May 20 was a day of rejoicing for the Chinese people and a signal occasion in the cause of Chinese freedom. Standing before an assemblage of free Chinese leaders from all over the world, the nation's long-time leader took the oath of office for his fifth term. In measured tone, he gave solemn assurance of continued determination to recover the Chinese mainland and destroy the Mao Tse-tung tyranny which usurped power there in 1949.
Foreign dignitaries, including Ambassador John Eisenhower, the son of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, observed the ceremony from their special section in the great hall of the Chungshan Building atop Yangmingshan (Grass Mountain) in the northern suburbs of Taipei. President Chiang received a standing ovation from representatives of the Chinese people and foreign guests. The oathtaking and the President's address were broadcast through out Taiwan by the three television networks.
The President called upon the people to support him in the tasks ahead. He said:
"Today I have once again accepted the trust of the people of the whole nation and election by the National Assembly and have been sworn into office as the fifth President of the Republic of China. I am deeply convinced that in terms of our national course, this present stage is the turning point on which hinges the perpetuation or extinction of our 5,000-year-old history and culture. Only by wresting victory from defeat at this critical moment of adversity can our age-old history and splendid cultural tradition survive and grow to new heights. From the standpoint of our national destiny, all of our 700 million people are actually in the same boat and confronting the same fate. Only when our government and people march forward together with a single heart and one will to recover our lost territory, rescue our millions of compatriots on the Chinese mainland from their sufferings in that vast hellish prison and restore them to freedom, only then can we jointly enjoy the blessings of peace and justice once more under the banner of the Three Principles of the People. For these reasons, I have summoned the courage and determination to accept this office, despite my advanced age and the gravity of the duties and responsibilities, and to continue contributing my loyalty and my knowledge to the struggle against the traitorous Maoist Communists for national life and survival in order to complete another Northward Expedition of our National Revolution and accomplish once more the reunification of the Republic of China. I swear to do my best to fulfill my duty, hoping sincerely to prove worthy of the Founding Father of our Republic and the revolutionary martyrs, and to live up to the expectations of the people of the whole nation.
"I have been deeply moved by the sorrow of our country and the misery of our people and have consequently continued to shoulder preeminent duty and responsibility in the cause of nation and people. Now we are in this bastion of freedom where one step backward would leave us no place for burial. I must urgently request our people, civilian and military alike, not to be satisfied with mere expectation or passive dependency. I ask that with all the wisdom, potential, morality and energy at your command, you join with me, this old soldier of National Revolution and public servant of the democratic Constitution, to sustain our purpose, cultivate our courage and devote the whole of energy and life to our avowed struggle to the end against the traitorous Mao Tse-tung, the merciless tyrant and most evil of criminals, who is the enemy of all the world and of mankind. So long as Mao and his traitorous accomplices survive, our national revolutionary task can never terminate, though thousands of setbacks be piled atop hundreds of frustrations."
President Chiang took note that while elimination of Mao and his dehumanized followers is of first priority, many other pressing tasks also lie ahead for free China. He said:
"The government of the Republic of China is a democratic government organized under the Constitution, and at the same time it has the revolutionary responsibility of relieving the people from their sufferings by punishing the wicked and preventing disaster by suppressing rebellion. Our government therefore must sustain itself with honest and able administration, on the one hand, and on the other must heighten the revolutionary morale of the people and accomplish the tasks of suppressing rebellion and rebuilding the nation.
"The government of the Republic of China has consistently striven to move toward nationalism based on justice, true democracy, an economy based on the Principle of the People's Livelihood, armed forces of the people and a revolutionary diplomacy. It is high time to bring together all of our talents, especially our young and energetic people, and continuously to train them mentally and physically so as to make them a vital part of the combined undertakings of government and people. With reinforced unity and renewed determination, we shall rebuild our nation, rejuvenate our people and create through political renovation and social reform a new era of ethics, democracy and science."
Economically this new era will be based on what was done during the past 20 years. From 1952, the year before the beginning of the first four-year economic plan, to 1971, the third year of the fifth plan, the gross national product increased almost fivefold in real terms. Average growth for the first 10 years was 7.1 per cent and that of the second 10 years was 10.3 per cent. National income in real terms increased 4.5 times in the same period with the annual rate of growth averaging 6.6 per cent for the first 10 years and 9.8 per cent for the second decade. Real growth of per capita income was 3.1 per cent annually in the first period and 7 per cent in the second. Industry grew by 12.3 per cent in the first decade and 17 per cent in the second. As a result, agriculture's share of the net domestic product had fallen to 17.7 per cent last year, while industry's contribution had risen to 34.2 per cent. Figures of 20 years ago were the other way around: 17.9 per cent for industry and 35.7 per cent for agriculture. The private enterprise share of the economy increased from 43.4 to 73.3 per cent in the 20 years while the public sector was declining from 56.6 to 26.7 per cent. External investment for the period totaled US$722 million, of which 72.16 per cent came from foreigners and the rest from overseas Chinese.
The era of the 1970s will be marked by continued external investment and technical cooperation. Enterprises may be owned 100 per cent by foreigners or overseas Chinese. Enterprises with large foreign investment are protected against nationalization for 20 years. In most cases, external investors are entitled to a five-year tax holiday. One of the most optimistic backers of the Taiwan economy is the U.S. Export-Import Bank, which has pledged on unlimited line of long-term credit for infrastructure investment.
Economic progress is coupled with social advances. Emphasis is placed on fuel employment, augmented education, health care and a family planning program which has lowered the birth rate. Taiwan is the most densely populated area of its size in the world. The natural birth rate was 3.8 per cent in 1951 but had dropped to 2.2 per cent in 1970. The projected figure for 1980 is 1.8 per cent.
Mao Tse-tung once said he could afford to sacrifice half of the mainland population in a nuclear war. He has already sacrificed millions in the name of Maoism. Hitler eliminated the Jews to protect his "pure" German stock. Stalin killed countless Russians to protect his tyranny. Population control is free China's way of safeguarding democracy while ensuring survival.
President Chiang said new methods will be brought to bear in solving China's problems. "Anything which may induce or hasten the birth of a new joint effort—so imminently required in our task of counterattack and national recovery—shall be done at once and decisively, even though it may invite criticism or denigration," he said. "Any thing which tends to avoid difficulty or abet complacency, or which will hurt the people's livelihood or the national cause, or runs counter to our task of counterattack and national recovery, shall be stopped at once and decisively. This represents my political faith of a lifetime, and I have no reason to doubt that it also represents the will and understanding of the whole nation. "
The many states which continue to support the Republic of China, made their position known to the world by dispatching special emissaries to the inauguration. From the Asian region came Vice President Tran Van Huong of South Vietnam, former Japanese Premier Nobusuke Kishi, former Republic of Korea Premier Chung Il Kwan, Philippines House Speaker Cornelio T. Villareal, Assistant Chairman of the National Executive Council of Thailand, Pote Sarasin, Khmer Presidential Assistent Hoeur Lay Inn and Australian Ambassador to the Republic of China Hugh A. Dunn.
Representing Africa were Niger Minister of Rural Economics Noma Kaka, Gambian Minister of Interior Yaya Lang Ceesay, Liberian Senator William V.S. Tubman Jr., Ivory Coast Ambassador to the Republic of China Pierre Nelson Coffi and Botswana Director of Information Moss Galetshoge.
Latin America sent Guatemalan Foreign Minister Roberto Herrera Ibarguen, Nicaraguan Minister of Agriculture Jose Maria Castillo, Costa Rican Minister of Agriculture Fernando Ballalla Esquivel, Colombian House Speaker David Aljure R., Brazilian Ambassador to Korea Milton Telles Ribeiro, Panamanian Ambassador to the Republic of China Dr. Ricardo E. Chiari de Leon, Dominican Ambassador to the Republic of China Adolfo Rafael Camarean, Bolivian Charge d'Affaires ad interim Bernardo Baptista Gumucio and Venezuelan Ambassador to the Republic of China Jose Gil-Borges. John Eisenhower represented the United States.
They listened intently as President Chiang said:
"My sincere belief is that our compatriots are not less patriotic than I. Together, Vice President Yen Chia-kan and I have persistently clung to our sense of dedication to duty, relying wholeheartedly upon the conviction that the heart and nature of mankind are bound to assert themselves in the direction of freedom and justice. In the past, the Chinese people have not been found wanting in facing up to countless heartrending challenges. They have no reason to fear any coming challenge or test. Imbued with the spirit of revolution, and in a determined campaign of great revolutionary action, we are pursuing victory in another Northward Expedition of our National Revolution and the glory of another reunification of the Republic of China. This will not only result in the suppression of rebellion and evil disturbance, but also will bring about ultimate peace and give rise to a new era in which the Three Principles of the People will illumine the whole nation."
President Chiang's inauguration was celebrated throughout Taiwan and in the overseas Chinese communities of the whole world. Chinese Communist troops were alerted to put down any overt rejoicing on the mainland. Hongkong sources reported incidents in Kwangtung province, including display of the National Flag. That emblem flew from thousands of Chinese buildings and homes in Hongkong.
There were exhibitions, programs, speeches, ceremonies, scroll signings, singing and dancing and firecrackers without end. The Taiwan television networks joined in presenting a gigantic evening show from Taipei's biggest indoor arena. A crowd of 15,000 was there. Newspapers published special editions and testimonials.
The Northward Expedition of 1926-28 was under the command of President Chiang, who led the Revolutionary Army. Now another Northward Expedition is in prospect to be jointly led by President Chiang and his elder son, Premier Chiang Ching-kuo. The President's son and now his top aide was vice premier from July of 1969 until May of 1972. He was recommended for appointment as President of the Executive Yuan (Premier of the Cabinet) by the Central Standing Committee of the ruling Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) following the resignation of Vice President Yen Chia-kan, who had held the premiership since 1963.
As vice premier, Chiang Ching-kuo concurrently assumed chairmanship of the Financial and Economic Monetary Conference of the Executive Yuan and presided over the Council for International Economic Cooperation and Development. In the latter half of 1969, he sponsored three symposiums to bring government leaders together with foreign investors, overseas Chinese investors, and representatives of business and industry. He served as minister of national defense from 1965 to 1969 and was the chief mover in rebuilding the Chinese Armed Forces and reequipping and retraining them. To provide a livelihood for veterans, he helped establish the Vocational Assistance Commission for Retired Servicemen and served as chief commissioner from 1957 to 1964. VACRS has resettled more than 200,000 retired servicemen in the last 15 years and operates some 40 productive, transport and engineering enterprises. VACRS has made it possible to reduce the age of the armed forces without creating social problems.
Twenty years ago, President Chiang Kai-shek created the China Youth Corps to provide a constructive outlet for youthful energies. With Chiang Ching-kuo as its first and only director, CYC has grown to a membership of 200,000 and provides nearly 100 recreational and intellectual outlets. A total of 473,663 youths took part in the 1971 summer program and 466,256 in the winter program. Of these, 236,940 came from overseas.
From 1950 to 1954, Chiang Ching-kuo was director of the political department of the Ministry of National Defense and concurrently served as a member of the Kuomintang reform committee from 1950 and 1952. His first office in Taiwan was that of chairman of the Kuomintang Taiwan Provisional Headquarters (1949-50). In 1948 he was deputy economic control supervisor for Shanghai and from 1945 to 1947 he held the post of foreign affairs commissioner of the Military and Political Administration for northeast China. His first government post was administrative commissioner for southern Kiangsi province.
Chiang Ching-kuo was born in Chekiang province on March 18, 1910. President Chiang sent him to Moscow to school when he was 16. He attended the Sun Yat-sen University and the Soviet Military and Political Institute.
Premier Chiang's experience has been broadened by his many visits abroad as personal representative of President Chiang and the Republic of China. He visited the United States in 1953, 1963, 1965, 1969 and 1970. During his 1970 trip a disgruntled young man tried to shoot him in an assassination attempt at the Hotel Plaza in New York. Premier Chiang attended the funeral services for Dwight D. Eisenhower, whom he had met in the United States and Taiwan, in 1969. He met President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. He has known President Richard Nixon for many years and has many friends in the U.S. Congress and military establishment. He visited Japan in ·1967 and Korea and Thailand in 1969.
Upon his confirmation by the Legislative Yuan, Premier Chiang said: "I accepted the position and duties of President of the Executive Yuan with feelings of extreme concern deep in my heart. This is the crucial moment of our life-or-death struggle against the Chinese Communists for the freedom of our people and the rebuilding of our nation. From now on, all of us will face no peaceful journey, but surging waves and pouring rains. Yet I am supremely confident that as long as the government and people share their fate in the same boat, confront ordeals together, join with each other in ultimate sincerity and with one heart, follow the leadership of the President, thoroughly implement our national policy of anti-Communism and persist in achieving our goal of national recovery, we shall overcome all difficulties, triumph over all dangers and accomplish the final victory of anti-Communism and national recovery.
"Aware of my limited knowledge and experience, I had not thought of assuming such heavy administrative responsibilities. However, I am confident that in utmost sincerity I shall be able to join with my fellow countrymen at home and abroad to uphold our common convictions and bring together all our efforts in order to serve our country with practical actions and painstaking dedication. Under such conditions, I am ready to sacrifice all that I am and have to reach our objectives. What can never be yielded is the existence of our people and the survival of our nation. Regardless of what difficulties the future may hold, and no matter how arduous the trials ahead, I swear that I shall do my best to overcome all obstacles, carry out my duty and fulfill my obligations in my sacrifice and struggle for upholding the dignity of the Republic of China, eliminating the tyranny of the rebellious Chinese Communists and realizing the ideals of the Three Principles of the People (of Dr. Sun Yat-sen).
"Since our government established a base for national restoration on Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, my predecessors have, under the leadership of our President, laid a solid and firm foundation for national recovery and reconstruction. With these accomplishments as the base, I shall do my best to work for our nation and serve the people on the principle that "national interest is above all other interests and the interest of the people should always be given the first priority." We must enhance our national defense forces through mobilization and combat; improve the livelihood of the people through stability and prosperity; promote social morality through renovation and action; and raise administrative efficiency by streamlining and simplifying the procedures of government. Additionally, we shall actively cultivate youth in all our government departments so as to promote the metabolism of the political sphere. To attain these goals, government and people must be agreed on concepts and views and work together toward common objectives.
"How difficult is the situation we are facing! How miserable is the life of our compatriots on the mainland! How frantic is the adverse current of appeasement! How arrogant and rampant the Chinese Communists are! But more important than these, how earnest is the wish of our President for the completion of our mission of national recovery! If we do not do our best to do what we must do at this time and in this place, then I must ask: When and where shall we do it? I shall abide by the law, take up my responsibilities and do my best to see that our government is honest and competent. I trust that all members of the administration will work together with me for these objectives and encourage each other.
"National administration is an undertaking which concerns every citizen of the country and therefore requires every citizen to give the best of his wisdom and his ability. On the other hand, administrative reform is a complicated matter which requires careful deliberation and planning in order to determine the order of importance and priority. I earnestly hope, therefore, that in consideration of my limitations, you will permit me to speak less so I can spend my time facing up to reality and getting things done. I hope that all of our countrymen will point out my short comings from time to time and help me correct my mistakes. If you have suggestions regarding administrative reform, please bring them forward without hesitation. Our President has told us: 'Government is a machine for serving the people.' I am convinced that only that government which works for the people will be supported by the people, and that only that government which is supported by the people can bring into play the full force of its strength. With the great motivating force afforded by the common aspiration of our people, we shall surely be able to carry out the mission of our time. In the words of our President, this is another Northward Expedition of our National Revolution and another reunification of the Republic of China."
Choice of Chiang Ching-kuo to succeed Vice President Yen Chia-kan as Premier was a long step toward the revitalized, dynamic government sought by President Chiang Kai-shek to meet the challenges of the present era.
The reorganized Central Standing Committee of the Kuomintang has acted quickly, wisely and well.
The change was no reflection on the long administration of Vice President Yen, who became Premier in 1963 and continued in the post concurrently after his election to the vice presidency in 1966.
As the KMT Standing Committee pointed out, the administration of C.K. Yen was highly successful. The rule of law was enhanced. Economic development made Taiwan the most prosperous province in Chinese history.
Relieved of his dual role, Vice President Yen will have the time and energy to act as President Chiang's alter ego. His close contacts with world leaders are already of great importance to the Republic of China.
Vice Premier Chiang Ching-kuo is a young 62 and a leader of tremendous energy and unquestioned stature. As elder son, he has the trust and confidence of his father, President Chiang. However, he stands primus inter pares not because of his paternity but because of his accomplishments.
He is a full general in his own right. On the mainland, he gained economic experience in the difficult task of coping with inflation.
With his combination of military, veterans, economic, youth organization and administrative experience, Chiang Ching-kuo is a natural and inescapable choice for the post to which he now ascends.
The KMT Standing Committee has already chosen to accent youth and new faces in the top-ranking personnel of the ruling party. As Premier, Chiang Ching-kuo can be expected to do the same in the Executive Yuan.
The resignation of the Cabinet on the eve of President Chiang's fifth inauguration gave him a free hand. Where improvement could be made, the new Premier did not hesitate to seek out and demand the service of the nation's most competent men.
The Republic of China now has a dynamic new Premier and a Cabinet determined to defeat the enemy and bring about national recovery in the shortest possible time.
The country is in good hands and its future has never been brighter.