Less than four years after the victorious conclusion of the Sino-Japanese War, our provinces on the mainland fell behind the Iron Curtain of the Soviet Imperialists. Tens of thousands of our compatriots either have been massacred and exiled or have disappeared and gone out of existence altogether. There are in the villages a series of "land reform" struggles and in cities "Three-anti" and "Five-anti" movements. No matter what slogan is used, to our compatriots on the mainland each measure has but one effect, i.e., heavier oppression, further extortions, wholesale terrorism and creation of widespread famine in order to establish and maintain the totalitarian regime. Whether in the Northeastern or Southwestern provinces, whether along the Yellow River or the Yangtse Valley, our compatriots have been suffering from floods, famine and pestilences which have all been caused by the Communists. Three years of the so-called "People's Democratic Dictatorship" under the puppet Communist regime have turned the free citizens of the Republic of China into slaves who work and fight aggressive wars for the Slavs. Two years of the so-called "Anti-American and Aid-Korea" movement have turned the peaceful territory of the Chinese nation into a Russian base from which the security of Asia and the peace of the world are threatened. This is the most tragic catastrophe that has befallen China in the last 5,000 years and also the most dreadful situation that has ever faced Asia and humanity at large. It was under such conditions that the Seventh National Convention of the Kuomintang was convened in Taiwan, the anti-Communist base of the Republic of China. It was with a heavy heart that we review our past tragic experiences. During this period when our Party is in power, we have not only been unable to preserve the fruits of our war with Japan but have also failed to carry out the program of postwar reconstruction. A great portion of our national territory has been lost, and the majority of our people have been thrown into intense suffering. Members of the Party should, through self-reflection, self-criticism and repentance, revitalize themselves and make amends for their past mistakes. Only through a spirit of sacrifice can we revitalize our revolutionary work and only by actual facts can we prove our determination to carry out the San Min Chu I. We have also to accelerate our military preparations to crush the Communists. Only then will our Party come up to the expectations of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, our revolutionary martyrs, our country and our people.
Since the Sixth National Convention and the victorious conclusion of the war against Japan. President Chiang has borne all the blame and fought single-handed against the Soviet imperialists during all these seven years. In spite of all the military setbacks, however, he succeeded in formulating the policies for the reform of the Party and the reconstruction of the nation. In the past three years, he has made Taiwan a strong base for national revival, a bastion for democracy in Asia and a vanguard for world peace. All these are achieved due to the combined efforts of our people and armed forces but also to the guidance of President Chiang. All our Party members should be inspired by the bitter struggle which the President has undergone, learn a lesson from the revolution, and value the fruits of the recent Party reform. What has gone is gone forever but the future should not be allowed to slip through our fingers. We should make up our mind to start our revolutionary work and the task of national reconstruction all over again and be ever on the alert. We should also be watchful of intrigues on the part of Russians and Chinese Communists and always bear in mind the sufferings of our compatriots on the mainland, so that the counterattack can be successfully carried out and the mainland recovered. We should not be disappointed because of past failures, nor should we entertain any illusion that victory can be achieved by sheer luck. We should, on the contrary, muster every ounce of our energy and grasp every chance in advancing along the road to victory.
Since the middle of the 19th century, the entire East has been engulfed in a whirlpool of Russian expansionism and has found itself heading for a dangerous course. In spite of the transfer of political power from the old Czar and the old nobility to the new Czar and the new nobility, in spite of the change of religious faith from Eastern Orthodoxy to Marxism-Leninism, the Russian ambition to conquer the world has not changed and the methods employed towards that end are even more cruel than those of the Czarist era. From the Czarist days down to the present time, Russian imperialists have always tried to secure some advantages in Asia whenever they suffer any defeat in Europe. With the advent of Lenin, Russian aggressors have come to the conclusion that the shortest road to Europe is through Asia, which can be effectively dominated by controlling China. In addition to the use of force and international intrigue, they also make use of fifth columnists to achieve their aggressive purposes. Both Czarist Russia and Soviet Russia resort to the same tactics in their attempts to encroach upon China in Sinkiang, Tannu Uryankhai, Outer Mongolia and the Northeastern Provinces. They take our Northeastern Provinces as a base for their southward advance into China, Japan, and Korea. They make Port Arthur and Dairen into bases for their eastward advance in the Pacific. As early as in the winter of 1948, President Chiang warned the democratic countries, "If the territorial integrity of the Northeastern Provinces of China were impaired, there would be no free and independent China and there would be no peace and security in Asia and the Pacific." The correctness of his warning was amply demonstrated by the later sequence of events: the fall of the Northeastern Provinces was followed by the shutting off of the entire Chinese mainland behind the Iron Curtain, the beginning of the aggressive war in Korea, and the aggravation of the situation in Indo-China. We are convinced that so long as the Chinese Communists are not crushed, so long will the power of Soviet Russia remain in the Chinese mainland. With the mainland left unrecovered, there could be no security in Asia nor peace in the world. The purpose of our anti-Communist war is therefore not only to recover our lost territory and to rescue our compatriots and regain freedom for them, but also to help reestablish security in Asia and peace in the world. This is a task which our Party hopes to share with all our countrymen. We also hope the whole world will realize the full significance of our struggle and give us moral support and cooperation.
To reach this goal, our Party will make the utmost exertion both inside China and abroad to rally all the anti-aggressive forces in the fight against Communism, which is the public enemy of mankind.
(1) Internally, we must realize that this war is not simply a war between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland; it is a war against aggression, against totalitarianism and against enslavement. It is not a civil war; it is a war for national salvation. It is not merely a national war; it is a war for democracy, peace and justice.
In order to achieve victory in this holy war, we must first of all safeguard our national history and culture. Three years ago, the Chinese Communists openly declared their decision to side with Soviet Russia and fight for her in all future wars. The Korean war has definitely proved their words to be true. They offer her strategic raw materials, foodstuffs and naval bases in addition to manpower to serve as cannon-fodder. Our countrymen have suffered to the limit of their capacity for suffering and are burning with the fire of national patriotism in their hearts. The Russians realize that the spirit of the Chinese people stems from their historical and cultural background. To conquer China they must first of all destroy Chinese culture. The Chinese Communists have therefore been instructed to falsify Chinese history by applying the materialistic interpretation of history and to annihilate China's ethical and moral standards by means of "struggles" and "liquidations." Only by making Chinese history into a record of the murderous adventures of Huang Tsao and Li Chwung and converting Chinese society into a slaughter-house where children kill their fathers and wives kill their husbands can the free Chinese be turned into slaves for the benefit of Soviet Russia. In the face of such a great catastrophe to our history and culture, we feel deeply embittered and should rise up in their defense.
Secondly, we must have the determination to implement constitutional democracy. It was Dr. Sun Yat-sen who created the first democratic country in Asia. His Principle of Democracy teaches people to prevent the rise of an autocratic government and ensure liberty by means of the rule of law. He wants the people to have power and the government to have authority in order to safeguard national survival and independence. Our fight against Soviet aggression and the Chinese Red totalitarian regime is inspired by this same principle. Chinese history is replete with instances of opposition to "meeting cruelty with cruelty." But the democratic form of government is not built upon the special privileges of a few, but upon the will and interests of the entire hardworking people. Only such a form of government is a genuine democracy and can generate the greatest strength. This is the reason why we are determined to realize genuine democracy through local self-government. The election by popular vote of magistrates, mayors, and district assemblies in Taiwan is a concrete demonstration of this fact. We are determined to further broaden the democratic basis of our country.
The Kuomintang is a democratic revolutionary party as clearly stipulated in its Constitution. It is not only democratic in itself; it seeks to attain democracy. In conformity with the rules of constitutional democracy, it aims at bringing out the true wishes of the people and the united efforts of the nation. It is a democratic revolutionary party because, in the hard and perilous process of national salvation and regeneration, we are entrusted with a mission and confronted with a situation which are truly unique and which distinguish our Party from those political parties in countries now enjoying peace and prosperity. As we are engaged in a national life-and-death struggle and facing a barbarous and treacherous enemy, we must fight with alertness, strict discipline, ingenuity, and a spirit of sacrifice. Otherwise we shall not be able to exist, not to say to accomplish the mission of national salvation and regeneration. We have suffered on the mainland a disastrous defeat caused by enemy infiltration. This is a lesson which we have to take to heart. We are certain that all democratic nations friendly to us will understand our position as they themselves are being harassed with Communist infiltration and are meeting the situation with increasing alertness. Moreover, it is not necessary that all the countries in the world should follow the same form of government. Neither is it necessary that all political parties be organized on the same pattern. Because Dr. Sun Yat-sen has organized our Party with a revolutionary spirit, we were able to overthrow the 4,000-year old monarchy and establish a republic. By reforming our Party with the same revolutionary spirit, we are certain that we shall be able to rescue our compatriots on the mainland and rejuvenate the republic which Dr. Sun has created.
Thirdly, we must work for the equitable distribution of social wealth through scientific agriculture and industrialization. Our initial step in Taiwan is to enable every farmer to own the land he tills. This "land-to-the-tiller" policy will be fully put into practice next year after we have successfully carried out measures for the reduction of land rent, the sale of public land and the limitation of land holdings. We have also achieved part of the electric power program and the industrial program which are now in full progress in Taiwan. All these achievements have strengthened our confidence in the principle that social wealth must be equitably distributed and that profits in production must be shared by the entire people. President Chiang Kai-shek, our Party leader, has said: "The Principle of the People's Livelihood enunciated by Dr. Sun Yat-sen is to enable everyone to have land, work, rights and privileges, and freedom. In other words, it is to enable everyone to live in freedom and in happiness based on liberty and equality." That is the kind of society we are striving for.
Here we wish especially to emphasize that after the mainland is recovered, farmlands will belong to the present tillers. Under the leadership of President Chiang, the Government of the Republic of China will never maintain for itself any special privilege and the Revolutionary Army will never fight for the vested interests of a few. We only fight for the common welfare of the entire people. We want to make our coming victory against Communism a successful realization of the Principle of Livelihood.
We appeal to our patriotic and freedom-loving compatriots both at home and abroad for national unity so that a united front against Communism and Soviet Imperialism may be realized. We appeal to them to sink all past differences and join hands in the common struggle, irrespective of political affiliation, geographical distinction, profession, race and creed. Their political views may be different, but agreeing in basic principles, they will be able to join this struggle for national salvation and self-salvation. Their political differences can be settled through democratic and constitutional processes after their chief mission is accomplished. We believe that all of us understand clearly the fact that the enemy confronting us is not only tough but treacherous. Unite and we shall be able to defeat him after great sacrifices on our part; divide and each of us shall perish no matter where he stands. The enemy is trying by all means to drive a wedge among the democratic countries and democratic groups. We must not do what our enemy wishes us to, or we shall be doomed. This Party sincerely wishes to cooperate with all sincere, patriotic, democratic and freedom-loving elements in the common struggle.
(2) Internationally, we want to make it plain that the Republic of China is one of the co-sponsors of the United Nations. She is the only member nation that pledges in her Constitution to give support to the world organization. She has been a faithful member of the United Nations, and has taken consistent steps to bring success to every anti-aggressive measure adopted by the UN. The Kuomintang is of the opinion that the success or failure of the United Nations depends on whether it will faithfully adhere to the principle of justice enunciated in the Charter. Whether it can continue to maintain world peace depends on whether it can punish the aggressive imperialists. We pledge our support to the police action taken by the United Nations in Korea against the Chinese and North Korean Communists who started a war of aggression and atrocity. We admire and praise the United Nations' forces for their gallantry and meritorious record.
In carrying out its mission of national regeneration the Kuomintang does not pin its hopes on the outbreak of a third world war. We strongly believe that only by launching a counterattack against the mainland and recovering our lost territory can the 1,100,000,000 people of Asia be free from Soviet enslavement or menace. We must know that to reestablish an independent and free China so that she can play the role of a stabilizing force in Asia is the only way to avert war in the East. .
Neither do we want the Western democracies to be involved in a war on the Chinese mainland. We realize that the "human-sea warfare" carried out by the Soviet Imperialists and Chinese Communists at the expense of 460,000,000 lives on the Chinese mainland is a grave threat to the security of the democratic countries. However, we never intend to solve our own problems by involving the whole world into war. We strongly believe that the only way to break the Communist control over our vast manpower resources is to launch a counterattack against the mainland. When we return, we are going back to our homeland where we shall carry on the fight against the Communists together with our own people. Such military action will in itself be of the greatest political significance. Our compatriots on the mainland have had enough of Russian oppression and Communist persecution. When we return, they will greet us with open arms as if they welcome rain after a long drought. And we shall be supported by guerrillas and our own men behind enemy lines. With fortitude and determination to carry out our plans, we shall be able to recover all lost territory and establish a new nation.
We have only one request to make of our democratic allies, and that is: "It is our determination to struggle and to sacrifice. Give us sympathy and support, and we will be able to accomplish our mission in this common cause.
For the last thirty years we have pitched ourselves against the Soviet Imperialists and Chinese Communists, and it is proper today that we make known our bitter experience to our friends in Asia. Force and treachery are the two weapons which the Soviet Imperialists use to conquer the world. When the new Five-Year Plan calling for the strengthening of a wartime economy was recently passed at the World Communist Party Congress in Moscow, a big peace offensive was also in the making. This double-edged action of the Soviet should call forth a high degree of vigilance on the part of all democratic countries.
The Soviet line of aggression from Asia to Europe is clear to everyone. Its first step was to seek control over the whole of the Chinese mainland by means of military action, propaganda and fifth-columnist infiltration. Next followed the invasion of Korea, the enlargement of the scope of military operations in Indo-China and the menace to all areas in Southeast Asia. Then it focused its attention on the Middle East and North Africa while simultaneously exerting every military pressure against the democracies in Western Europe. All these acts constituted part of its systematic plan of world conquest.
As far as its treachery is concerned, its first step was to drive a wedge between China and the United States with a view to isolate China. Next it took advantage of the contradictions between the Middle Eastern countries and the Western democracies to isolate the Middle East. Now it is trying to dissociate Western Europe from America. Stalin intentionally emphasized that the contradictions between the capitalist states themselves were greater than the contradictions between the capitalist and the socialist states. He again said that socialism and capitalism could co-exist despite the fact that imperialism must be liquidated. Such expressions clearly indicate that he aims at breaking down the democratic front so that his treacherous plan of licking his main enemy and mopping up the others separately may be realized.
The United States is the leader of the democratic countries just as China was the mainstay against Communism. Soviet Russia deals with the United States today exactly in the same way as she dealt with China. The world has only one enemy, Soviet Russia. Mankind is threatened with only one catastrophe, Communism. Disunity and cleavage will lead inevitably to disaster. We believe that in the fight between the forces of aggression and anti-aggression, the side that has the support of the Asiatic peoples will come out victorious. Asia lost its security the moment when the whole of the Chinese mainland was shut behind the Iron Curtain. If all Asiatic peoples were dominated by the Soviet Imperialists, the hope of maintaining the security of Europe would be shattered. Therefore, the Western democracies must adopt every policy and take every measure to prevent Communism from joining forces with Asian nationalism, for only by gaining the cooperation of the Asiatic peoples can the democracies put a stop to Russian aggression and maintain world peace.
For the Asiatic peoples, we believe there is only one way out. The world today is divided into two parts. One is shut behind the Iron Curtain while the other enjoys freedom and democracy. To conquer the whole world, the Soviet Imperialists must first complete her conquest of Asia. The Asiatic peoples, being geographically situated on the fringes of the Soviet Empire, will have to choose between freedom and slavery. Although there have been past enmities among the Asiatic peoples, yet in the face of a common enemy they should bury their past grudges in order to stave off the immediate threat. On the other hand, they must put an end to all East-West differences in a spirit of harmony and mutual understanding. Should the Russian Imperialists succeed in their tactics of infiltration, both the East and the West would be victims, and all the rights of any one country recovered with so much hardship would go to Russian hands. Such has been our bitter experience with which we wish to warn the free countries of the world.
From now on we must endeavor to strengthen the international anti-Communist front, with special emphasis on the realization of an anti-Communist front in the Pacific which should be tied up with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, so as to protect the peace of the whole world. The Kuomintang has been in power for more than twenty years. No matter how difficult the world situation may have been, the Republic of China has always been on the side of the democracies and never once betrayed her friends. During the past three years, in spite of difficulties in our way, our stand has not changed. However, we should be on the alert all the time. Isolation and dependence are sure roads that lead to national extinction. In order to ensure national survival and independence and to share the responsibility for world peace, we must strive hard and work for a new lease of life all by our own efforts.
The ambition of Soviet Russia for world conquest is boundless and has now been fully exposed. Whether in the form of open warfare or a peace offensive, her goal is always the same and cannot deceive those who have the intelligence to see through her motives. Crimes that Russia has committed in the last two years prove again and again that our anti-Communist and anti-Russian policy is a correct policy. At the same time, it further strengthens our anti- Communist and anti-Russian conviction.
As we are making preparations for the counterattack, never for a single moment have we forgotten our suffering compatriots on the mainland. We are both conscience-stricken and fully conscious of our political responsibility for having left them to the mercy of the Communists. Whenever we hear of massacres or persecutions inflicted upon them, they seem to be tragic tidings we receive from our own homes. When we see the intellectuals so degrade themselves as to write self-confessions, we know how painful they must have felt to have not even the freedom of silence. The destruction of religious faith in the churches and the "brain-washing" campaign in the schools are the one and same thing. Wailings in the concentration camps and tears and blood of the workers engaged in road-building and canal-digging all come from involuntary slaves. We as well as the peoples in the democratic countries of the world cannot but admire whenever we hear of the activities of our guerrilla forces on the slopes of the Tien Shan and the Chi Li Shan; of the rise and fall of anti-Russian movements on the Hsin An Mountains and along the Sui Feng River; of the sudden strikes launched by our armed comrades on the Yah Jen Mountain; and of the activities of our underground workers on the Southeastern coast of the mainland. Our compatriots on the mainland! In spite of your hardships, your sacrifices are not being made in vain. You have already aroused the alertness of the democracies to the sinister design of Soviet Russia and the Chinese Communists. The international situation has greatly changed as compared with that three years ago. The anti-Communist tide is increasing with the passage of time. Be patient for the time being and wait for the signal when the counterattack against the mainland is launched and then take effective steps to help us. This appeal we are making comes not only from the people now residing in Taiwan but also from our compatriots overseas whose representatives have come from all parts of the world to attend this Seventh National Convention. The ten million patriotic overseas Chinese who have contributed liberally both of their money and energy for the cause of the revolution are now united with the Party at the present Convention.
The people in Taiwan, particularly farmers and workers, have been giving enthusiastic support to the government in all these years and have contributed much to our war effort. The youths in Taiwan have either joined the army or offered their services. Everyone here fully recognizes that our national survival depends on the success of the anti-Communist struggle and the future of the youths depends on the recovery of the mainland.
The present Convention is the first reunion of our Party members both at home and abroad since the Party reform. Criticism gives rise to deep repentance and repentance to new strength and vitality. Taiwan today is not only a free bastion but also the beacon of liberty in the Pacific. It is the base for the national resurgence of the Republic of China. We shall never remain idle, nor shall we slacken our efforts. We will do all we can to accomplish our mission for the salvation of our country and people and to struggle for freedom and democracy regardless of sacrifices.