the Japanese over the territory to the north of China, which the Japanese insisted on call- ing Manchukuo, and which the Soviets wanted to annex to their own Siberia. Until Japan occupied eastern China in 1937, China was rela- tively open to Western business as long as bribes were paid to the relevant officials. Many of the world's major corporations piled into China. They included Standard Oil, Bethlehem Steel, British American Tobacco, Siemens, and IBM. AIG, which was to become one of the world's leading insurance companies, was founded in