A lesser known but incessant aspect of the conflict is that of psychological warfare. It rages not only across the Taiwan Straits but everywhere there is opportunity to get at people of the other side. Overseas Chinese throughout the world are targets as well as those who live on Taiwan or the mainland. Every means of communication is employed - from radio to leaflets that are stuffed into fish before they go to market.
The biggest effort goes into radio. Even where the distance between free Chinese and Communists is not great, direct propaganda channels can be created only with great difficulty. Radio obviates all such obstacles - but has its own inherent limitations. Receivers must be available and tuned to the appropriate channel. Jamming must be evaded. Content must be interesting and convincing.
Six stations of medium power are operated by the psywar center of the Republic of China's defense ministry. Another more powerful transmitter is under construction. For distant objectives, reliance is upon the Voice of Free China, which beams programs in most dialects and has a heavy schedule of broadcasting in the objective news sphere as well as propaganda.
Communists reciprocate with some 30 stations broadcasting almost continuously. With a much smaller target, they can concentrate their effort. Nor need their transmitters reach to great distances. The Communists have another advantage. Taiwan has more than 700,000 receivers for its 11,300,000 people. Many are equipped for short wave. Radio sets are licensed but no restrictions are enforced on listening.
Balloon group with fuse flies at least 10 miles. (File photo)
Not so surprisingly, free Chinese rarely bother to tune in the Communist stations. Once is ordinarily enough. The content—as will be detailed subsequently—is dull and monotonous, consisting primarily of denunciations of the United States.
Mainland people have few receivers and not many of those can pick up short-wave broadcasts. Furthermore, listening to free world programs is forbidden and subject to severe penalties.
Escape Routes
Yet people behind the bamboo curtain do manage to listen, and then pass the information along to others. Defectors from the Communist air force have testified that most pilots listen to broadcasts from Taiwan. The principal appeal is straightforward news, unobtainable from Communist radio or newspapers. Much of what mainlanders know of conditions in other provinces comes from external broadcasts.
Other refugees have declared they were able to travel from north China to the south, where there is some hope of getting away, because of routes specified in Taiwan broadcasts. Hundreds of letters from the mainland have been received by the Broadcasting Corporation of China via addressees in Hongkong and Macao.
A first cousin of radio propaganda is to be found on the offshore islands of the Kinmen group and the invasion coast of the mainland. Four loudspeaker stations are operated on each side, magnifying music and speech a hundredfold to reach the opposite shore. The range is effective when the wind is right but the result is probably negligible. Jamming is easy. When the Communists are coming in strong, Kinmen speakers are turned toward the island instead of the mainland. Communists do the same when the wind blows from Kinmen to the continent.
For propaganda delivery methods other than radio and the speakers, technical problems become severe except for purely localized efforts.
To reach distant provinces, the Republic of China formerly undertook unarmed C46 flights. Over the target, crews dropped quantities of food, clothing, medicines and leaflets. Planes were subjected to ack-ack fire and pursued by fighters. But utilizing hedge-hopping and other evasive tactics, almost all got through and returned safely.
As far as could be judged, the effort was highly effective and worth far more than it cost.
However, it was also dangerous. If the C46 ventures have been continued during the last year or so, there has been no publicity.
Without overflights, the free Chinese are handicapped in reaching the vast expanses of the mainland, which ranks second in size among the countries of the world. The best available means of transportation for small food parcels and leaflets is the balloon. Large ones can make journeys of several thousand miles. However, they are expensive and unreliable, subject to the vagaries of wind and affording no assurance that the cargo will reach a populated area.
Nevertheless, many balloons are sent aloft from Kinmen and Matsu. Most are small and will descend in coastal areas. Big ones are employed on special occasions. Special foods are dispatched at moon festival time and for the lunar new year. For the Double Tenth national day on October 10, leaflets detail the achievements of the Republic of China on Taiwan and express hope for early liberation of the mainland.
Easy Delivery
Coast-to-coast delivery is simple. Small rafts and floats are used. Often made of bamboo, they are cheap and easy to produce. When tides are favorable, they are virtually certain to reach mainland beaches.
Contents assure that mainlanders will be on the lookout. Food, clothing, toys, newspapers, magazines, and leaflets are commonly dispatched in this way. Experiments are being conducted with small motorized rafts that could be dispatched for greater distances.
To protect mainlanders and attain greater circulation, newspapers and magazines resemble Communist publications. Internal content is anti-Communist and includes objective news material.
Leaflets are delivered in two other ways. by artillery shell and by floating bottles and rubber spheres. Kites are flying signboards.
Communists have more coast-to-coast delivery difficulties than free Chinese psywar experts. The mainland is impossible to miss, provided idiosyncrasies of wind and tide are mastered. Not so the offshore islands, which are small and mostly rocky. Consequently, except for shell bursts or propaganda, most of the Communist effort winds up in the sea. No serious attempts are made to reach Taiwan except by radio.
Shell cross-section shows free Chinese leaflets. (File photo)
One of the most interesting and successful free Chinese undertakings involves the maintenance of four fishermen's relief stations, two in the Kinmen group and two at Matsu.
Fishermen from the mainland are welcomed warmly. They are given food, clothing and fuel. Naturally, they also listen to the news and material that includes propaganda content.
Some probably are sent by the Communists to spy. But most are simple people trying to earn a livelihood. When they get back to the mainland, they talk—but not to the authorities. Those who did were sent inland and their rice rations sharply reduced.
On occasion, the fishermen have been used as innocent distributors of propaganda. While they were eating and drinking, their fish were stuffed with leaflets. Propaganda messages also may be inserted in other gifts presented to them. Quite possibly, some are aware of the propaganda use which is made of them.
Content of propaganda differs sharply. About the only similarity is the Communists' occasional use of a current event for tie-in. Much of the Republic of China's output is linked to the news. Mainland people have little awareness of what goes on in the world and even their own country.
Because most of the Taiwan material reaches troops along the invasion coast, generalized appeals are not always considered valid. Leaflets may address the soldiery directly, giving them channels for radio communication, escape routes and recognition signals.
If the masses of China could be reached, psywar specialists would like to stress such recent achievements as land reform on the island of Taiwan. This could be dynamite among mainland farmers, who have been herded into the hated communes. Land reform has always been the great goal of the Chinese peasant. It was promised, then denied by the Communists.
Refugee Exodus
In recent months, the propaganda topic of greatest interest has been the refugee exodus resulting from the mainland food shortage. Stress has been placed on what the refugees had to say about the true situation on the mainland, as well as what they found in Hongkong and on Taiwan.
Huge Taipei crowd is shown welcoming fliers who escaped to freedom. Subsequently a MIG pilot fled. (File photo)
The story of the Hongkong flight was never told by the Chinese Communists. Except for the Republic of China's propaganda effort, few mainlanders outside the Canton area would have heard of it. Only there, too, was it realized that the military and the Communist bureaucracy had been defied by the refugees on several crucial occasions. Hunger exposed Peiping's fear of a massive uprising by angry people.
Earlier this year, the big story was the defection of Communist airmen and their reactions to life under a free system. Propagandists learned, too, that even the relatively sophisticated personnel of the Communist air force believe that hunger and desperate need also stalk Taiwan. Domestic Communist propaganda relates that the people are reduced to eating banana leaves and that they are clad in rags.
Consequently, the Taiwan success story is emerging as a larger part of propaganda content. Prosperity of the people is emphasized at festival times, when mainlanders have little to celebrate and are in a restive mood, thinking of olden times and the then unbroken family circle.
One leaflet of the Republic of China shows a happy family celebrating the moon festival. The text then declares:
"The moon festival is a time for feasting and rejoicing. It's an occasion for family reunions. Brothers of the Communist army, how are all your family members. Will you be able to see them?
"Have the moon cakes, fruit, fish and meat been prepared for the celebration.
"During the last years of the Yuan dynasty, the Chinese people rose against foreign invaders by hiding secret messages in moon cakes. This is a good example. Suffering under tyrants fiercer than those invaders, what shall you do?"
Plenty of Food
Another festival leaflet shows pictures of the impressive Double Tenth (national day) celebration in Taiwan.
Addressed to the desperate hunger of the mainland people is a pamphlet depicting the Republic of China's efforts to provide food and relief goods.
Soldiers are told of starvation conditions that obtain in distant provinces and that may affect their families. Stocks of rice are shown, awaiting an opening of Communist ports. President Chiang Kai-shek pledged 100,000 tons early this year.
The first Taiwan arrivals of refugees reaching Hongkong last April and May provide dramatic propaganda impact. The boisterous welcome is shown, as well as the gifts presented to the refugees. Resettlement plans are related in the text. This leaflet is identified as a "pass to freedom" in the event its holder escapes Communism.
A Double Tenth leaflet recalls the heroism of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and utilizes the emotional content of the national emblem. Readers are urged to restore the name and the flag of the Republic of China. It is suggested that the flag be used to symbolize resistance, and that it be posted everywhere.
Defection of pilots is utilized in a bid to the Communist armed forces to do likewise. The gold payments to be made for planes or ships are listed, and those escaping are assured of a good life and the privilege of following careers of their own choice.
A former New China News Agency reporter and army commissar are pictured after their resettlement in Taiwan. Their signed message says:
"Because we wanted freedom, we have escaped and come to Taiwan. Here we see prosperity, stability and progress. Everyone is living a free and good life. Compared with the mainland, this is heaven.
"Yet we are not satisfied with our own freedom, because we cannot forget the plight of our compatriots struggling under the Communists' tyrannical rule.
"We know that under the leadership of President Chiang Kai-shek, the free Chinese government and people have sent food and other necessities to the mainland by airdrop and balloons. But large-scale relief measures are impossible because of Peiping's refusal to open the ports.
"To our brothers of the mainland we say: only through the overthrow of the Peiping regime and the people's communes can you save your lives. Once a large-scale uprising begins, it will be supported by the powerful national forces on Taiwan. Thus the Communists can be defeated.
"This is the time for you to save your country, your families and yourselves. We wish you success and victory!"
Direct Action
In an appeal for direct action, one message suggests that granaries and arsenals be raided for food and weapons.
Radio stations also are specified as prime targets. Frequencies are given for communication with the national army.
Cartoon ridicules U.S. attempt to match sputniks. (File photo)
Sabotage against various Communist installations also is urged.
The Communist anthem is given new words that are anti-Communist. The back of this leaflet lists uprisings and other anti-Communist incidents on the mainland. These include demonstrations, strikes, food raids, and arson involving warehouses, mess halls and other Communist buildings.
Resistance of the East Germans has been cited as an example of dedication to freedom.
During last year's Soviet nuclear tests, intelligence reported that fear of fallout was running high in continental China. A leaflet told the mainland people how to protect themselves, and at the same time denounced the Soviet Union for the testing.
Communist content is dominated by anti-Americanism. Everything bad in the world is laid at Washington's door. Often Presidents Kennedy and Eisenhower are specifically blamed and insulted.
Language is unrestrained. Americans are called murderers, rapists, arsonists, butchers, thieves, criminals.
Cartoons are vicious. All Americans are made to look like thugs or wolves.
These are textual excerpts:
"American soldiers have invaded Taiwan and they act like criminals there. When one of them sees a pretty girl, something evil will occur to him. They drink and drive their jeeps like mad. Victims scream under the wheels but nothing can be done. The Yankee is safe. No law can touch him." The jeep bears a banner reading: "Extraterritoriality."
"More than 200 farm houses were demolished to make way for an American barracks."
"Ancient Chinese art treasures were stolen by the Americans and shipped to the United States." (Chinese art" was exhibited in five American cities in 1961 and 1962, then returned to Taiwan.)
Accent on Rape
"Wherever Yankee soldiers go, the people will have bad luck. In south Korea, American soldiers kill as a pastime. Japanese women are raped and cheated by Americans. Those deserted by their American lovers become beggars."
Rape is a favorite topic. Because of different sexual mores, it is a rare crime in China and regarded with great horror.
"An American soldier seriously wounded a pedicab driver in a Taipei fight, and then pushed a policeman into a ditch. His name was withheld by the American authorities."
A woman legislator who married an American was ridiculed in a cartoon. The text suggested that national dignity had been breached and wanted to know what had happened to Chinese manhood.
Nor is history neglected. Illustrating the supposed enmity of the "American imperialists" is a picture purporting to show American volunteers helping the Manchu government put down the Taiping revolution in 1862.
Previously, the Communists propagandized Soviet space successes and alleged American failures. The U.S. program is still belittled, but much less is said about Russian activities.
One old leaflet told of the first Russian sputnik, then went on to claim that the first U.S. effort exploded when it was four feet off the ground. A cartoon shows the sputnik happily circling the globe while the American satellite plunges into the earth.
Soviet satellites were shown talking to each other, asking if an American counterpart had been seen. They said it hadn't yet shown up in space.
During this era of warmer relations with Moscow, the Russian claims to having invented everything since the wheel were set forth as proof that the Americans have achieved nothing. Now the Russians are lucky to get a passing mention, even for circulating a tandem of astronauts.
Chinese Communist triumphs also were trumpeted through the 1950s. One great propaganda occasion came in 1959, when the first sedan rolled off what was loosely termed an assembly line. There were three models: East Wind, Fair Wind and Phoenix. Nothing has been heard of them since.
Communist propaganda pack includes tea, battery, toy whistle, candy, cigarettes, canned fruit, fountain pen, toothpaste and face powder. (File photo)
Other Claims
Similarly in the same era, claims were made to record agricultural achievements, to the golden life of the communes, to steel production in backyards, and to an industrial great leap forward that was to overtake the industrialized countries of Europe within a few years.
Nothing much is left except hate for the United States. Nor is this confined to the Americans on Taiwan or elsewhere in East Asia.
Kennedy is identified as the criminal oppressor of Cuba, and the United States is charged with intervention throughout Latin America. Bolivians are shown carrying anti-American placards and burning an American car.
On the lighter side—although not intentionally so on the part of the Communist propagandists—an American mother and her children are shown begging on the streets.
The text says that her husband is among California's unemployed, and that the wife must beg or the family will starve. A picture represents an unemployed worker as scavenging scraps from a garbage can. The text charges that "in capitalistic societies, the people are so hard up they are reduced to this."
Another picture shows sausages being fed to pigs, and observes that "in capitalistic societies, the rich people find pleasure in such conduct."
Aside from such an outburst of emotionalism, the people of Taiwan appear too sophisticated and well educated to be taken in by the Communist line, even if it reached them. They know and work with foreigners, including Americans, and would quickly detect the crudeness of the Communist attack.
As far as is known, there never has been a case of free Chinese defection to Communism. This would be easy for members of the armed forces and especially for those stationed on the offshore islands. Civilians could enter the mainland through Hongkong or Macao. If any has, the Communists have kept quiet about it.
Observed Effects
Effects on the Communists are directly observable in the case of the four pilots who have flown three planes to freedom. One lost his life in a forced landing.
Fishermen frequently leave the Communists to join the fleets of the offshore islands or Taiwan. Most are inspired by some aspect of the propaganda effort.
Escapes from the Amoy area to the Kinmen complex have been made by swimming, on rafts, and in small boats. Most of these refugees attest that they had seen or heard of free Chinese propaganda.
Leaflet shows Taiwan rice for refugee relief. More is pledged if the Communists open seaports. (File photo)
Refugees coming from Hongkong or Macao usually have had no direct experience with the Republic of China's written materials. Yet they often have heard some of the content. Important broadcasts of the free Chinese radio likewise are widely relayed by word of mouth, even though the number of receivers is limited and listening is highly dangerous.
Psychological warfare technicians say that if only they could improve deliveries, propaganda might play a decisive role in bringing about anti-Communist revolution on the mainland.
However, they emphasize that it is the truth content in propaganda which makes it effective.
The Republic of China's propaganda obviously puts Taiwan and the free Chinese cause in the best possible perspective. Yet the material is essentially true, and the philosophy is in keeping with Chinese culture and aspirations.
Chinese Communist propaganda fails, the experts say, because the content is so largely false. Even when it is delivered, such propaganda may have a reverse effect and lead to a strengthening of anti-Communism.
But whatever the difficulties of delivery and the observable or imagined results, the propaganda battle of the Taiwan Straits will continue until the war itself is over. The stakes are the minds of some 600 million people—the largest propaganda target in the history of man's systematic attempt to influence his fellows by the spoken and written word.