Taiwan Today

Following is the full text of President Chiang Ching-kuo's television remarks on the eve of the 36th anniversary of Taiwan Retrocession Day: Tomorrow will be Taiwan Retrocession Day, a propitious occasion we observe each year. This day is especially momentous because it falls in the 70th year of the Republic of China. As we rejoice, I feel there are a number of things worthy of our thoughtful attention. All of us are aware that Taiwan's retrocession resulted from our victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan—a victory made possible by our people's fulfillment of the spirit of sacrifice exemplified in the deeds of our revolutionary martyrs. You may not know that our National Father, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, began to make up his mind to lead the National Revolution and overthrow the Manchu government as early as the Sino-Franco war in Annam, but that he did not harden his revolutionary determination until the cession of Taiwan to Japan at the end of the war of 1894. So we may say that from the beginning, China's national salvation and Taiwan's retrocession have been inseparable goals of the National Revolution. No one knows how many revolutionaries have contributed their wisdom and shed their blood to reach this lofty objective. There are a number of historical facts worthy of remembrance in connection with the relationship between the National Revolution and Taiwan. You know that the Hsing Chung Hui provided the nucleus for the National Revolution and that the Taiwan chapter of the Hsing Chung Hui was organized in 1897 at the home of Comrade Yang Hsin-ju at Tataocheng in Taipei. Yang Hsin-ju, Wu Wen-hsiu and other comrades fought in the Huichou uprising of 1900. Dr. Sun Yat-sen even made Taiwan a command and staging center for this uprising. The great cause of resistance to Japanese rule and oppression later claimed the lives of Chiu Feng-chia, Lo Fu-hsing, Chiang Wei-shui, Yu Ching-fang, Chiang Ting, Mona Lutao and others. Their sacrifices and the War of Resistance led by the late President Chiang Kai-shek complemented each other in mutual glorification. The forefathers and martyrs of Taiwan were followers of the Three Principles of the People. They led our compatriots in Taiwan and made sacrifices in attempts to overthrow the Manchu government or resist Japanese rule in order to be free as Chinese. A few days ago, I spent some time reading the late President's diary for October, 1946, and was profoundly moved by these passages: —October 21: "Enplaned with Madame Chiang at noon and reached Taipei Sungshan Airport at 4 p.m. We were driven directly to Grass Mountain, and I saw formidable Japanese trappings along the way. The Japanese made a mighty effort to assure their rule over Taiwan for a long, long time. What has happened to all these efforts now? Father died when I was 9 years old. Taiwan was lost in that same year. This was 51 years ago! " —October 25: "The people of Taiwan celebrated the first anniversary of the Retrocession. I left for the rally at 9:30 in the morning and was moved by the excited cheering and waving of the people who lined the street for more than five kilometers from the Chungshan bridge into the city. I began to understand the great worth of my forty years in the National Revolution and the eight hard years of the War of Resistance Against Japan." —Introspection for the last week: "Taiwan has no Communist cell, so it can be regarded as a spotless land. We should value it highly and make it a model province of China. If we do so, the treachery of the Russian Communists and their intention to destroy us will be of no avail. What can they do to us?" These few passages reveal to us the depth of the President's love for Taiwan and how much he expected of it. They also express Taiwan's importance in the National Revolution. Perception of this indicates the heavy weight of our responsibility today. On the 26th anniversary of Taiwan's Retrocession 10 years ago, President Chiang Kai-shek said: "Only when we work hard to develop Taiwan can we attain the goal of mainland recovery; only when we recover the mainland expeditiously can we augment the achievements in our development of Taiwan." For more than 30 years we have unceasingly struggled to advance toward this objective. The facts attest that the total cooperation and joint efforts of the government and people have produced great achievements in developing this bastion of national revival in accordance with the Three Principles of the People. The government will continue to formulate its policies on a basis of the Three Principles of the People and the guideline of "putting the nation and the people first" so as to fulfill our obligation. On the one hand, we shall augment the accomplishments of our development to secure the lives and property and assure the freedom and happiness of our 18 million compatriots on Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. On the other hand, we shall vigorously extend the achievements of the Three Principles of the People from our bastion of national recovery on Taiwan to the Chinese mainland, thereby recovering the mainland and delivering our suffering compatriots as soon as possible. This is the historic task of every free Chinese. In the present situation, the most important requirements of all are to stand firm, smash all conspiracies and provide no openings for the enemy. Geographically, the Taiwan Straits separates Taiwan from the Chinese mainland. But it cannot diminish our concern for the mainland and our compatriots there. I remember the latter part of a eulogy to Dr. Sun Yat-sen by the Association of Taiwan Students in Peking in 1925: "Our forty years of revolutionary undertakings are yet to be completed. "Who can share your responsibility except we ourselves." Today our compatriots here in this bastion of national recovery must continue to be guided by this spirit of "Who can share your responsibility except we ourselves" and "Our forty years of revolutionary undertakings are yet to be completed" so that we can devote ourselves intelligently and loyally to the completion of our task. In doing so we shall assure earlier completion of the mission of unifying China under the Three Principles of the People and duplicate on the mainland the free and happy life we have here in Taiwan. Let us open up a new era for the Chinese people beginning with the Retrocession of Taiwan and leading to the recovery of the mainland. Governor Lin Yang-kang called on the people of Taiwan to cherish the fruit of Taiwan's retrocession, and to try their best to reap another harvest on the mainland by fulfilling the historical mission of reunifying China under the Three Principles of the People. Governor Lin asked the people to observe the day with enthusiasm and a deep feeling of hope. Under outstanding leadership, Lin said, Taiwan has made great strides in every field. People here, he said, enjoy freedom, democracy and happiness, all of which were unavailable when the island was ruled by the Japanese. He pointed out that the well-being of Taiwan is in sharp contrast to the impoverished status quo on the Communist-ruled mainland. Apart from praising the late President Chiang Kai-shek for his leadership in recovering and building up Taiwan, Lin said, the people should consummate his will and return to the mainland. However, Lin warned the people not to be deceived by the Communists' so-called "peace talks," which are a maneuver to entice Taiwan into their bloody control. Taipei Mayor Lee Teng-hui called on citizens to build up Taipei as a model city based on the Three Principles. He noted that the people of Taiwan have enjoyed security, freedom and prosperity since the island was recovered from 50 years of Japanese rule. According to a recent survey, per capita income in Taiwan grew to NT$25,471.3 (about $650) per month in 1980, six times the NT$5,417.7 of 1970, Lee said. He said that this is proof of the ever-increasing prosperity of Taiwan. A series of celebrational activities were held all over the island to mark the 36th Taiwan Retrocession Day. A grand rally was held at Taichung City with an estimated 40,000 people participating. Speaker of the Taiwan Provincial Assembly Tsai Hung-wen presided at the rally. In Taipei, Lin Ting-sheng, speaker of the Taipei City Council, officiated at a public rally at the plaza in front of the Taipei City Hall of more than 50,000 people. The rally sent greeting messages to President Chiang Ching-kuo and the Chinese Armed Forces. After the rally, civic recreational performances took place in the main streets. In Kaohsiung, more than 20,000 gathered at the Municipal Gymnasium for a rally presided over by Chen Ching-yu, the deputy speaker of Kaohsiung City Council. Overseas Chinese delegations from around the world gathered in Taipei to celebrate the 29th Overseas Chinese Day. President Chiang Ching-kuo's congratulatory message was read to the opening ceremony of the seventh meeting of the Federation of Overseas Chinese Associations by Mo Sung-nien, chairman of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission. The President called on Chinese around the world to actively promote the "Four-Seas-One-Mind" movement and accomplish the reunification of China under the Three Principles of the People. President Chiang urged overseas Chinese to coordinate closely with their compatriots in Taiwan and the people on the Chinese mainland in support of the government's anti-Communist struggle. More overseas Chinese than ever before returned to celebrate their special day here and attend the meeting of the Confederation and Double Tenth National Day celebrations, President Chiang said. The Peiping regime leadership has become more unstable, the President noted, and in order to prolong their hold on power, the regime organized a bogus celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Hsin Hai Revolution. They are plotting to cover themselves in the mantle of the Revolution, in order to dilute the mainland people's hatred and resistance of Chinese Communism, President Chiang said. No matter how sly their plots have been, the chief executive said, the Chinese abroad know well the tactics of the Chinese Communists and see through them. President Chiang thanked the overseas compatriots for their firm support of the ROC government and for their contributions to the anti-Communist mission. Vice President Shieh Tung-ming addressed the meeting, extending his congratulations. He called on compatriots abroad to redouble their efforts in promoting the "Four-Seas-One-Mind" movement promoting Chinese culture, and to strengthen their contacts with the people and government here. This will speed up the reunification of China under the Three Principles of the People, he stated. Yu Hung-chang, a representative of overseas Chinese from South Korea who presided over the meeting, said that the overseas Chinese and Nationalist revolutions are inseparable. During the Republic of China's 70th decade, overseas Chinese, Yu said, should continue to dedicate themselves to promoting the traditional overseas Chinese spirit, to supporting the Three Principles of the People and to united effort with the free Chinese government here. The aim and end is to accomplish national recovery, Yu stressed. Chairman Mo and Tseng Kwang-shun, overseas affairs director under the Kuomintang Central Committee, both expressed admiration of the overseas Chinese for their effective efforts against Chinese Communist "united front" tactics. Mo presented awards citing the late Huang Chung and Chang Li-tsai, former general managers of the Overseas Chinese Amity Association in North Europe and Overseas Chinese Cultural Association in Sweden. The awards were accepted by family members. After the meeting, participants proceeded to the Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Halls to pay homage to the pioneers of the Republic. Messages of greeting to President Chiang and the ROC armed forces, and extending regards to compatriots on the Chinese mainland, were approved by the session. The Overseas Chinese pledged to President Chiang Ching-kuo to spare no effort to expand "Four-Seas-One-Mind" and to attain reunification of China under the Three Principles of the People. They indicated firm support for the Republic of China and promised to unite their efforts to expose and defeat the Chinese Communist "peace" plot. During their visit here they have marked achievements in various fields in the Taiwan area, and noted the sharp contrasts between the peaceful and prosperous lives of the people here and the turmoil, backwardness and poverty suffered by their compatriots on the Chinese mainland. The contrasts, have obviously proved that the Three Principles of the People are clearly superior to Communism, they pointed out in their message. They expressed their gratitude to the President for achievements under his leadership in the political, military, economic, educational and cultural spheres that have already received worldwide recognition. A Symposium on the Three Principles of the People, part of the Conference on Sun Yat-sen Studies, opened at the Grand Hotel with former President Yen Chia-kan presiding, and over 600 scholars and experts participating. A congratulatory message from President Chiang Ching-kuo, wishing success to the symposium, was read at the opening ceremony. In the message, President Chiang expressed the belief that the participants would make important contributions to the task of reunifying China under the Three Principles of the People. Addressing the ceremony, former President Yen, who is also chairman of the Council for Chinese Cultural Renaissance, noted the successes enjoyed by Free China in implementing the Three Principles of the People over the past 30 years. Victory of the Three Principles of the People in national recovery can be achieved through the joint efforts of the free Chinese people, said Yen. The major topic of the four-day meeting was "The Theory and Practice of Reconstruction Based on the Three Principles of the People." A total of 62 papers (on "The Principles of the People's Rights," "The Principles of People's Livelihood," "The Principle of Nationalism," and "General Survey of the Three Principles of the People.") was presented during the symposium. The conference was aimed at combining the wisdom of local and overseas experts to promote understanding of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's thoughts and to accelerate national recovery under the guidance of the Three Principles. The conference was jointly sponsored by the Academia Sinica, Academia Historica, KMT Party History Department and the institute of International Relations. Coincident with the conference, an exhibition of works on the Three Principles of the People, national reconstruction and Chinese culture was held at the Central Library. Presiding over the conference's closing ceremony, Tsiang Yien-si, secretary-general of the Kuomintang's Central Committee, called on free Chinese to "muster our moral courage, pool our wisdom and unite our strength to accomplish our sacred mission of reunifying China" under Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles, Tsiang said that Dr. Sun's Three Principles are not merely an academic subject, but are a set of realistic methods for establishment and reconstruction of a nation. He emphasized the following points: —Dr. Sun Yat-sen led and based his national revolution on a heritage of Chinese culture imbued with the spirit of Western political theories and practices. His greatness is exemplified by his Three Principles of the People and the Five-power Constitution. In short, his political philosophy, a combination of Western and Confucian thought applied to the fundamental needs of modern China, is important not only to China, but also to the whole world. —The aims of our national reconstruction can be summarized as follows: in the long-term, we should promote the Three Principles of the People around the world; in the medium-term, we should promote the implementation of the Three Principles of the People in other nations as well as our own; our short-term efforts should be directed toward the reconstruction of Taiwan into a model province with the Three Principles of the People as its foundation. Our Taiwan endeavors should aim at accomplishing modernization in politics, economics, social life, education and national defense. —Today, we must do our utmost to expand national reconstruction on the foundation of the Three Principles of the People, making it more compatible with the needs of our people and nation. At the same time we should also concentrate on widely applying Dr. Sun's Principles to modernize academic research, educational functions and our national life in accordance with the progress of our times. The Republic of China Society for Strategic Studies met with a group of former U.S. military mission chiefs in Taiwan on the strategic situation in the Taiwan Straits area. During the discussions, Maj. Gen. William C. Chase, a former chief of the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG), praised the armed forces of the Republic of China for their training excellence and high morale. "This is one of the most important achievements of the Republic of China," he said. Former commanders of the U.S. Taiwan Defense Command and other former MAAG officials attending the meeting were Vice Adm. William E, Gentner, Vice Adm. John L. Chew, Vice Adm. Walter H. Baumberger, Vice Adm. Edwin K. Snyder, Rear Adm. James B. Linder, Maj. Gen. Kenneth O. Sandborn, Maj. Gen. Dwight B. Johnson, Maj. Gen. Chester A. Dahlen and Maj. Gen. Slade Nash. Tao Hsi-sheng, chairman of the society, welcomed the U.S. visitors. Afterwards, Gen. Wego Chiang, commander-in-chief of the Combined Service Forces, delivered a speech stressing the use of the "flexible offensive" as the best strategy in a combat situation against the Chinese Communists. Only after the Republic of China recovers the mainland from the Chinese Communists, can the free world stop the expansionism of the Soviet Union, Gen. Chiang said. The U.S. military experts urged the Republic of China to further publicize its economic and other achievements to overseas countries to explain to the world more fully the cause of this country. They called on the ROC to persist in its strategy of no talks with the Chinese Communists. Another former U.S. military advisory chief in Taiwan said that he was most impressed by the new military equipment designed and manufactured in Taiwan. He described the Republic of China armed forces as a "very formidable" force. Maj. Gen. Richard Ciccolella, head of the MAAG in Taiwan in 1967-1970, also said that free China's air force requires more modern aircraft, and that the nation should upgrade its navy with surface-to-surface missile ships to repel possible military assault by the Chinese Communists on this island. He said that the Republic of China air force needs planes like the F-5Gs, which can fly higher, faster and are equipped with more effective missiles and other weapons. "Also you do need some modern submarines in the event that the Chinese Communists try to put a blockade around your island. After all, Taiwan is an island, and it is vulnerable to blockade, and if that should ever come about, submarines are very valuable in breaking blockades," he said. Gen. Ciccolella said he had noticed in the Double Tenth military parade that "the professionalism with which the troops marched showed great discipline and great amounts of training. "But the thing that impressed me the most was the new equipment I saw. The new equipment made here in Taiwan the missiles, the artillery and the vehicles—show a degree of self-sufficiency which indicates to me that the armed forces of the Republic of China have come a long way." He said the ROC needs submarines also for training purposes, pointing out that the navy cannot get effective training in this field of warfare unless they have submarines to work with. He noted that some of the Republic of China's jet fighters are quite outdated. "They are 10-20 years old, and they need to be modernized." Ciccolelia commented on defenses of the island of Kinmen. "The troops have very high morale, and are very well trained. I don't think the Chinese Communists will be foolish enough to try a military assault on that island. They will not be successful if they do," he said. Tseng Kwang-shun, director of the Overseas Affairs Department of the Kuomintang's Central Committee, said the Peiping regime's "united front peace talks" were best repudiated by stressing the need to unify China under the Three Principles of the People. Tseng said that the only way to solve the "China problem" is to promote the welfare of the Chinese people. "What is at issue is not power or partisan rivalry but rather principles, political and economic systems, and ways of life," he said. Tseng made the following observations on the Peiping regime's "peace talks" proposal: —The Peiping regime tries to pretend that it is a "central government" while the Republic of China is a "local government." Peiping's talk of giving "financial aid" to the Republic of China has become the laughing stock of the year. —The Peiping regime never abandons its threats to use force to seize Taiwan. He called on all free Chinese to unite and help the government accomplish the task of national recovery at the earliest possible date. A group of leading anti-Communist Chinese living in the United States said mainland China's recent overtures for reunification would be of "little significance" unless Peiping agrees to abolish proletarian dictatorship and take other democratic measures. In a statement responding to the nine-point "proposal for peaceful reunification" of Red China made by Yeh Chien-ying, chairman of the "national people's congress," the group rejected the "proposal" as "a unilateral arrangement for Taiwan." "It does not contain any proposal for establishing a system that can be accepted by all Chinese after reunification of their country," the statement said. The group, including Richard Liu, president of the Association of Free Chinese in the U.S.A., represents more than 20,000 organized Chinese-Americans including civic bodies, Chinese students and community leaders. The statement called on Peiping to implement six specific measures, including revision of the constitution to delete articles concerning Communist party supremacy, to abolish the proletarian dictatorship and to establish a free enterprise system. "We firmly believe that, at the present stage, negotiation is not the necessary step toward the reunification of China. Only when the Chinese Communists put the six points into practice, can we consider that they are sincere in the matter of reunifying China," the statement said. Referring to Peiping's proposal for "financial subsidies" for Taiwan, the statement asked: "How can the Chinese Communists extend financial assistance to Taiwan when their own economy is behind the island's by several decades? In other words, can a poor, sick peasant extend a loan to a rich, healthy merchant?" President Chiang Ching-kuo, presiding over a top-level financial and economic meeting, urged private enterprises to practise self-reliance and overcome difficulties in their business operations. The President heard a report on the current economic situation. As a result of international recession and domestic economic slowdown, the growth of foreign trade and the economic development of the nation have been affected and are short of targets, the report said. President Chiang said the following measures must be taken to ensure continuing growth of the economy: —The government and private sectors are inter-dependent and should work hand in hand to solve any difficulties which may arise. Both government and private enterprises must work out their own long term plans to assure future development. —The government should continue to maintain a balanced budget, as it has successfully done in the past. All public investment must aim at meeting the needs of the people and improving the reconstruction of the nation. At the same time, the government must avoid waste of public funds and avoid deficits. —In order to maintain economic stability, the government must first keep the fluctuation of commodity prices within restraints. It must also coordinate, and take measures in foreign trade, finance and taxation to help control prices, prevent manipulation and maintain efficient distribution of products around the nation. —Government-run enterprises and financial institutions should emphasize public service and private economic development rather than earning profits. In evaluating the operations of these state-owned enterprises, the government must first consider their contributions to the nation's economic development. In conclusion, the President took note of the present difficulties of the building industry. The Executive Yuan has already completed a draft regulation on the building of public housing units, he said. After the draft is enacted into law, he said, related government organs will be in a position to give more concrete incentive to private builders and provide impetus for the revival of the industry. The Republic of China has made great headway in the last two years in developing substantial relations with European countries which have no formal diplomatic ties with the Republic of China, Foreign Minister Fu-sung Chu reported to the Legislative Yuan. Minister Chu announced that the Republic of China now has one representative organization in each of 14 countries in Europe in addition to its embassy at the Vatican. Among the 14 are Great Britain, Greece, France and West Germany. Meanwhile, eight European countries have established representative offices in Taipei and seven European banks have set up branches here, Chu said. He noted that Sino-European trade hit the US$5 billion mark last year and is expected to surpass that figure this year. The foreign minister made the above comments in answer to an interpellation by Legislator Lin Yu-hsiang concerning Sino-European relations. Answering a question on the state of U.S. relations from legislator Chiu Han-ping, Chu said President Ronald Reagan has stated that the American government will fully implement the Taiwan Relation Act on which ROC-U.S. relations are based. This country's trade with the U.S. amounted to US$11.4 billion last year, Minister Chu noted, and this year's trade is expected to reach US$14 billion. The ROC sent more "buy American" missions to the United States this year, the minister said, to narrow the trade gap now in favor of this country. President Chiang Ching-kuo of the Republic of China has been proving himself an efficient, hard-working leader, according to Robert MacDonald, columnist for the Toronto Sun. In an article entitled "Made in Taiwan: Dignity," MacDonald said that the Republic of China, despite a series of diplomatic setbacks a few years ago, has in a dignified, determined way become more self-reliant, quietly building a more self-sufficient economy while giving the people a better standard of living. The article said that under President Chiang, a new generation of well-educated leaders is rising to the top with almost astounding results. Many have returned from the U.S. and elsewhere—often giving up high-paying jobs to take up the challenge. MacDonald said that, with almost no natural resources, Taiwan has built an economy that is a leader in the whole Asian-Pacific area. Noting that the standard of living is eight times better than that of mainland China, he said even in recession-inflation plagued 1980, industrial growth was eight percent. Last year, the island produced 700,000 motorcycles, 10 million radios, 6 million TV sets, 3 million bicycles, 2.2 million sewing machines and 4.2 million calculators, he said. "Although dedicated to free enterprise, the government has built some massive basic industries that goggle the eye—the world's seventh largest shipyard, an ultra-modern steel mill, a leading machine tool plant, huge electricity projects—including three nuclear plants," he said. At the same time, MacDonald said, the Republic of China produces increasing amounts of military equipment —missiles, armored vehicles, ships, guns, planes, and even co-produces a front-line jet fighter. The article described the Republic's 500,000 strong armed forces as among the best trained and equipped in the world. How popular is Communism among intellectuals on the Communist-held Chinese mainland? If views expressed by college students in Peiping can be considered as typical, there are some answers to this question which have been widely and repeatedly asked by intellectuals themselves. In May this year, graduating students in the 1980 class of Peiping University's department of philosophy conducted a survey by sending questionnaires to under-graduates in the city. The results, according to information reaching here, showed three kinds of reaction to the question, "Do you favor a Communist society or a capitalist society?" As few as 25 percent of the students who returned the questionnaires said they "like Communism," and 26 percent of them gave "yes" to capitalism. The remaining 49 percent took a "wait-and-see" attitude, saying "I favor whichever benefits the people." Response to another question was also diversified. The question was, "What is your comment on the (Chinese Communist) party's central leadership?" While 15 percent of the students remained "confident" in the ability of the party to lead Peiping's "four modernizations," as many as 40 percent demanded "re-organization" within the party leadership. The remaining 45 percent referred to the future of the regime as "hopeless." Chinese affairs experts in Taipei described as "drastic" inclination among mainland intellectuals to disillusionment with Chinese Communist control since the recent influx of Western visitors. Experts have summarized reports of general trends in ideology on the mainland as "increasingly sympathetic to anti-Communist sentiments." They relate the following as exemplary incidents: A wall poster recently emerged in Peiping, stating, "The Three Principles of the People belong to the entire Chinese people, and not the Kuomintang alone." Almost at the same time, Chang Kwang-tou, deputy president of Peiping's Tsing Hua University, admitted in a campus speech that "productivity in Western countries and in Taiwan is admirably high, so are people's living standards there."