I am gratified to find all my colleagues of the National Assembly here today for the plenary session of the Committee for the Study of Constitutional Problems and the annual meeting of the Assembly. We are continuing to move in the direction of a broader and brighter exercise of constitutional power.
The constitutional rule of the Republic of China is based on San Min Chu I (Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People), which includes Nationalism, Democracy and Social Welfare. This system reflects the spirit of government of the people, by the people and for the people and expresses the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity. Even more important, San Min Chu I brings out the true meaning of ethics, democracy and science. Only constitutional rule based on San Min Chu I can be regarded as wholly sound and perfect. Among the three elements of ethics, democracy and science, it is ethics that must be considered as fundamental. I recall that a year ago today I discussed with you the doctrine of democracy and ethics working in combination. Today, for the guidance of all us, I should like to present the concept of combining science and ethics.
Scientific advances are being made every day. Man's creative genius for developing science and technology has brought forth a power so strong as to harness natural forces. Such an accomplishment should have sufficed to assure a life of happiness and freedom and a civilized epoch of one world, one family. Unfortunately, we know that world affairs are not developing in a way that will further these goals. The perverted, wicked Communists are enlarging the scope of their enslavement at home and their aggression abroad. They have stirred up sanguine class struggle and have cried out for the burial of free humankind. The free world is engaged in a desperate battle to defend its liberty, its independence and its very existence. We are aware that we cannot attain the supreme objective of world fraternity unless we can stop the selfish offensive of the traitor and oligarch Mao Tse-tung and frustrate his ambition to communize the world.
A phenomenon of grave contradiction has emerged in our world. The massive productivity of science has brought about material abundance but without the accompaniment of ethical enhancement. Many people are indulging themselves in materialistic hedonism; many have fallen into degeneration and debauchery; many have lost their moral courage. This inclination toward corruption has contaminated the younger generation in several countries. Appeasement has been encouraged.
Consequently, we need to engage in earnest self-examination and strive diligently to catch up with others in the development of science. But while traveling the road of modernization, we must be on guard to avoid the pitfalls into which the Western communities have fallen. I think this process calls for an understanding of the following points:
1. The main function of science is to master material power and harness natural forces. Science can be controlled. We have to become our own masters so that we can decide how science is to be used. There must be no departure from the criteria of ethics in either thought or conduct. Self-control and self-restraint will enable us to master material power and to avoid being mastered. In so doing, we shall be able to prevent overindulgence of human desires and loss of spiritual direction.
2. We must realize that science is the offspring of humankind's spiritual creativity. Although we ought not to be contemptuous of either materialism or the spiritual, it needs to be kept in mind that the functions of the spirit are larger than those of the physical. Spiritual power is strongest when it is armed with morality. Moral spiritual force has created and developed all the fruits of human civilization and progress. The more we are determined to move forward scientifically, the more certainly we shall have to cultivate the power of moral spirituality. This process is the cornerstone of the constructive development of the human community.
3. I have pointed out before that science can be visible or invisible. By invisible science, I mean the scientific method and scientific spirit. In elaborating, I want to point out that scientific method and the scientific spirit reach out toward and are fully consistent with the criteria of the ethical spirit and morality. I have said that in essence the scientific spirit is a practical endeavor to make the best better. Is not this in harmony with the ethical and moral compulsion to devote oneself to the golden mean? Science emphasizes objectivity, organization, research, truth, division of labor and cooperation. Are not these also requirements of man's ethical and moral conduct? At their highest level, scientific philosophy and ethical spirit are harmonious.
4. On the basis of the points already made, it is clear that we should give attention to the science of the humanities as well as the natural sciences in our promotion of scientific study and construction. At the same time, we ought to engage in philosophical self-cultivation and adhere to the underlying spirit of traditional Chinese culture, which is centered around the concept of benevolence. In so doing we shall eliminate the poisonous influence of materialism and nihilism. Our science then will move steadily toward a better, brighter horizon.
I am putting forward this idea of a combination of science and ethics for the encouragement and benefit of all of us. We seek an organized democracy and disciplined freedom that must be built on the foundation of scientific spirit and ethical criteria. I hope that we can strengthen and expand our constitutional rule by welding ethics, democracy and science into a single entity. I am confident that by moving in this direction we can consummate the great task of establishing a San Min Chu I modern society and carry out national recovery and reconstruction quickly and effectively.
President Chiang Kai-shek's New Year's message
January 1, 1970
My fellow countrymen:
On this New Year's Day of the 59th year of the Republic of China, I call upon my fellow countrymen to commemorate the occasion by upholding the glorious history of our country, by opening up a new horizon for national recovery and by dedicating themselves to shouldering the heavy responsibility of National salvation.
Dr. Sun Yat-sen, our founding father, created the San Min Chu I (Three Principles of the People) based on the spirit of our 5,000-year-old cultural traditions and led the National Revolution, which established the Republic of China by returning sovereignty to the people. This brought about spread of the national independence movement throughout Asia and raised hopes of peace and fraternity in the world. We have learned this lesson in the 58 years since establishment of the Republic: that the progress or decline and the freedom or slavery of our country are intertwined with the weal or woe, the security or imperilment not only of Asia but also of the world.
During the last 50 years we know of the serious challenges that World Wars I and II have posed to freedom and democracy. The successive threats of Fascism and Communism have in turn divided the world into antagonistic blocs. Nevertheless, our country came through these alarums and convulsions with head unbowed and vision undimmed. First we consummated our national unification in the Northward Expedition. Then we safeguarded our national independence and freedom by defending overselves against Japan. It was our struggle that inspired other Asian peoples to shake off their colonial status and to attain, one after another, their own national independence and freedom.
When World War II and our War of Resistance against Japan came to an end, we were one of the Big Four Allies. Unfortunately, just a few years later the mainland was closed behind the Iron Curtain and Asia became the center of world crisis. Without exception, all the wars of the last 20 years, including the War of the Taiwan Straits, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, were started by the traitorous Maoist Communists. Although the government of the Republic of China withdrew to Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, it has continued to make immense contributions in putting out the flames of Maoist aggression and thus has defended the freedom and peace of the Asian and Pacific region. Our endeavors have abetted the Peiping regime's economic decline and have brought about party and administrative bankruptcy, social chaos and Communist warlordism, a mainland situation even more serious than that in the early days of our Republic. By contrast, we have made rapid progress in constructing our Taiwan citadel on the basis of San Min Chu I. In promoting all-round development, we have awakened human conscience and have propagated freedom and justice on the mainland political battlefield in the wake of our glorious victories in the battles at Kuningtou in 1949 and the Kinmen Islands in 1958.
The forces of our National Revolution have defeated the evil and perverted line of class dictatorship in the mainland political arena after crushing the two Maoist military adventures in the Taiwan Straits. Maoists waged a campaign of power seizure and convened the Ninth National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party last April. Yet they have not been able to find a new "chairman" for the regime nor a general secretary for the party. This has led the regime into new and deeper chaos, paralysis and epileptic convulsions. There have been armed clashes among troops, strife between workers and farmers, "reform" of young people through forced labor, rustication of cadres and such tragedies as starvation and the sight of flotsam bodies. The regime's fatal collapse is inevitable. These are the reasons that have led me to say that catastrophic changes can be expected on the mainland at any time.
During World War I, our founding father told his countrymen that "the existence of a nation depends on the dauntless independent spirit of the people. A country can survive in this world only if it resists temptation and intimidation". After the war, he put forward his program for industrialization and told the world that "the profit derived from mutual assistance is larger than that to be expected from self-seeking". He added that "international cooperation can be successful, while seeking benefits for an individual or a single people is bound to fail". Military and civilians alike, our people are struggling without respite and are prepared to make any sacrifice in this citadel of Taiwan and on the mainland in order to eradicate the root of danger and plug the source of evil that threaten the security of the Asian and Pacific region. They also are striving to enhance regional prosperity. I have every confidence that the economic wealth of this vast region can be made into a unifying political force. In so doing, we can assure the freedom and security of the region and bring to an end the menaces of harassment, turmoil, infiltration and subversion that are the usual accompaniments of the so-called people's wars sponsored by the despot Mao Tse-tung for his personal aggrandizement.
Fellow countrymen: Combat strength may be visible or invisible. In the present instance, our compatriots on the mainland are struggling against Mao at the risk of their lives. They are steadily moving forward to arouse the conscience of Communist troops and cadres and encourage them to respond to the summons of San Min Chu I by rising against the traitor Mao. The indignation and spiritual awakening of the 700 million people on the mainland have already led to realization that the highest sagacity lies in the action of Mao Suppression and National Salvation.
The wise decision of our mainland compatriots to express themselves in action and the patriotism and ingenuity of our armed forces and civilians at home and abroad have been welded into an invisible combat strength which is even stronger than our visible combat potential. This is the moment to employ our invisible might to accelerate the creation, widening and enlargement of the visible strength that is required for counterattack and national recovery so that we can expedite the final victory of the National Revolution.
Fellow countrymen: Our nation has endured a century of ceaseless war. Seven hundred million of our people on the mainland are suffering in the crucible of Maoist enslavement. They are longing for peace and freedom. Who can be more anxious and determined to bring this about than we? All of us know that we shall not win peace by waiting for good fortune. Throughout the years of the long past, we have never ceased to defend peace with our flesh and blood. The struggle for freedom requires the demonstration of moral courage and we are prepared to sacrifice everything for the freedom of our country. The destiny of China is in the hands of the Chinese. Only the Chinese can solve the China problem correctly and completely. Only the government of the Republic of China can lead the people of the country in the common struggle to terminate the Maoist rule of violence and restore freedom to our compatriots.
All of the 700 million Chinese on the mainland, men and women, old and young, are the relentless enemies of Mao Tse-tung. They constitute part of our visible combat strength for defeating the inhuman tyrant. The 5,000 years of our cultural heritage constitutes the invisible combat might that will bury this anti-cultural megalomaniac.
What I expect from our compatriots on the mainland is wholehearted promotion of the national self-salvation movement to overthrow Mao, cooperation with the conscience-awakened Communist troops and cadres in responding to and assisting the uprisings of courageous and righteous people, and readiness to join forces with the great army of the National Revolution.
What I expect from the soldiers and civilians of this citadel of freedom on Taiwan and from our compatriots overseas is the implementation of our founding father's teaching that "renovation and reform are everybody's responsibility" and that "we should not be cowed by danger or frightened by force". I hope they will be able to undertake fresh renovations and make further progress in spirit, life, action and concept, and in politics, economics, education, culture and other endeavors. Our overall combat strength in the total mobilization for the decisive overthrow of Mao and for national salvation depends upon renovation and progress.
Fellow countrymen: All of you should have an urgent sense of responsibility to carry out comprehensive renovation and the National Revolution. We cannot afford further delay. All of you should have unshakeable confidence in the triumph of counterattack and national recovery. There is nothing for us to doubt. This is the time for every descendant of Yen Ti and Huang Ti to exert his visible and invisible combat potential for the elimination of the Maoist regime and for the consummation of national recovery. In this way we shall reshape destiny and build a new China based on San Min Chu I, which is an embodiment of ethical principles, democracy and science that will restore the historical glory and rightful status of our people.