The title "Nationalist China and World Crisis" was given to me as the subject of my speech today. Personally, I prefer to use the term "Free China" rather than "Nationalist China." I have no objection to the use of "Nationalist China" to differentiate it from "Communist China." However, since the major political party in my country is Kuomintang or the Chinese Nationalist Party, the term "Nationalist China" may be mistaken to convey the erroneous impression that we are under one-party rule. On the other hand, "Free China" is generally accepted to indicate the Republic of China with its seat in Taipei which represents all the freedom-loving Chinese people, including 10,000,000 in Taiwan, 13,000,000 overseas and countless numbers behind the Iron Curtain.
Certainly, no problem is more grave to the peoples living on both sides of the Pacific than the Communist occupation of the mainland of China. It was through China that international communism stretches its tentacles in all directions to threaten world peace. Lenin once said that the road to Paris is by way of Peiping. Now with Peiping under Communist control, all Asia is in peril. Numerous events in the past few years point to the fact that international communism has been using the mainland of China as a base for its sinister plot for the domination of Asia and then the entire world.
International communism employs two techniques interchangeably according to the circumstances. One of the techniques is armed aggression. Since the Chinese Communists came into power in 1949, they have been guilty of naked military aggression in Korea and in Indo-China. Although checked by resolute American action together with the efforts of the brave peoples in Korea and Vietnam, the Communists nevertheless have succeeded in detaching vast new territories and millions of peoples from the areas of the free world.
Since the debacles in Korea and Indo-China, the Communists have resorted to their second technique which is infiltration. By using political intrigues, psychological propaganda and economical enticements, Communist fifth columnists have wormed their way into every country in Southeast Asia and the Indian sub-continent. The Communists covet the rich natural resources of oil, rubber, tin, manganese, and bauxite in Indonesia, rubber and tin in Malaya, rice and other foodstuffs in Indo-China, Thailand and Burma and the immense manpower in all these countries. Their scheme of aggression is usually to work from within a country to weaken the ruling authorities in preparation for their final conquest. Each area gained in this manner is immediately used as an advanced base for further aggression.
Today, the Communists in Indonesia are wielding strong influence in the coalition government. Communist agents in Singapore have won over large numbers of students and use them as spearheads of agitation. The jungles of Malaya are infested by armed Communist brigades. In Indo-China, Ho Chih Minh's men are being trained and equipped by the Chinese Communists to threaten the security of Vietnam, the loss of which will automatically engulf Cambodia and Laos. Thailand has become a hot bed of Communist subversive activities, in spite of the fact that she is a member of the SEATO conference. Chinese Communist troops have seized a slice of Burmese territory on a flimsy pretext and they could overrun the entire country almost with impunity. Nepal has practically been transformed into an outright Communist satellite. The Communists in India have won an electoral victory in the State of Kerala, and Red China troops are posed on the border of the State of Assam in Northern India.
The situation in Asia is alarming. The crisis is growing indeed in that part of the world. Behind the danger zone in Asia stands Communist China like a ferocious lion ready to swallow its prey. And behind Communist China stands Soviet Russia, which during Stalin's time, entrusted the Communist domination of Asia to Red China.
Therefore, if we trace the source of trouble in Asia, we see at once that the root lies in the Communist occupation of mainland China. The sudden emergence of the Communist hordes into power through the machination of Soviet Russia, has endangered the security of the entire Pacific area. If Chinese Communism is allowed to exist, the problems of Asia will never end. Conversely, if Chinese Communism can be defeated and uprooted, the backdoor to Russia will be closed. Asia will then regain its peace and tranquility.
The problem in Asia is therefore how to coordinate the efforts of the free nations to avert the growing crisis by defeating the Communist threat from the source, namely - by destroying the Chinese Communist regime on the mainland of China.
In this gigantic task, Free China, represented by the Republic of China with its temporary seat at Taipei, has an important role to play. Many of our friends will perhaps wonder under the present conditions what Free China can do. They may feel that Taiwan, as pitted against mainland China, is a case like that of David against Goliath. But history tells us that David won. Our well-meaning friends who entertain doubts have overlooked some of the powerful assets Free China possesses. It is extremely important that the western world realize these assets so that the over-all policy can be properly planned and coordinated.
In the first place, Taiwan, commonly known as Formosa, has a very strategic position. Lying opposite the coast of mainland China, Taiwan is like a sharp knife pointing at the side of the Communists' ill-gotten empire. As long as Taiwan remains free, the position of the Communist mainland will forever be vulnerable. Ever since the restoration of Taiwan to Chinese sovereignty in 1945; the Chinese government then at Nanking foresaw its strategic importance and began to build an independent defense system which would be adequate to cope with any emergency. After the withdrawal of the Government to Taiwan, this defense system has developed into the strongest link of the chain of fortifications of the western world in the Pacific.
In the second place, Free China has strong armed forces. On Taiwan, it has 600,000 trained troops of high morale - the fifth largest standing army in the world. These troops have been trained by United States advisers and are equipped with American weapons. The combat effectiveness is at its highest pitch. To meet the requirements of modern warfare and to benefit from the latest developments in military sciences, the army, navy and air force, have gone through many changes and reorganizations. Beside the standing army, Taiwan also has a strong reserve force. Every able-bodied young man in Taiwan is under military training. At an emergency call, the present military strength can be greatly expanded. In short, Taiwan forms a bastion of anti-Communist strength in the Far East.
In the third place, there is the will and determination of the people to fight and sacrifice. Everyone in Free China has only one mind, one hope and one purpose, - the defeat of the Chinese Communist regime and the recovery of the mainland. The people are fully convinced that their steadfast opposition against Communism will eventually pay dividends, that their trial and tribulations will be vindicated and that history will repeat the infallible theory that justice always prevails over injustice and righteousness triumphs over evil.
In the fourth place, Free China has hundreds of millions of secret allies living behind the Iron Curtain. Following the uprisings in Poland and Hungary, the anti-Communist movements on the China mainland have been gaining momentum and vigor. Even the Chinese Communists themselves have admitted the seriousness of the situation. Mao Tse-tung's "letting hundred flowers bloom" policy was originally designed to prevent similar Hungarian disaster. But this policy backfired. It opened up the throttle of popular resentment against the Communist despotic rule. Thousands of intellectuals, students, workers, and farmers took part in voicing their doubts as to the future. They raised questions the Communists could not answer. Some took rebellious action. Mao put them down by force. Many of them were executed. Thousands have been jailed or sent to the "corrective labor camps." But the smoldering fire may easily be ignited again into an open conflagration when occasion arises.
In the fifth place, Free China has experience and leadership. For more than a quarter of a century, the Chinese have learned through painful experience the real nature of communism. They understand every move of the Communists in their attempt at world conquest. The tragedy is that the lesson learned by the Chinese through painful experience is so often disregarded by, Western statesmen, who seem to prefer learning their lessons in their own hard way. In President Chiang Kai-shek, Free China has a leader whose name is a symbol of freedom to every living Chinese. Around him, rally millions and millions of Chinese men and women who have dedicated themselves to national salvation and recovery. The life-time of gathered experience of President Chiang in fighting against Communism is written in his book "Soviet Russia in China." Every thinking American should read this book before he makes a true appraisal of the situation in the Far East.
These are the inherent assets of Free China which, if properly capitalized by the Western world, will go a long way to help defeat the onrush of Communist evils. These assets are especially valuable to the United States and should be taken into serious consideration in the final showdown in the struggle between Communism and democracy, between tyranny and freedom, between darkness and light and between destruction of humanity and pursuit of happiness.
How can we make use of these assets in the over-all policy or strategy for the defeat of Communism? In answer to this vital question, I wish to refer to President Chiang Kai-shek's viewpoint as presented in his book "Soviet Russia in China." Examining the basic policies of the western nations against Communist aggression, President Chiang has classified Western policy under four basic headings. These four basics are containment, reprisal, prevention and liberation. To elucidate:
(1) The first method of the Western nations is containment by bases, or position of strength. This, according to President Chiang, is efficacious for a while as a deterrent. But the Communists' counteraction is to use international fifth columnists to start anti-American movements to force the United States to withdraw from her overseas bases. As the Communists follow a zigzag strategy, this policy of containment will become inadequate. Political and psychological infiltration will break through defense cordon.
(2) The second method is reprisal by the development of hydrogen bomb, intercontinental guided missiles or other deadly weapons for massive reprisal. By this method, Western nations will have to continue in the armament race in order to maintain their superiority. Once the enemy reaches parity, or worse, attains superiority over the Western nations, the situation will be untenable.
(3) The third method is a preventive war or a policy of punitive action. This implies that the Western nations should take action in a preventive war. But this can only be done in a totalitarian nation. Democratic nations will not approve of it, Furthermore, Russian retaliation will make the United States a principal battleground.
(4) The fourth method which President Chiang considers as the only practical method is a policy of liberation. This policy implies the support by the Western nations of Asian countries that have been forcibly divided by Soviet Russia's Communist aggression so that the forces of national revolution outside the Iron Curtain and of anti-Communist revolution inside the Iron Curtain will merge into one for the purpose of national reunification. Without German unification there can be no European peace and security. If China, Korea and Vietnam should remain part slave and part free there can be no peace and security in Asia. In these countries, war will be fought as a war of national revolution by the Eastern peoples against the new colonialism to gain independence and freedom. Such a war will win the sympathy and support of all Eastern peoples. If this war of national revolution by the Eastern peoples could be achieved before Russia completes her preparations for a major war, it would he an indirect blow to her and should have, the desired effect of removing the latent danger of a world war.
In the opinion of President Chiang, the overall strategy for the Western nations should be a strategy of detours and indirect warfare. In other words, the Western world should support Free China, South Korea and Vietnam and let them do the fighting. The Russian Communists are creating disturbances today in Western Europe, in Africa, in the Middle East and even in South America as a strategy of detours to fight the Western world indirectly. The proper answer to that strategy is to give them the same dose of medicine - by fighting Russia indirectly through detours in Far East.
If Free China should launch military operations against the mainland, we firmly believe that it will not lead to a general war. The Chinese Communists have repeatedly announced to the world that the problem of Taiwan is an internal affair. There is no reason for the Chinese Communists to enlist the aid of Soviet Russia in case of war. Soviet Russia, by its own strategy as seen in Korea, in the Middle East and elsewhere, has never participated directly in local warfare. In the event that Chinese Communists should be compelled to ask help from Soviet Russia, it must be at the point when people of mainland have rallied to our cause and the Communists are near exhaustion and collapse. By that time, Soviet participation would be useless as the battle shall already have been won by our side. In a limited war localized in the China theater, there is no danger of developing into a world war.
This discussion therefore will lead to the conclusion: (1) In order to stop the Communists from further aggression, we must stop Chinese communism. (2) If we want to avoid World War III, the place to start is China.
These are the views of President Chiang Kai-shek, supported by the people of Free China. We firmly believe that Communism in China can be uprooted and the scourge of another world war prevented, if the western nations will render their moral, spiritual, and material support to our program of national recovery.
***Editor's Note - This is the text of a speech delivered by Mr. Patrick P. Sun, Chinese Consul General at San Francisco, before the Commonwealth Club of California, on May 28, 1958.