National spirit and patriotism still motivate Free China in celebrating the Revolution of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and the Three Principles of the People
October 10 — the Double Tenth — of 1981 marks the 70th anniversary of the Wuchang Revolution that led to establishment of the Republic of China on the following January 1.
This also could be called the Sun Yat-sen Revolution. The Founding Father of the Republic of China inspired nine uprisings against the Ch'ing Dynasty of the Manchus before the tenth succeeded.
Dr. Sun's Three Principles of the People — Nationalism, Democracy and the People's Livelihood — provided the guidelines for Asia's first republic and one of the most successful of developing countries in the 20th century.
Sun Yat-sen had the Three Principles firmly in mind as he established the predecessor of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party of China), led the revolutionaries against the Manchus and presided over the stormy early days of the infant Republic.
Nationalism had first priority among the Principles. The Chinese were a people united culturally and socially but unaware of the modern concept of the nation-state. Europeans and the Japanese were allowed to impose extraterritoriality and begin the process of carving up China. Military weakness brought on one Chinese defeat after another.
Today's Republic of China has as strong a national spirit as any country in the world. As the late President Chiang Kai-shek put it, "National spirit is more important than material resources; patriotism is more important than weapons." Having acquired both national spirit and patriotism, Free China has gone on to obtain the natural resources and the weapons.
Dr. Sun's concept of democracy involved tutelage and gradualism. Political power, he said, should be in the hands of the people, while administrative power should be exercised by a strong government. So long as the people are sovereign, a government powerful enough to carry out the nation's business cannot become a threat to democracy.
Sun Yat-sen thought of the Kuomintang as the democratic tutor in the early days of the Republic. So it was until the Constitution came into effect in 1947. The National Assembly approved this democratic framework for the regular exercise of the people's sovereignty through elections and an orderly system of strong but responsible national, provincial and local government. Dr. Sun said, "Only as the people are given great power and the various checks upon the government will they not be afraid of the government becoming all-powerful."
The constitutional application of democracy on the mainland had barely begun when the Communist usurpation interrupted the process. On Taiwan, tutelage has ended and democracy is fully developed at all levels. Most officials and parliamentary bodies are directly elected. Despite the Communist occupation of the mainland, election of supplementary members to the National Assembly, Legislative Yuan and Control Yuan has been carried out several times.
President Chiang Ching-kuo and foreign observers hailed the parliamentary elections of December, 1980, as the most democratic in Chinese history.
The Kuomintang had competition from the Young China and Democratic Socialist Parties and a number of independents. After reinforcement of the Legislative Yuan with new blood, government administrators found they had to devote far more time to interpellations. They attributed the searching questions to development of democracy and welcomed legislators' calls for information.
Democracy prevails totally at the Taiwan grass-roots. Villages and towns elect their own administrators. Councils are directly chosen.
President Chiang Kai-shek said that "In democracy, the people are masters and government workers are public servants." President Chiang Ching-kuo has insisted on the functional implementation of this ideal.
In the rust of his lectures on the People's Livelihood, Sun Yat-sen remarked that only lip service was paid to the concept of social welfare. That was in 1924.
In the Republic of China of 1981, implementation of the People's Livelihood is still under way but has already created the most prosperous province and the highest standard of living in Chinese history.
The mixed economy produces ample economic opportunities for all the people. Although riches are not deplored, progressive taxation and restraint have engendered one of the free world's narrowest income gaps. The goal is enrichment of the poor, not impoverishment of the rich.
No one is hungry. No one is poorly clothed. No one is without medical care. The old are cared for and the less fortunate are helped.
The Republic of China does not yet have a full-fledged social security program such as those of the United States and Europe. However, the family system is surrogate as pension plans, organized health care, unemployment insurance and similar programs are developed.
Each new step of social security is undertaken on a pay-as-you-go basis in order to avoid the insolvencies of Western systems. During the development process no one suffers from lack of the basic constituents of livelihood. What the private economy fails to provide is forthcoming from the public sector.
Responding to the call of people on the Chinese mainland for an opportunity to "learn from Taiwan," government and people of the Republic of China have embarked upon a program to convey the inspiration and guidance of the Three Principles of the People to the Chinese living under Communist rule.
In a "Message for Compatriots on the Chinese Mainland," the Kuomintang said that the Three Principles have produced a Taiwan society in which: "Farmers own the land they till and fully enjoy the fruits of their labor. Workers have complete freedom of employment together with various safeguards and measures for their welfare. Nearly all school-age children are in the classroom. Basic education has been extended from six to nine years. Young people have full freedom to go on to higher schools, to work and to carve out bright careers for themselves. Most important of all, we have safeguarded and burnished the great Chinese culture that the Communists tried to destroy."
The Nationalist Party's message, adopted at its 1981 12th National Congress in Taipei, went on to say: "In the last 31 years, the economic development of Taiwan has transformed an agricultural society into an industrial one. A backward area has been raised to the level of the developed nations. Per capita income exceeds that on the mainland by 10 times. Per capita foreign trade is 70 times larger. Every family is well clad and well fed. Everyone is working in peace and happiness. With the implementation of land, tax and social welfare policies, the distribution of wealth has become more equitable with each passing day. The people live better today than yesterday and will live still better tomorrow."
The "Message to the Mainland" is based on President Chiang Kai-shek's policy of Chinese unification by means that are at least 70 percent political. The example of the Three Principles of the People is the core of what the people of the mainland can "learn from Taiwan." As President Chiang Ching-kuo has put it, "Only the Three Principles of the People can bless the country and benefit the people. This is to say we have already won politically and provided matchlessly great encouragement for our compatriots on the mainland."
Slowly but surely, the people of the mainland are once again looking for guidance from Sun Yat-sen as well as reaching toward the successful Three Principles example of the Republic of China on Taiwan. Long denigrated by the Mao Tse-tung regime, Dr. Sun recently has been accepted and even rehabilitated by the Communists. His image, like that of Confucius, can be besmirched on the surface but never denigrated in the hearts of the Chinese people.
The Republic established by Dr. Sun survived an attempt to revive dynastic rule, defeated the Japanese militarists and now continues the struggle against Communism. It was hurt but not struck down by the decision of the United States and other nations to recognize the Chinese Communists in the hope of trade and other gains.
In its 70th decade, the Republic of China is moving rapidly forward toward its manifest destiny of a China united under freedom, democracy and the Three Principles of and for all the Chinese people.
Premier Sun Yun-suan (File photo)
Premier Sun Yun-suan summed up the feelings of the Free Chinese people in 1981 when he said: "The seventies of the Republic of China is a crucial decade. Politically, it is the decisive period for the benevolent government based on Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Principles of the People to defeat the tyrannical rule of the Communists. Economically, it is the historic moment for us to further advance our industry and develop our science and technology so as to enter the ranks of the developed countries.
"While we are marching forward into this era of the seventies, let us look back into the sixties. During the decade just past, our country was beset with adversities that included the waning of international justice, the betrayal of our country by many other nations in order to appease the Chinese Communist regime, the successive energy crises and the passing of our great leader, President Chiang Kai-shek.
"Fortunately, we Chinese people can pass tests and stand up to trials. Our people at home and abroad, soldiers and civilians alike, have joined hands and hearts, gritted their teeth in determination and planted their feet on firm ground, thus overcoming all difficulties and adversities under the able leadership of President Chiang Ching-kuo. We have speeded up national development and added to national strength. The administrative achievements recorded under the Three Principles of the People in this bastion of national recovery have become the brilliant goal sought by our compatriots on the mainland.
"Last year was one of self-reliance in which we called on the people of the whole nation to work hard for self-improvement. Compatriots at home and abroad male and female, young and old showed their support of the government and their united patriotism through varied, concrete and enthusiastic deeds. The universal spirit was active and vigorous. All the people worked hard and contributed their minds and physical strength to national development and national recovery in the struggle against Communism.
"This spirit was made especially manifest in the flag-raising ceremony in front of the Presidential Building the morning of New Year's Day. Some 200,000 people, including the old helped by the young and children guided by their parents, turned out of their own free will. Wave after wave of the people shared the warmth of their blood and cast their lots together, even as the passengers on a ship in distress. Tears welling up in the eyes of many, they exemplified their patriotism. This moving occasion filled our hearts with hope and provided augury of our final success.
"In this last decade, overseas Chinese have persevered in upholding freedom and democracy and supporting the national policy of anti-Communism in the face of international turbulence. This was made manifest when the United States severed diplomatic relations with our country two years ago. Although this constituted a heavy shock in our communities across the world, the overseas Chinese rose to the occasion to demonstrate their great moral courage and patriotism and reinforce anti-Communism. They have broken through adversity on the external battlefield and tided us over in a time of great difficulty. Last year the Chinese Communists engaged in a number of deceptions and corispiracies. The overseas Chinese were not taken in by these. Seeing the prosperity and progress of the free motherland, they expressed renewed confidence in our cause.
"The overseas Chinese also have recognized the ugly face of the Chinese Communist regime during the trial of the 'ten evildoers' and the power struggle on the mainland. The solidarity of overseas Chinese communities has been hardened and the Communists have been unable to carry out their united front conspiracies. These judgments are borne out by the results of overseas Chinese organization elections last year. A total victory was won by those who stand for freedom and justice. In reviewing the situation abroad, we may say that our fortunes have been reversed and that we are moving from the ebb to high tide. On the anti-Communist battlefront everywhere, our defense will become an offense.
"The consistent principle of our government's administration is to remain in the democratic camp and adhere to our anti-Communist policy. Guided by the Three Principles of the People, the government will strive to further the nation's development, try hard to strike a balance between internal and external endeavors, link national defense activities to the livelihood of the people, gear the pursuit of democracy to enforcement of the rule of law, give equal emphasis to agriculture and industry and seek the balanced advance of cities and villages.
"The living standard and the quality of life will be continuously advanced, while at the same time we augment the tangible and intangible strength of the government. All of our accomplishments are a fruition of the joint efforts of government and people, who have contributed their intelligence and physical strength as well as their sweat and blood. In fact, however, the development of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu is only a part of our great undertaking of national recovery. We must go even farther so as to advance our success in developing this bastion of national resurgence and thereby provide an example for the re-establishment of a democratic China once we have carried out the sacred task of recovering the mainland. This is the ultimate goal of national development and the common responsibility of all the Chinese."
Success of the Republic of China on Taiwan has magnified the Communist failure on the Chinese mainland. This has been measured not only in statistics but also in the defeatism of the Red Chinese regime, which has given up hope of wiping out the ROC-Taiwan bastion of freedom by other than violent means.
Even as President Jimmy Carter recognized the Chinese Communists and derecognized the Republic of China at the close of 1978, the Peiping regime still expected victory through Free Chinese discouragement and collapse. The U.S. Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act in 1979 with scarcely a murmur of protest from Red China, which seemed not to care that Americans had pledged themselves to provide weapons for the defense of Taiwan against aggression.
Something strange has happened in the two and a half years since President Carter signed the Taiwan Relations Act into law. The Republic of China did not fall down. Instead, it grew stronger while the Chinese Communists were being compelled to admit that they had neither the money nor the skills to modernize. Red Chinese sought to teach the Vietnamese a lesson and were chased out of Vietnam. People of the mainland began to ask even more pointedly why they were not allowed to "learn from Taiwan in economics and politics."
By 1981, the Communists were aware that the conquest of the Republic of China was beyond them unless they could persuade the United States to get out of Taiwan and the Taiwan Straits. Washington had already broken relations with the ROC, scrapped the mutual defense treaty and pulled American military forces out of Taiwan. That was the price demanded by the Chinese Communists for the Washington-Peiping exchange of embassies. President Carter paid it. But the United States did not agree to withdraw from Taiwan economically, and informed Peiping that it intended to continue selling defensive weapons to the Republic of China. Red China made no important objection. Teng Hsiao-ping didn't think it mattered. The Chinese Communists began addressing sweet talk to the ROC while waiting for the Taiwan plum to fall from the tree.
Nothing happened - except that the Republic of China continued to wax stronger while Red China showed increasing signs of weakness. Even the U.S. agreement to sell weapons to the mainland meant little, because the Chinese Communists didn't have the money to buy them or the professional military men to use them. By mid-1981, the Peiping regime had acquired a new view of the ROC-U.S. relationship. It maintained that the United States was violating international law and even its own domestic law in selling weapons to the Republic of China. This position was accompanied by threats that if the United States continued to supply armaments, Red China would react "strongly." There were broad hints that the U.S.-ROC economic relationship was out of bounds except as specifically approved by the Chinese Communists.
If some Americans were listening because of their attempt to play the Red Chinese card against the Soviet Union, President Ronald Reagan was not. He said that the United States would live up to the Taiwan Relations Act, including the provisions relating to the supply of defensive weapons. Even former President Carter denied that he had ever promised the Chinese Communists to place a time limit on the supply of weapons to the Republic of China. '
On occasion, the Chinese Communists went so far as to assert that the Taiwan Relations Act was illegal because it violated the Nixon-Chou communique and the exchange of recognitions between Washington and Peiping. If Red China had any awareness or understanding of U.S. law, it was not in view. The agreements mentioned by the. Chinese Communists concerned executive agreements, which are inferior to acts of Congress signed by the president if there are conflicting provisions. Even if the U.S.-Red China agreements had been treaties, which they were not, they would have been amended by the subsequently enacted provisions of the Taiwan Relations Act.
The Chinese Communists were growing desperate in the 70th year of the Republic of China. Their propaganda about peace talks and autonomy for Taiwan was replaced by strident threats to cross the Taiwan Straits and punish the Kuomintang. The underlying fear involved much more than the success of the Republic of China on Taiwan. Red China was afraid of the 1 billion elf the mainland and their increasing restiveness. The time is approaching for anti-Communist revolution that will open the way for national recovery under the Republic of China and the return of constitutional freedom and democracy to continental China.