Taiwan Today

Fellow Countrymen:

Fifty-one years ago today, our national revolution led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Father of the Republic, inspired the Manchu "New Army" at Wuchang to rise and fire the first ringing shot that was heard throughout the country. Within three months, a colossal but corrupt and despotic monarchy that had ruled China for 260 years was overthrown. In its place was established the first democratic republic of Asia. For half a century since, we have faithfully carried on this national revolutionary movement based on the Three Principles of the People. We have worked for the freedom, equality and independence of our nation. Meanwhile we have successively undertaken with undaunted resolve the campaigns that toppled Yuan Shih-kai from his pretended throne, upheld the Provisional Constitution, eliminated the warlords in the eastern part of Kwangtung province, and unified the country in the Northward Expedition. We then cleared the Kuomintang party of Communist elements, suppressed their armed revolts and fought a war of resistance against Japan. Unfortunately after the war the Communists persisted in intrigue and revolted again. We have consistently continued our struggle, because we believe our goals are consonant with those of the Revolution. In all these 51 years our determination to realize these goals has never been shaken and instead has grown stronger with the passage of time. Today, our more than 500 million people both at home and abroad, both behind and outside enemy lines, are joining together in the great nationwide revolutionary task of achieving national recovery through counter-offensive. Preparing to shed our sweat and blood, we stand ready to decide the destiny of present and future generations and to usher in a new era in the history of mankind.

The Communist system is an evil combination of terror, slavery, man-made famines, treachery, aggression and death. Now, even within the Chinese Communist Party itself, the cadres and members are terrorized by capricious purges whether they be rightists or leftists. And so their ideological belief is wavering and their morale low. Their armed forces are plagued with ceaseless factional conflicts precipitated by absurd measures as "soldiers watch soldiers", "soldiers watch officers", "soldiers take over officers' duty" and "digging into each other's backgrounds." Even worse for them is the unprecedented famine, a situation created by the tyrannical rule that is called, in the Communist Jargon, the "Three Red Banners," meaning the "general political line," the "great leap forward" and "people's commune." The people have been reduced to sub-human hordes driven back and forth between urban and rural areas. Families are separated, men and women are so starved that their only concern is the problem of food. What kind of society is this? Has not Mao Tse-tung, in his lunatic cruelty, reached the dead end of his destructive general political line?

The more than 500 million people on the mainland do not support the Communists; they bitterly oppose them. Our compatriots there are daily threatened with such untold Communist cruelties as unlawful imprisonment, execution, hanging by one's feet and being buried alive. Communist party cadres as well as military officers and men have not been spared. They may be branded as "class enemy" any moment in the relentless purges. Let me point out the cases of Kao Kang and Jao Shu-shih, who were forced to kill themselves in 1954. Now Huang Ke-cheng and Tan Cheng have lost their posts in last month's shakeup. Mystery shrouds the whereabouts of Peng Teh-hwai, their one-time "Minister of National Defense," and Lin Piao, his successor. Though their names are still on the official list, what has actually happened to them is still a moot question. These were once confidants of Mao Tse-tung. These facts belie the claim that the Chinese Communist Party is still strong at its core, and that no senior party official has ever wavered or defected. The people on the mainland are only too anxious to rise in response to our counter-offensive. How could they be safely used as "Communist militia" to resist our armed forces? As for the Communist regular troops, they have seen enough suffering amongst their own families and relatives, as well as of society as a whole. How could they be expected to remain loyal to the Communist regime and to take its orders which only prolong the agony of their own parents, brothers, wives and children? To the Communists, not only the 500 million people are enemies, their own cadres and their own troops also harbor in their hearts thoughts of revolt similar to those of the Manchu "New Army" on the eve of the 1911 Wuchang Uprising. To us, everyone of them is a kinsman and a freedom-fighter.

In Communist-occupied territories today, every nook and corner is a potential powder keg. The 11,000-kilometer mainland coastline offers numerous beachheads for our armed forces to land in a counter-offensive. And the 11,000,000 square kilometers of territory is covered with the volcanic lava of human hatred. This land mass is impregnated with woeful calamity for the Communists. How could such a vast, impoverished land still be regarded as an asset to the Communists in war? To us, the mainland is everywhere a battlefield for the cause of freedom. To the Communists, every inch of this territory is a potential execution ground and graveyard.

Internationally, the true conditions on the Red-held mainland have been gradually exposed and recognized. In the past, the talk was centered on the strength of the Peiping regime. Now the talk is centered on its weakness. Formerly the Red regime was regarded as securely entrenched and the mainland situation as unalterable. Now there is cognizance of the fact that behind Peiping's iron curtain unrest and riots are rife and that they may turn into a major conflagration at any time. However, mere recognition of this fact is not enough. The world should realize and understand that China lies at the heart of all problems now plaguing Asia and the free world. I have pointed out repeatedly that Communist seizure of the Chinese mainland is the root of many of the troubles afflicting mankind. There will be no peace or security for the world so long as our people, constituting a quarter of the world's population, live under the yoke of slavery and starvation.

It is now a recognized, proven fact that if the Chinese mainland had not fallen to the Communists, this market of 500 million people would not have been lost to the free world, nor could the vast territory and prodigious population of the mainland have been used by the Communists as their capital for waging aggressive wars against other countries. Certainly, the Korean War would not have occurred, the situation in Southeast Asia would not have gotten out of hand and Communist infiltration in Latin America would not have become so widespread. The Chinese revolutionary movement for freedom and independence has always been the vanguard of the anti-aggression and anti-slavery struggle of mankind as a whole. Today, we cannot do less than to carry out our duty toward the whole of mankind. Events have proved too that if a country seeks peace with the Chinese Communists, what it gets is aggression and war; if it seeks market on the Chinese mainland, what it gets is political infiltration and subversion. Communist tyranny can only be subdued by the traditional spirit of our culture and our moral values; and the storm center of the Red terror can only be dispersed by our national will power. This traditional spirit of the Chinese nation espouses the cause of humanity and legitimate nationalism and is irrevocably opposed to tyranny. As it seeks to establish humane values and to arouse national conscience, it becomes instantly an irresistible force which will assure us of our final victory. By this decisive victory the Chinese nation will once again prove that it is invincible.

Fellow countrymen! The time is auspicious for our national revolution. To recover our lost territory and to deliver our compatriots from tyranny is not only the sacred duty but also the absolute sovereign right of our government and people. Only when one joins the ranks of the revolutionary movement can one regain and rehabilitate his own homeland and save his own family. Only when one and all participate in the total warfare of national recovery can the optimal national well-being and ultimate victory be won with a minimum of sacrifices.

The Chinese Communist slogan is: "Excepting comrades, all are enemies." Ours, on the other hand, is: "Excepting enemies, all others comrades." We do not have enemies except for the few die-hard Communist leaders. We regard as comrades-in-arms all those who rise against the Peiping regime or who provide cover for our underground personnel or assistance for our forces when they land on the mainland. Those who organize strikes in factories, in schools, or on the collective farms, and those who destroy mainland communication lines, depots or supplies, are all heroes.

Armed Communist cadres and men! Your revolt against the Red tyranny will shorten the time needed for our national revolution. You are the reinforcement to our revolutionary army behind the enemy lines. I believe that there are a good many loyal, patriotic elements among you, just as there were in the "New Army" that revolted against the Manchu dynasty at the time of the Revolution of 1911. You are waiting for the first shot as a signal to open fire from all directions at the nation's arch-traitor, Mao Tse-tung.

Fellow countrymen! All actions against the Chinese Communists, whether direct combat or indirect sabotage, are revolutionary and patriotic. All anti-Communist groups turning to the government· fold are recognized by us, whether they are organized by individuals, by Communist soldiers and cadres, or by political parties.

Farm implements, tools, clubs and sticks, spades and pickaxes, even firewood, all are weapons with which to fight the Communists. The Government will do everything it can at all times to supply anti-Communist individuals and organizations with weapons and ammunition, equipment and foodstuffs, by air, by sea and from the rear of the enemy. I personally shall lead our anti-Communist people and our armed forces in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu in a united movement against the Chinese Communists.

We firmly believe that with the combined strength of the military counter-offensive from the Taiwan Straits and the revolutionary uprisings on the mainland, our sacred war to deliver our compatriots from Communist tyranny will be won in the first battle. Although militarily we are pitting a smaller force against a larger one, politically we are the majority against the Communist minority. Our decisive engagement with the enemy on the main battlefield will be a fatal blow to the Communist bloc in its most vulnerable spot. When Communism is uprooted in China, the anti-Communist and antislavery movements of the free world will have a chance to win without a major war.

Fellow countrymen! During the last 13 years we have never given up war against the Chinese Communists. Now we have completed preparations for the military counter-offensive, to follow up our ideological and political counteroffensive that has been under way for some time. However, no final victory ever comes easily and afterward the work of reconstruction will be even harder. We have neither time for hesitation, nor can we afford any wishful hope for unearned gains.

What we should do now is to face our task with a united will and courageous determination. The guidance of the Three Principles of the People provided by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the revolutionary spirit of the martyrs who founded our Republic, and the unstinted united strength of patriotic people at home and abroad are the assurances of complete victory in our counter-offensive for national recovery. On the strength of these assurances, and with action in which all our people will join, we shall build a new China dedicated to our traditional moral values, and to democracy and scientific progress as embodied in the Three Principles of the People. We thereby shall solace the spirits of the Father of our Republic and the martyrs in Heaven.

Let us now join in the cheers of the day!

Long live the Three Principles of the People!

Long live the Republic of China! Long live the Revolution of 1911!

Long live the victory of our counter-attack and the recovery of the mainland!

President Chiang Kai-Shek's Message to the Chinese Communist Armed Forces

October 10, 1962

To the cadres and rank and file of the army, air and naval forces of the Chinese Communists:

The Chinese mainland has been under the despotic rule of Mao Tse- tung for thirteen years. During this dark period, he has subjected both the country and the people to his rapacious and tyrannical caprices. The people have been used as slaves and animals. They have lived a hellish life and have struggled desperately to survive. The culture and moral values of the Chinese people have deteriorated ominously.

Five thousand years of Chinese history has shown that no tyrant— such as Chieh in the Hsia dynasty, Chou in the Shang dynasty and Shih Huang in the Chin dynasty-was not overthrown by the Chinese people. Likewise, no ringleader of bandits or traitors-such as Huang Tsao in the Tang dynasty and Li Tse-cheng in the Ming dynasty—escaped destruction at the hands of the people. Mao Tse-tung has far outdone those despots in committing atrocious crimes. His regime is as surely doomed as had been those of his precursors.

You are all nationals of the Republic of China. Many of you were my colleagues and students. Others were once members of the government armed forces. Many of you are sons and brothers of farmers and workers who rebelled against being made slaves and animals, or students forced to join the Communist army, or teachers and scholars compelled to endure slavery euphemized as labor reform. You are all descendants of our noble common ancestor Huang Ti. No matter what were your motives or reasons for joining the Communist party or the Red army, you must have personally suffered from the calamities created by the Mao regime and have witnessed the tragic failure of his "Three Red Banners." Your parents, brothers, sisters, wives and children are starving and on the verge of death. Your colleagues, friends and relatives have been constantly subjected to purges and liquidations. Sharing the same fate are millions of you who once were forced and duped into shedding blood and making sacrifices for the Communists but who now are downtrodden outcasts. You all have families to support and are suffering from hunger and deprivations. Today, with the Mao regime at the end of its tethers and on the eve of total collapse, one avenue of action is still open to you. Rise and train your cannonry on Mao Tse-tung and his company. Do it with courage and honor. Do it for your families, your people and your country. Raise your revolutionary flags, join the anti-Communist forces, fuse your strength with that of the people and meet with open arms wherever the Government forces land for the counter-offensive.

I wish to refer to the "six freedoms" and "three guarantees" I pledged to you several years ago. After the mainland is recovered, the Government will definitely break up the "people's communes" and abolish Mao's despotic measures to enable you to have food, land, housing and freedom again. You will be free to choose your own work and everyone will be able to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Just as in Taiwan, the model province of the Three Principles of the People, you will live under the protection of the Constitution of the Republic of China. There will be no fear of being liquidated. You will enjoy complete freedom of residence, movement, correspondence, religious faith, research and family life.

Here I wish to announce four principles for common observance.

First, those who leave the Communists to come to the Government will be given high reward. Whether your flight to freedom is by air, sea, land or through the frontlines and whether you come with a plane, a ship, a weapon or a Communist document, you will be highly rewarded. You will be free to choose your occupation or school. You will, if you enlist, be given the same treatment received by the servicemen here on Taiwan. The treatment and rewards given to Liu Cheng-sze, Shao Hsi-yen and Kao Yu-tsung upon their coming over with planes provide your best assurance.

Second, those who fight against the Communists will be given important positions. Whoever leads the Communist armed forces in revolt will be given the same work and rank which he has held, and later promoted to a higher position according to his achievements. Those who can organize anti-Communist forces in any area of the mainland and establish guerrilla bases to fight against the Communist tyranny will be given military and political posts in their areas. The Government will quickly find ways and means to send food and weapons to support them.

Third, those who have participated in anti-Communist activities will be given full protection. Whether they join in the anti-Communist front directly, or support the people by indirectly resisting the Communist tyranny, or provide cover for the activities of our anti-Communist personnel, they will be regarded as our comrades. Their lives and properties and those of their family members will be protected. In addition, they will be given responsible work and treatment comparable to those given anti-Communist personnel working in the enemy's rear.

Fourth, the past of those who have been compelled to follow the Communists will not be held against them. With the exception of Mao Tse-tung, who is the source of evil, the past of all cadres in the Communist Party or Communist Youth Corps or party commissars in the army will not be questioned, provided they change their stand and turn against Communism. If they can give active assistance in anti-Communist work, or inspire and assist revolts by armed troops to redeem their past, they will be given positions commensurate with their accomplishments.

I have given special orders to the Ministry of National Defense and other government agencies concerned to set up radio stations and organize task forces to keep in constant touch with Communist officers and men on the mainland rising against the Communists. Any substantive anti-Communist step taken by any organization in any area will be given immediate assistance by our air force. The leaders of such actions will be appointed political and military chiefs of their areas. The government will never leave the anti-Communist revolutionaries to fight alone without aid.

Officers and men in the Chinese Communist armed forces! You must remember that during the Revolution of 1911, it was the uprising of the "New Army" at Wuchang that helped to overthrow the 200-year-old despotic Manchu dynasty. During the Northward Expedition, it was the sudden switch of a large number of northern troops to the cause of revolution that sped our national unification. When 14,000 Chinese prisoners-of war in the Korean War refused to return to the Communist side and chose freedom, they showed that the Chinese people refuted slavery under Communism, and they won the praise of the whole world.

I am fully confident that you will have a clear understanding of the current situation, discern right from wrong, and grasp the opportunity to devote yourselves to the great task of national revolution, thus writing the most brilliant page in the history of your mother country-the Republic of China.

Today, on the occasion of the Double Tenth celebration, I make the following ten pledges especially for our people on the mainland, troops and members of the Communist Party and Communist Youth Corps:

A. Those concerning the mainland people in general—

1. The tyrannical "people's commune," devised by the Communists for the sole purpose of enslavement and oppression of the people, shall be abolished and the free life of the people restored.

2. Everyone shall be allowed to retain the land he tills.

3. Everyone shall have food, clothing and daily necessities free of control.

4. Everyone shall be free to choose the kind of occupation one prefers and enjoy the fruits of one's honest labor without interference from the government.

5. According to the provisions of the Constitution, the people shall have full freedom of religion, academic study, assembly, association, residence and movement. Regardless of their political stand in the past, all political groups or civilian organizations that now take part in the anti-Communist task shall be able to enjoy equality and legitimate rights and interests within the constitutional framework.

6. Class discrimination and revenge for personal feud shall be strictly prohibited. High moral standards and law and order shall be restored.

B. Those concerning officers and men of the Communist armed forces, members of the Communist Party and Youth Corps, and their cadres—

7. Any member of the Communist army, navy or air force who participates in an uprising against the Communist regime, or responds to the national forces' counter-offensive by coming over with his military equipment and appurtenances, shall be generously rewarded according to his merits, and shall receive the same treatment as the government troops.

8. Anyone who can lead a platoon, company, battalion, regiment, division or army to fight against the Communists shall be assigned as the commanding officer of his unit. He shall receive due promotion and shall be named the administrative chief of the area he has recovered for the Government.

9. Any Communist officer or serviceman who provides cover for anti-Communist personnel and assists in the people's anti-Communist activities shall be given protection for his life and property, a responsible position, and a generous reward in accordance with his contributions.

10. All cadres of the Communist Party and Youth Corps who have participated under cover or who now participate in the great task of anti-Communist revolution shall be considered citizens of the Republic of China and participants in the national revolution. Their past shall not be questioned or held against them and their life, property and family members shall be protected.

Ambassador Liu Chieh's Speech Before the United Nations General Assembly

October 4, 1962

Mr. President and Fellow Delegates:

I wish to avail myself of this opportunity to extend to you, Mr. President, the felicitations of my delegation on your election to the highest office of the General Assembly. We of China have warm recollections of your sojourn with us during the war years in Chung-king and are particularly gratified that this important session of the General Assembly is under your wise direction.

The 17th General Assembly has begun with the admission of four new African and American states. I have already had the occasion to express my Delegation's welcome to Rwanda, Burundi, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago when the Security Council examined their applications for membership. It gives my Delegation particular pleasure to see them taking their rightful places in this assembly hall.

In this connection, let us not forget that the Soviet Union, through the abuse of the veto power, has kept such qualified states as the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Vietnam out of the United Nations. More recently, this unconscionable abuse of the veto power has been used to bar the admission of the newly-independent Kingdom of Kuwait. My Delegation appeals to the General Assembly that renewed efforts be made to rectify this unjust state of affairs.

My Delegation is deeply conscious of the fact that the 17th General Assembly is now meeting in an atmosphere of crisis and tension. In Asia, the relentless pressures of world Communism are felt from the borders of India to Vietnam and Laos, from the Taiwan Straits to Korea. The Republic of Vietnam has been under active assaults by bands of Communist guerrillas supplied and directed from north of the 17th Parallel. This is a gangster war of horror and assassination in the name of "national liberation." Here the stakes are greater than the Republic of Vietnam; what is really involved is the independence and freedom of all the peoples of Southeast Asia.

In Laos, a new coalition regime has just been set up. Let us hope that, in view of the continued presence of large bodies of foreign Communist forces in that country, this will not prove to be only another step toward eventual Communist take-over. Should the neutrality of Laos remain more a hope than a reality, then there is no guarantee that Laotian territory would not continue to be used to infiltrate the Republic of Vietnam, as well as the northern stretch of the Mekong Valley in Thailand.

In Europe the Soviet policy of encroachment and harassment has created in Berlin a situation which is fraught with frightful implications. The question at issue is the future of Germany. My Delegation deplores the fact that the Soviet Union, while hypocritically posing as the world's greatest champion of all oppressed peoples, has seen fit to deny the exercise of the right of self-determination to the German people.

In the Western Hemisphere, ominous developments are taking place in Cuba. The recent massive Soviet military buildup in that strategic Caribbean country poses a real and potential threat to the security of the whole of the American Continent.

These are some of the dangerous developments with which the world is faced. The General Assembly cannot remain indifferent to them even though they are not on its agenda.

Absent from the agenda, too, is the question of Tibet. The systematic violation of human rights, the wanton slaughter of innocent populace, the calculated efforts to destroy the Tibetans as a religious group—these and other crimes committed by the Chinese Communists add up to genocide. The United Nations cannot therefore wash its hands of the Tibetan question without doing violence to the basic principles of the Charter.

Turning to the agenda itself, I should like now to state briefly my Delegation's position on some of the important items.

There is no doubt that the central problem with which the world community is faced is disarmament. This is not a new problem. It was tackled many a time during the years preceding World War II and has remained with the United Nations since its founding. But it has taken an added urgency at a time when the development of weapons of mass destruction has reached a stage where a single miscalculation can wipe out life on much of the earth.

Throughout the years, the United Nations has adopted many resolutions and laid down many guidelines on the problem of disarmament. They call for progressive and balanced reduction of armaments and armed forces until total disarmament is achieved. They call, in particular, for immediate suspension of nuclear testing under an "effective and impartial system of verification." Years have passed by and the armament race has forged ahead with ever-increasing intensity.

My Delegation believes that nuclear testing in the atmosphere, in outer space, and under water must be stopped as a first step leading to final and complete disarmament. We are of the opinion that the draft treaty tabled by the Western powers in Geneva represents a genuine desire to come to an agreement on this vital question. We deplore the Soviet Union's categorical rejection of the Western proposal. Soviet refusal to accept any kind of inspection and control has made even partial ban on nuclear testing virtually impossible. This deepens the doubt whether the Soviet Union is in fact interested in disarmament.

The liquidation of colonialism is another top priority item on the agenda. My Delegation wishes to reaffirm its unalterable opposition to colonial domination in all forms and manifestations. It is our conviction that Asian and African nationalism is the most elemental force in the world today.

Western colonialism, however, is now in an orderly manner being brought to an end. The day will soon come when the last vestiges of Western colonialism will vanish. The greatest threat to freedom in our time is Soviet colonialism, the worst type of colonialism the world has ever seen. At the last session, I had occasion on behalf of my Delegation to call the attention of the General Assembly to the brutal absorption of non-Russian populations in the Soviet Union and the enslavement of the captive nations in Eastern Europe and the imperialistic designs of international Communism in Asia and Africa and the Western Hemisphere. It is to this new colonialism that the assembly must now devote a greater share of its attention.

The clouds of war which have so long overhung West New Guinea have lately been dispersed by the agreement reached between Indonesia and the Netherlands. My Delegation attaches much importance to the guarantees contained in the agreement for the population of the territory, especially the provisions relating to the exercise of the right of self-determination before the end of 1969. The United Nations has a continuing responsibility in ensuring the full implementation of the agreement in accordance with the spirit and letter of the Charter. It certainly cannot allow any non-self-governing people to pass from one kind of colonialism into another.

At its current session, the General Assembly will be called upon to appoint a secretary-general. While the question will not come before the assembly until the Security Council has made its recommendation, the Assembly must nevertheless make its influence felt in the choice of a man who has the vision and capabilities to discharge the responsibilities of this important office.

It is disturbing to hear that the Soviet Union now plans to revive the so-called "troika" to be applied not only to the office of the secretary-general, but also to all principal organs of the United Nations. This campaign to destroy the effectiveness of the United Nations must be resisted by all who have the true interests of the organization at heart. In this the small and newly-independent states have a special responsibility. For them, membership in the United Nations not only serves to establish national identity, but also afford a shield of protection. Obviously, a strong United Nations is more meaningful to them than a weak one. Obviously, they cannot allow the Soviet Union to so emasculate the United Nations as to make it incapable of effective action.

I come now to the United Nations Development Decade. The Charter enjoins us "to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom." The United Nations Development Decade is a far-reaching project which dramatizes, in the words of the Secretary-General's report, "the importance and urgency of the work to be accomplished for reversing the trend towards wider differences in the levels of living between the rich and poor countries." It is to be launched by the world community in the interests of more than a billion people who are still struggling to free themselves from the thrall—dom of poverty, ignorance and disease. Its success depends on cooperative action. While the "have" nations must contribute their share of the responsibility, it is the "have-not" nations themselves that must map out their own strategies and formulate their own plans of development.

No country in the world is content to stagnate in the back­ waters of a pre-industrial age. The under-developed countries of today are in a hurry and seem determined to achieve in a decade or a generation what has taken the developed countries more than a century to do. In the search for a breakthrough, there is always the temptation to find short-cuts to economic growth, to be attracted to the Communist model of development. The Communists, on their part, have not been slow to take advantage of this situation to encourage imitation. The Chinese Communists, for example, have been in the habit of making extravagant claims about their economic development. They have been telling the under-developed countries for years that to build modern states, the Asian and African peoples must follow in their footsteps along the path of industrialization through forced labor, compulsory saving, and political regimentation. The outside world naively believed them. There are people who say that the Chinese Communists are so far advanced in industrialization that they are on the verge of exploding a nuclear bomb. But the economic chaos and technological deficiencies prevailing on the Chinese mainland make this a most unlikely possibility.

Far from being a success, the Chinese Communist industrialization program, launched in 1953 with so much fanfare, has been a gigantic failure. In terms of human misery, waste of resources, terror and regimentation, the price of this failure has been tragically high.

The greatest Communist failure, however, has been in the field of agriculture. From East Germany to the Chinese mainland, and from the Chinese mainland to Cuba, the vast Communist empire has found itself in the grip of a deepening agricultural crisis. It is no secret that Soviet agriculture has been in a bad way ever since the revolution. But the greatest and most tragic agricultural crisis is the one that has been taking place on the Communist-controlled mainland of China since 1959. Hunger and starvation now stalk the vast territory.

What has been at the root of this unprecedented tragedy?

The answer is: ruthless collectivization and inhuman regimentation. As a result, the farmers, who have been noted for their industry and resourcefulness since time immemorial, have ceased to produce. There is no incentive to do so.

A comparison of the conditions on the mainland in Taiwan reveals that, to achieve agricultural prosperity, the farmers must be given the right to own their land so that they may have the necessary incentive to improve productivity. In Taiwan, under the leadership of President Chiang Kai-shek, and the immediate direction of Vice-President Chen Cheng, we have successfully carried out a land reform program. Over 80 per cent of the farmers now own their land. It is not with reason that we have almost doubled the production of rice in ten years. Agricultural production has outpaced population growth. We now enjoy a standard of living which is one of the highest in all Asia.

It is gratifying to report that Taiwan's agricultural progress has attracted the attention of the developing countries in Asia and Africa. Our experts and farmers are now serving in a number of friendly countries of Africa to help improve their farming methods. Since 1955, some 1,100 foreign agricultural workers have come to Taiwan for training. Since April this year, an agricultural seminar has begun for trainees from eleven African countries. We hope that our experience can be of benefit to them.

While developing agriculture, we have not neglected the industries. Ten years ago, 85 per cent of our exports were agricultural products. Today, between 40 and 45 per cent of our exports are manufactured goods. In our industrial development, we have paid special attention to the production of consumer goods. This serves, we believe, to improve the conditions of life of the lower income groups and contributes to the building of a happy society. We do not think that the needs of the present generation should be ruthlessly sacrificed for the attainment of some distant and elusive goal.

I have spoken at some length about economic development in the province of Taiwan because I believe that our plan of development and our system of priorities may have something to contribute to the success of the United Nations development decade.

Permit me, Mr. President, to say a few words on behalf of the thousands upon thousands of my fellow countrymen, who, through no faults of their own, now find themselves destitute, homeless, and unwanted. I am referring to the Chinese who have fled and are trying to flee from the mainland of China to Hongkong and Macao.

Ever since the establishment of the Communist regime on the mainland of China, freedom-seeking Chinese have never ceased to flee the country. Because of their geographical propinquity to the mainland of south China, Hongkong and Macao have become the haven of the fleeing multitudes. Thanks to the governments of Hongkong and Macao, tens of thousands of them have found sanctuary in these territories and have contributed to their economic prosperity.

As the number of refugees steadily increased, the problem became more difficult to cope with. In 1957, the General Assembly, at its 12th session adopted Resolution 1167, which, "recognizing that the problem is such as to be of concern to the international community," appealed to members of the United Nations and of the specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations "to give all possible assistance with a view to alleviating the distress of the Chinese refugees in Hongkong." The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was authorized to "use his good offices to encourage arrangements for contributions." My Delegation highly appreciates the High Commissioner's efforts on behalf of the refugees.

Since May this year, the flight from the mainland has assumed the proportions of a mass exodus. This influx of refugees has stretched the already inadequate facilities in Hongkong and Macao to the breaking point. As a result, many of the refugees have been sent back to the mainland to an unknown fate. The Government of the Republic of China has announced that it is prepared to receive the refugees for resettlement in Taiwan. A large number of them have already done so.

But the problem remains serious. My Delegation hopes that the General Assembly would, at the current session, reaffirm its concern for the Chinese refugees and take practical steps to alleviate their plight.

The Chinese people, Mr. President, are a home-loving and earth-bound people. The magnetic pull of home, however wretched the home may be, is probably stronger for them than for any other people of the world. It is no easy thing for them to give up their country, relatives, friends, lifelong associations, even their human identity, for the uncertainties of life in a strange land without means of subsistence and without legal status. And they do so often at the risk of their lives and in the awareness that at best they would be unwelcome intruders on a foreign territory.

These refugees are a cross-section of the Chinese population: peasants, industrial workers, professional men, students, and even Communist cadres and military officers. They are people who do not ordinarily leave their homes. As for the Communist cadres and army officers, they must have received years of indoctrination and discipline and should be expected to be loyal supporters of the Communist regime. Yet, these men and women, for the most part young and able-bodied, are leaving behind their beloved ones and earthy possessions to seek refuge in a place where they are not really wanted. It is more than mere hunger that they are running away from. Their decision to leave home can be accounted for only by their profound hatred of the Communist regime. By their action, Mr. President and Fellow Delegates, they are asserting in the clearest and strongest terms, their opposition to all that the Chinese Communist regime stands for. More than that, they are repudiating it. The mass exodus from the mainland has but one meaning: that where the Chinese people have a choice, they vote against Mao Tse-tung and Communist tyranny. This is the most revealing fact about the Chinese Communist regime.

It is this regime—a regime that the Chinese people have clearly repudiated-that the Soviet Union has been urging the General Assembly to admit to the United Nations and occupy China's seat. There are delegations in this assembly which have shown a disposition to support the Soviet contention. Certainly they cannot be doing this in the interests of the Chinese people. Certainly they cannot be doing this in the interests of the United Nations.

At this critical moment in history, let us pledge ourselves once again to build a world envisaged by the framers of the Charter - a world of peace and security based on justice and international law and on the respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples; a world in which all nations work together for the promotion of social, economic and cultural progress. Let us endow the United Nations with new strength to meet the challenges of this perilous age.

I am, of course, aware that there are those in our midst who hold a contrary view and who are bent on creating a very different kind of world. And they seek to impose their kind of world on all mankind. Consequently, they work not to strengthen the United Nations but to cripple it; not to promote peace and security, but to sow the seeds of dissension and conflict. They aim at nothing less than transforming the United Nations into their own instrument of policy. I refer, of course, to the Communist bloc of nations.

This attempt to destroy the United Nations as a peace-preserving agency has led many eminent men of good will in many lands - men who have hitherto been ardent supporters of the United Nations - to ask the question: "Can the United Nations survive?" Of late, there is an increasing number of men who are asking, "Should the United Nations survive? Should it not be replaced by a new, stronger and more effective organization?"

Let us hope, as the Acting Secretary-General has suggested in the introduction of his annual report, that this "crisis of confidence" in the United Nations is a "passing phase." But the very existence of this phase is food for thought. It is time that the United Nations be restored to a position of influence so that it can become a trusted and inspiring agency for peace and progress, and lead the peoples of the earth to a new age of hope and human fulfillment.