June 15, 1911
At the beginning of the year, I told our people:
- Within this year, we shall face I don't know how many difficulties and dangers nor how much pain. These will test us and try us, and will have to be overcome, one after another.
- The rampant tendency toward appeasement has sparked voracious spreading flames of violence, has brought about the ebb of moral strength and damped and dimmed moral faith and legal principles. Even so, righteousness and justice are still shining in the hearts of mankind. Timidity will be overcome and righteousness and justice will emerge from flaccid inaction and enter into a period of vigorous expansion. Rights and justice may suffer momentary eclipse, but moral and legal principles will be adhered to with firmness and never allowed to be watered down even fractionally nor to come under the subjugation of the force of evil. The spirit of our race must stand staunch and unshakable so that humankind may be saved from more holocausts. Our confidence in the Revolution can never be weakened by hardship or humiliation. Our people provide a stabilizing force which cannot be shaken by conceivable change in the situation.
- If all of us stand firm in our conviction of what is right and just in accordance with our principles, we shall have peace of mind and find solace. We shall be free from anxiety and fear. Moreover, danger and doubt will give us opportunity to manifest our convictions of righteousness and justice, and anxiety and pain will provide our nation with opportunity for rebirth. So it may be said: "Don't rely on the assumption that the enemy will not come" but on the fact that "We are fully prepared to cope with the enemy when he does come."
During the last five months, we have experienced a sequence of adversity, insult and suffering. But as a result of our total preparedness, we have been able to emerge unscathed from all these tests and trials.
In ancient times, the people often said: "Everything in the world is determined by how the people conduct themselves, and the people should never depart from noble aspirations because of momentary adversity." Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the Founding Father of the Republic, told us: "Existence has its roots fixed in the independent and persevering spirit of the nation and people." He also said: "We must understand that when a nation suffers reverses, it can recuperate on its own resources in the course of time. But if a nation should act as though it were intimidated by others, and not seek out the means of resistance, it would lose its basic spirit. That nation would not be able to profit by the opportunity, even when there was much to be gained."
Some countries of today are myopic and lured by immediate advantage to the point of irrationality and the ignoring of righteousness. These nations talk of peace but actually are engaging in actions which destroy peace. Should we be angered, discouraged or even intimidated by these nations and thereby depart from our faith and lose our temper, this would be tantamount to a failure to maintain firm the will and do no violence to passionate nature and we shall be guilty of undermining with our own efforts our noble determination. If all of us can respect and reinvigorate ourselves, if we can be cautious enough to make sure that our judgment is sound and that we are holding firm to the independent and persevering spirit of our nation and people, if we can fight in terms of will, and not in terms of our passionate nature, then there will be no test that we cannot pass, no difficulty that cannot be overcome and no enemy that cannot be defeated. This shows that while "the situation is objective because other people have made it so, strength is subjective because it is in our hands."
As a matter of fact, every page in the 60-year history of our Revolution clearly attests that we revolutionaries have fought singlehandedly. We have been isolated in adversities and difficulties and also isolated in our moral principles and sense of justice. Often we have been insulted, attacked, plagued by disunity. Even so, we have reversed each unfavorable situation and in the end have successfully attained our objectives.
Today, the Republic of China is, moreover:
- the first, the most stable and the pivotal citadel of freedom in .
- the first nation of the world to expose Communist evil, the nation which has persisted in the termination of Chinese Communist crimes and the nation which has made the greatest contributions to the great undertakings of anti-Communism.
- a nation with San Min (Dr. Sun's Three Principles of the People) to act as the principal guideline for the times.
- a nation blessed with stable and organized leadership to inspire strenuous efforts of invigoration.
- a nation (with 700 million minds at home and abroad) obsessed with burning dedication to the struggle against Communism and Mao Tse-tung.
Some people of the world do not understand even today the immense contribution of the Chinese Revolution to the cause of universal peace. A number of these people have their own specific motives. They have purposely ignored or distorted the aims of the Revolution and have not shown awareness of their past mistakes. This has led to the war and calamities which the world now faces.
To judge from the history of these 60 years of National Revolution, we have positively carried out Dr. Sun's teachings to "assume the responsibility of the world by helping the weak and raising up the fallen." We are doing what conscience dictates and have not put our conscience to shame in what we have done. Specifically, we are checkmating the Chinese Communists. The destiny of hinges on our efforts. No one can take our place, change us or shake us in this vital stand. No nation in fails to understand nor does the free world fail to recognize this persevering national characteristic of the Republic of China and the universals of freedom and justice symbolized in the persistence of its struggle. The Revolution of the Republic of China is not merely a revolution for the freedom and independence of a single nation. The anti-Communist struggle of the Chinese race is not merely an anti-Communist struggle for the survival and safety of a single race. Our wisdom, sincerity and determination represent the ultimate national morality and intelligence emerging from our history, culture and ideology, and the spirit of our martyrs. So long as our vitality soars high to become the moral courage and righteous strength decisively involved in assuring the world's security, can there be anything which we should fear or be worried about?
With regard to the future of our nation and people, we have already established the principle that we ourselves shall choose whether to take action or refrain from it. This means that the decision of action or nonaction depends on our own judgment, which will be exercised in the spirit of independence and self-determination. Expressed simply, our principle is that:
Recovery of the Chinese mainland is our prime objective and unceasing task. We can never set this aside in favor of lesser problems. Should we commit such a mistake, we would fall into the Maoist trap and give the Maoists opportunity to escape their inevitable destiny. All the people of this nation must have the single-minded determination to fight through from the beginning to the end and strive more fervently and with utmost dedication to win the final victory.
All of our undertakings are based on belief in freedom and justice and have been entered upon in accordance with sovereignty and international law. We have never been dismayed by adversity. We have never been discouraged or daunted because of the opportunity for easy gain, nor have we been intimidated. All of us must be aware that when we recover the Chinese mainland, all problems may be solved easily. Should we forget our fundamental goals and give consideration only to minor problems, or should we lose our temper and faith, or allow lack of forbearance in small matters to detract us from the great pursuit, then we should not succeed, and this is especially true of the leaders charged with the responsibility of doing their best for the nation and of those who love the people.
The accomplishment of a revolutionary task is never by chance. In this stage of our revolutionary undertakings, we cannot allow any further mistakes, no matter how small. Nor can we allow the emergence of a psychology of dependence.
To be considered as our friends are those who have fought the Maoists with actions, those who have opposed the Maoists in their consciences, those who followed and worked for the Maoists but later awakened to oppose them, and any and all who oppose the Maoists. As I have said before, our attitude is that those who are not our enemies are our friends.
Then this is the stand of our nation and our people. This is also our sworn pledge to uphold responsibility to our history, to our culture and to our nation and people.
Everyone knows that cowardice is but a human tendency which reveals itself in expediency and indolence. Yet when faced with oppression and humiliation, even a coward will turn from turbidity to lucidity and from flaccid inaction to bold action. The pathway of the international appeasers has almost reached its end; it is impossible that in the long run they shall not change direction and turn back to the right course.
All of us know that never in human history has an outlaw or pirate regime escaped collapse and extermination when its iniquity had reached a maximum. This is the case with a regime which has resorted to power struggle, slaughter, conspiracy, traffic in narcotics, infiltration, subversion and violence as its means of existence, and especially so when the people under its control are eager to risk their lives in attempts at defection.
This present moment is but the darkness before the dawn. We do not mind being the only people who still have faith in anti-Communism and who still have the courage to persist in the struggle against Communism and for the cause of freedom and justice. This means that in our hands hangs not only the destiny of the nation, but the security or the destruction of all mankind.
This type of faith and confidence do not emerge only from my own experience but are shared in common with all our people. In a brief period before us, difficulties, bitter times and dangers inevitably will appear before us. Some may consider these as obstructions or catastrophes, lose their faith and become sceptics and cowards. Yet this situation will not frustrate the true and sincere revolutionary, who will only consider that this is another opportunity to reach the final goal. As true and sincere revolutionaries, all of us shall strive more fervently in the spirit of "laboring and suffering with the nation" and "calling the people to awaken and serve the nation." In this time of crisis, we shall achieve final success and victory despite treachery, danger and difficulty.
Address by James C. H. Shen, Ambassador to the , at the National Press Club in
June 24, 1971.
A new ambassador, if he is to be truly useful to his country, must learn to stand with his feet in two worlds - the world from which he comes and the world to which he is accredited.
However, in the case of an ambassador from the Republic of China to the , this task is not so onerous. The similarities between our two countries greatly outweigh the differences. We have shared a long tradition of mutual goodwill. There is the long habit of working together in international affairs. Each of us is moved by the same basic objective - the preservation of a free world in which our children and our children's children will have a chance to grow up in peace and security. Although differences do sometimes arise between our two countries, the important thing is that we move in the same direction. In the dichotomy of the world which has been created by the Communist upsurge, the Republic of China and the stand on the same side.
One helpful bridge to understanding is the fact that I, like most of my predecessors in the office of ambassador, have had the advantage of study in the in my formative years. We have lived amongst you and learned to admire your culture and institutions. We have a common link of youthful memories. To return as ambassador to a nation which is so intertwined with one's student years is one of the pleasures of the diplomatic life.
I realize, poignantly, that I come here at a moment of changes. The , in its sincere desire to reduce tensions and achieve a peaceful world, has taken some initial steps toward accommodation with the Communist regime which has imposed itself upon our fellow-countrymen on the mainland. Some Americans want to go much further. There are many in your country who are convinced that the free world can live on friendly terms with an aggressive Communist dictatorship, such as that which is headed by Mao Tse-tung. Although we respect the sincerity of your effort, we in do not share your optimism.
If we of the Republic of China seem to have little faith in the often voiced hope of building bridges to the Communist-occupied Chinese mainland, it is because we have had long and bitter experience with Mao Tse-tung and his cohorts. We have learned, at a great cost, the worthlessness of his promises. We have experienced the fanatical ruthlessness with which he pursues his goals. We know that, even behind Chou En-lai's much publicized "smiles," lurks the unaltering intent to trap the free world, and especially the , into letting down its guard. We know, from their own boasts, that their aim is the subjugation of the world. With such an opponent, truces are meaningless.
Nor has the Chinese Communist regime changed. Some of you, I am sure, have read about the current Peiping newspaper campaign against the . On the Chinese mainland where the newspapers are owned and controlled by the regime, their editorial statements are the voice of Mao Tse-tung himself.
On May 20, scarcely a month after the ping pong overtures, the Peiping press, spearheaded by the Jen Min Jih Pao, published an editorial which touched an almost all-time low in savage hatred and contempt for the . Declaring that the Nixon Administration had "landed itself in a blind alley and is at the end of its tether," it proceeded to hail the "violent revolutionary storms in the ." I confess that I have not seen any such "storms" since my arrival.
Drawing upon its imagination, the press pictured the American people as turning in vast numbers against their government. It climaxed itself with the following outburst:
"The people of the are dealing heavier and heavier blows from within, at imperialism, the world's ferocious enemy, and they have become an important vigorous force in the world people's struggle against American imperialism."
All this, mind you, within a month after this country had made the friendliest gesture to since the Korean War! The American press has been full of talk about a "thaw" in Washington-Peiping relations. If this is a "thaw," I wonder what a real breakthrough would be like.
Perhaps the American people should have been prepared for this cold blast from Peiping when, last month, the People's Daily, the Red Flag and the Liberation Army Daily, all official organs of the Chinese Communist regime, went out of their way to ridicule President Nixon over the ping pong amity by an editorial warning, with the caption, "Nixon, Don't Let Your Head Get Too Dizzy."
To return to the Jen Min Jih Pao editorial, its most important punch line was the reproduction of the year-old statement of Mao Tse-tung himself, (first published on May 20, 1970) calling for war upon the United States. In this oft-quoted statement, Mao called upon the people of the world to "unite and defeat the aggressors and all their running dogs." That the Jen Min Jih Pao should resurrect this statement of Mao's in the context of the present post-ping pong developments is a clear signal to the that the regime has not changed one iota in its anti-Americanism. If the Mao government had even a vestige of desire to improve relations with , it would have made an especial effort at this time to bury such past anti-American declarations. Instead, its controlled press flaunts these insolent words in 's face. Certainly, the Mao regime could not have made it any plainer that it does not intend to recede one inch from its past policies, no matter what concessions or gestures the United Stales is willing to make.
In all the utterances of Mao Tse-tung and Chou En-lai, one thing is always noteworthy. In their official pronouncements, they make no attempt to speak to the government. If you read their statements closely, you will note that they are always speaking over the head of the government to what they describe as the rebellious masses of the American people. Their words are not words of amity. They are the words of an unchanging enemy government which is thinking constantly about the incitement of revolution in this country. Their terminology has not changed in the slightest despite repeated gestures of friendship from your government.
Thus, the so-called "thaw" is all on the part of the .
The whole gesture which is now being made to the scowling men in is, of course, motivated by one of the noblest sentiments of mankind - the desire for universal peace. Nobody is more eager to hasten the arrival of that ideal condition than the Republic of China. But we must be on guard against those who use the peace slogan as a mask to conceal the fact that their real objectives are militaristic and evil.
We live in a world in which cynical political forces have used the popular longing for peace as a propaganda weapon. As political realists, we must recognize that all those who cry "Peace, Peace" may not really mean it. Every would-be world conqueror has always justified his crimes against humanity by the plea that he was seeking peace. Adolf Hitler rationalized his inhumanities by intoning the "peace" slogan. Today, the most brazen exploiters of the notion of "peace" are the Communists. They have rewritten history by picturing the and the free world nations as the "imperialist aggressors." They have depicted themselves as the unselfish defenders of the peace-loving people of the world against such aggression. The unthinking and the uninformed have, only too often, been moved by this "Great Lie." What the Communists do not disclose is that the only peace in which they are interested is a peace of world submission to Communist totalitarianism.
We of the Republic of China believe that peace upon such terms is not worth having.
The free world should be vigilant, at all times, against those who are trying to make the genuine peace movement an unwitting tool for Communist purposes.
There is another mental trap in the current discussion of , which I want to point out. Many editorialists and TV commentators have the habit of referring to the regime as if it were the genuine voice of the Chinese people. In their articles and discourses, they talk about "what wants," as if there were indeed some present procedure by which the wishes of the vast Chinese public, imprisoned on the mainland, are being determined. Actually, such publicists, knowingly or unknowingly, are only repeating the handouts of the comparatively small Communist officialdom which has imposed its merciless rule upon the people on the Chinese mainland.
Even this officialdom is divided in its real convictions. The recent so-called "cultural revolution," in which thousands of youths were slaughtered or imprisoned for differing with Mao Tse-tung, shows that there is not even a consensus among this ruling minority. Whenever Red China is quoted, only one man is speaking - Mao Tse-tung.
Overlooked in the present debate about building bridges to Red China is the remorseless fact that, in 21 years of rule, the Communist regime has not once made any attempt to ascertain or poll the wishes or opinions of the mainland Chinese masses. Authors who write so glibly about "what wants" do not have even the remotest touch with the real Chinese public.
Who are the Chinese people? Not only are they submerged masses of mainland , they are the 14 million Chinese of the Republic of China on , who are struggling desperately to keep alive the cherished traditions of historic which Mao Tse-tung scornfully seeks to stamp out. They are the 18 million overseas Chinese, who play such an important part in the economy of the nations of . They are the terrorized youths of mainland , thousands of whom are risking life every month to escape to Hongkong and other places of refuge, rather than endure the prison camp life of Mao's .
Should not the wishes of these unconsulted Chinese be considered before action is taken which will tighten Mao Tse-tung's grip over the majority of the Chinese race?
The Republic of China asks her friends not to take hope away from these freedom-loving Chinese people.
But there are those who say that we must come to terms with Mao Tse-tung because it is "inevitable." In every discussion of 's destiny, someone always raises the point that we cannot disregard Mao's rule because such action is compelled by inevitability.
Of course, no contention could be more unsound. You and I know that nothing is inevitable until faint-hearted men, weary of struggle, decide to give up. All through history, the plea of "inevitability" has always been the alibi for appeasement. The brave can find many alternatives, in 's present situation, to the proposed course of placation.
The hollowness of this inevitability plea is shown by the present attitude of the regime. In all its official statements, the stress is always placed upon the changes which the should make in its policies. Not one word is said about the changes which is ready to make in its policies. Their unchanging posture is that the whole world is wrong and they are right, and that the world must remake itself to secure their friendship. This is not "inevitability": this is a brazen demand for surrender.
This brings us to the question of the United Nations.
The alleged "thaw" with the regime is renewing the demand, by many who should know better, that the Chinese Communists be admitted to the United Nations in place of the Republic of China. No greater travesty of the peace role of the United Nations could be projected.
, condemned as an aggressor because of its armed intervention in the Korean War in 1951 by the vote of the General Assembly, would enter the U.N. unchanged and unrepentant. Its presence in the U.N. would doom the organization to a snarling Communist-free world deadlock. Such a deadlock would nullify all the peace hopes of the people of the world. Surely the good sense of the Free Nations should save us from such a moral collapse.
I need not stress the fact that the United Nations itself has come under serious and damaging criticism in recent years. Its credibility as a force for world morality and world peace has suffered bruising blows from its ill-wishers. The question should be seriously asked and pondered whether the U.N. can afford the loss of prestige which capitulation before an unchastened Chinese Communist regime would bring. The United Nations has its own troubles. To add to them the discredit which would follow the admittance of the bellicose Chinese Communists would impose too great a strain upon the whole apparatus.
Nothing is so dangerous in world affairs as a shortsighted, improvised decision for a long-term major problem. Once the decision is made, the world must suffer the consequences.
Can the peace-seeking nations live safely in association with a Chinese Communist regime, blatantly boasting that it will destroy what it calls "imperialist ?" The question is self-answering.
But some will argue that there are still saving advantages for the free world in an entente with the Mao regime because it would stimulate trade. For countries having balance of payments problems, it seems like a godsend. Indeed, much of today's pressure for a "thaw" with comes from hopeful business interests seeking profitable mainland markets.
This argument, it seems to me, is shot full of holes. The Chinese mainland is a closed economy. The open economies of the free nations cannot sell goods in a closed market except upon the humiliating terms of Mao Tse-tung's go-between. There can be no hope of reasonable profits when the regime is able to rig every economic operation to its own narrow advantage and gain. Do the entrepreneurs of Europe and North America believe that they can gainfully enter a Mao Tse-tung market which for years has baffled master salesmen of other countries, for instance?
Actually, Japanese businessmen have sent trade delegations for several successive years to the fairs. How have they been greeted? The proof of the complete politicalization of all Chinese Communist trade maneuvers is the fact that these Japanese, with their order books open, have been instructed to make a public statement condemning the policies of their own government before the Communists will do business with them. Is there any hope of mutually profitable trade with a regime which requires such abject surrender?
The delusion of rich trade prospects on the Chinese mainland for the free world is plainly demonstrated by current trade statistics. Last year, the total two-way foreign trade of the Chinese mainland was only $4.2 million. This figure was reached only by including the extensive barter trade which the Chinese Communist regime carries on with the other Iron Curtain nations. 's world trade figure has sunk as low as $2.7 billion within the last decade. Measured in terms of the population, the per capita foreign trade of people on the Chinese mainland in 1970 was only $5.5 This for an area which claims a population of 700 million! It is not that the Chinese mainland does not offer profitable trade. The fault is that an anti-foreign Communist regime of Mao Tse-tung is psychologically in capable of the mutual give and take which must be the foundation of any durable trade relationship.
That rich trade, on civilized terms, is possible in , is clearly shown by the experience of the Republic of China in . This province of only 14.7 million people last year rolled up a total two-way foreign trade of $3.088 billion. The per capita foreign trade was $192.5 The explanation for this difference is a very simple one. There is free enterprise in the Republic of China's wan, whereas an autarchy is in control on the Chinese mainland.
So slight are the possibilities of important trade with Mao Tse-tung that an organization which has clamored for closer relations between Peiping and Washington - the National Committee on United States-China Relations - recently reported that, under the most favorable conditions, it would be a decade before U.S. trade with the Chinese mainland would reach a figure as high as $650 million. This report followed a study which the committee authorized, conducted by Dr. Robert F. Dornberger of the .
American businessmen who expect early profits from the "thaw" with Mao Tse-tung should also heed the words of Mr. C. W. Robinson, president of the Marcona Corporation, who has had long experience in ventures. Mr. Robinson said, "In new trade with the regime, we may have to learn to crawl, before we can walk-and we may have to do a lot of crawling."
Now, with your permission, I would like to conclude by telling you a bit about what we have done on in a matter of twenty years. , as you know, is the smallest province in my country. It is an island of only 14,000 square miles and has few natural resources. Today it is the most prosperous province in 's history. The per capita income is nearly US$300. Our foreign trade this year will be close to four billion dollars. Basic education has been extended to nine years, and a quarter of our population is in school. We have the highest daily count of calories in . is also about the healthiest place in our part of the world. We have had no cases of malaria, cholera and smallpox for many years. We have raised the life span of women to 72 and that of men to 68. Since 1965, the year your country terminated its economic aid to us, we have been on our own. Meanwhile, as an ally of the , we continue to receive some military aid, but this has been steadily decreasing in amount over the years. But we are determined to support largely by our own resources a strong military posture. Our 600,000 men under arms and more than a million others in trained reserve are making a positive contribution toward the maintenance of collective security in the Western Pacific. Our very existence as a viable society has kept alive in the hearts of our brethren on the mainland their hope for eventual liberation. The Chinese Communists are world revolutionaries and they must be denied the opportunity of forging 's vast population into an instrument for either the enslavement or destruction of the world.
Before I left a few weeks ago, a friend came to me. He said he feared the was deserting the Republic of China and asked what could we do. I told him that, first of all, I refused to believe the was abandoning one of the best friends it ever had. And I told him, second, that the Americans were too intelligent and too knowledgeable not to realize that their self-interest lies with the Republic of China and not with the Chinese Communists who oppose everything for which stands.
These are some of the considerations that I, as a freshman Ambassador, believe to be important. We must not let ourselves be deceived by our groundless hopes. Knowing the American people as I do, I cannot believe that the United States will allow itself to be deceived by the false image which Mao Tse-tung is now expediently holding up to the world. The future of and of the whole free world depends upon your decision. I know you will not fail us.