Twenty-three years ago in the Korean south coast city of Chinhae was born a unique organization: the Asian Peoples' Anti-Communist League. People from only eight Asian countries and areas met there at the suggestion of President Chiang Kai-shek of the Republic of China and President Syngman Rhee of the Republic of Korea. Both hoped that united peoples might pave the way for a free Asian alliance with teeth.
At that same time, the Geneva Conference was meeting to partition Vietnam. Laos was in danger of Communist takeover. The first APACL conference took note of these dangers and called upon the Asian countries for unity and action. Both China and Korea tried, but the odds were against them. The United States thought it could handle the problem of Vietnam on its own and took the place of the French in that tragedy-starred land. Thailand and the Philippines placed their reliance on the empty shell of SEATO. Japan was still too militarily suspect to play any major role in Asian affairs.
The Asian Peoples' Anti-Communist League did not live up to the expectations of Presidents Chiang and Rhee. But it kept its head above the roiling Asian waters and continued to grow. Ten years ago, in Taipei, the movement became worldwide. The World Anti-Communist League was born with representation from the six continents of the world. Many who came to speak for their countries formerly held high government posts.
In mid-April of this year, APACL convened its 23rd annual meeting and WACL its 10th at the Grand Hotel in Taipei. Ku Cheng-kang, the honorary president of the World Anti-Communist League, was the host. He had been one of the founders of APACL at Chinhae. Presiding over the opening sessions was General Lee Hon Kon of the Republic of Korea. From the tiny beginning of eight nations and areas, the anti-Communist organizations had grown to membership of 76. Delegates numbered some 350 compared with 20 at Chinhae.
Although the problem of putting teeth in APACL-WACL remained, the anti-Communist movement was alive, well and growing steadily. Members remained confident that once the world comes to understand that anti-Communism is essential to the triumph of freedom, the APACL-WACL spirit will transcend the peoples' level and lead to a meaningful world organization of free states.
These two organizations have had to overcome the misconception of some world freedom fighters that they are merely opposed to Communism and that they do not stand for liberty, justice, democracy and the other values held precious by nations and peoples of the free world.
The negativism of the names was threshed out at the inception of the anti-Communist movement. Some delegates were of the view that a more positive name should be chosen. Others held that the world was already full of organizations with names expressing concepts of freedom, democracy and justice. They also pointed out that the Communists have sought to borrow the nomenclature of freedom and democracy. No Communist country admits to being a totalitarian dictatorship. In the end, APACL decided that "anti-Communist" was essential to its name, and that, in fact, anti-Communism was essential to the defense of freedom and democracy.
If Communism were exterminated, the threats to a free world would be far and few between and could be dealt with. So long as Communism survives, freedom and democracy will be endlessly under the gun. Liberty may even have to be restricted in free countries because of the danger posed by Communist infiltration and subversion.
President Yen Chia-kan of the Republic of China took note of this in his address to the opening session of the APACL-WACL conferences in Taipei this year. "Human rights," he said, "are the cornerstone of democracy and freedom and the mainstream of human history." To fight Communism worldwide, the chief executive told the anti-Communist movement, is to enlarge the realm of freedom and assure liberty and peace for humankind.
President Yen said in part:
"Since the Second World War, the flood of Communist ideology and the expansion of Communist influence have brought unparalleled bewilderment and fear to humankind. The unprecedentedly chaotic world situation has been further agitated by the adverse current of international appeasement and the illusion of detente. This has given the Communist regimes opportunity for expansion. The condition of the world today is characterized by the confrontation between the forces of freedom and the forces of totalitarianism and by the interweaving of cold war and hot war. Without exception, these turmoils are induced and instigated through the influence of the Communist. We may say that Communism is the root of world turmoil.
"Asia bears the brunt of the Communist onslaught and has suffered the most. The fall of the Chinese mainland has subjected hundreds of millions of people to Communist tyranny and massacre. Loss of the three Indochina states of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos sacrificed nearly 30 million people on the altar of 'detente' and 'appeasement.' These losses are among the greatest tragedies of humankind. Such developments show that instead of helping relieve world suffering, the illusions of appeasement and detente have further fueled the Communist flames and aggravated the suffering of mankind. Unless the free world immediately finds effective countermeasures to combat Communist infiltration and subversion, Asia and all the world are sure to be faced with even more devastating disasters.
"All Communist regimes pursue a policy of violence and indulge in terrorism for external expansion. To them, so-called 'peaceful coexistence' is another form of war. They use it to blind and mislead their opponents so they can undermine them psychologically. The Communist 'export of revolution' is aimed at communizing the whole world and enslaving humankind. Both 'detente' and 'negotiation' are strategies used to reach this objective. Communist countries will never really mitigate their hostility toward the free world. To expect the Communist nations to change their policies or to hope for 'peaceful coexistence' with them is as foolish as looking for pie in the sky. If the free world does so, it will fall squarely into their trap of creating schisms. This will encourage them in their ambition to divide and conquer and increase their opportunities for infiltration and subversion.
"Some free nations have overlooked the Chinese Communists' mad ambition to communize the world and the seriousness of their potential threat to the free world in order to obtain temporary peace by seeking compromise with the Peiping regime at the expense of their principles. They even have harbored the illusion of 'uniting with Peiping against Moscow' in an attempt to seek a balance of power in Asia. As a result, they have confused right with wrong and have failed to discriminate friend from foe. The deteriorating relationship between Peiping and Moscow actually results from competition for hegemony and is not the result of any differences in coping with the free world. The Chinese Communists have not changed their ambition of fomenting world revolution and of communizing the world by 'rebelling against the world.' The free world policy of 'bowing to reality' and 'shirking responsibility' is really a sign of the lack of ideals, foresightedness and moral courage.
"From the beginning, our confidence in the victory of the anti-Communist forces and the eradication of tyrannical rule has never faltered. The built-in weaknesses of Communism will become more obvious and the situation behind the Iron Curtain will become more unstable with the passing of time. After having learned countless tragic lessons and having undergone harsh testing, the democracies are earnestly reviewing and reassessing their strategies for opposing the Communists. As the people on the Chinese mainland have suffered the most, their resistance is the strongest. Unable to bear tyrannical rule any longer, they have stirred up an angry anti-Communist tide everywhere and in every shape. The 800 million people on the Chinese mainland are by no means the tools of the Communists. To the contrary, they are determined vanguards of the anti-Communist struggle. The awakening of the democracies and the uprising of the people on the mainland have provided encouraging auguries in the total anti-Communist picture.
"The issues of human rights and the principle of morality have recently attracted wide attention in the world. Human rights are the cornerstone of democracy and freedom and the mainstream of human history. The government of the Republic of China has been consistently safeguarding human rights and strengthening the rule of law. At the same time, the Chinese Communists have continued to trample on human rights, ravage human nature, besmirch human dignity and abuse human lives. They have become the vermin of human society and the common enemy of the world. There is a striking contrast between our rule of benevolence respecting human rights and their rule of violence negating human rights. We must point out that the crusade for human rights is inseparable from the anti-Communist movement. The crusade for human rights must penetrate deeply behind the Iron Curtain and reach every corner of the earth. We must never allow the present state of 'half slave and half free' to endure. The Peiping regime, which has spared no effort to trample down human rights, must be thoroughly exposed, condemned and attacked. We are convinced that the restoration of human rights and democracy to the people on the Chinese mainland is the only way in which the China issue can be resolved and security and peace ensured for Asia and the world. This is also the only way we can gradually assure international relationships and a world order governed by the standard of moral values and founded on the cornerstone of human rights.
"The most highly prized concepts of value are democracy, freedom, justice, peace and opposition to aggression and slavery. Communism is diametrically opposed to these values. The facts show that Communism is intolerable to the Chinese people and unacceptable to civilized man. Only a free and democratic China can meet the common requirements of the Chinese people and only a free and democratic world can satisfy the common aspirations of humankind. The democratic political system and way of life is the most powerful weapon that can be brought to bear in destroying Communism.
"Current mainland developments are undoubtedly favorable to our great undertakings against Communist and slavery. Here in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, we are carrying out construction projects and are continuously raising the people's standard of living. This is intended to increase our anti-Communist strength in order to light for our mainland compatriots the torch of hope that they will be able to regain their freedom and destroy the Peiping root of human tragedy. In so doing, we can free the 800 million people from their hell and from their concentration camps. We must point out that the struggle against Communism and slavery is the common responsibility of the free world and cannot be successfully completed through the devotion of only a part of the free people. We call on the free world to draw a clear line between friend and foe, fly an unmistakably anti-Communist flag and abandon the policy of 'opposing the Communists at home and uniting with them abroad.' We also call on it to harden confidence in its eventual victory, strengthen the unity among free nations, display moral courage and fight unitedly to the finish.
"Since your organizations were established, you have adhered firmly to your goal of struggling against Communism for the salvation of the world. You have recorded brilliant achievements in furthering justice and strengthening unity. We are now at the turning point of history. Our task is not limited to the passive curbing of the spread of Communist poison. We must also actively enlarge the realm of freedom and assure liberty and peace for humankind. I am confident your efforts will awaken the anti-Communist conscience of the people and write a new page in the history of anti-Communism."