Taiwan Today

(1) Freedom Tour of Anti-Communist Ex-POW s in Asian Countries At the invitation of the overseas Chinese organizations in the various countries in Asia, the representatives of the 14,000 anti­-Communist pows from Korea had made Freedom Tours during the past two months in the Philippines, Japan, Thailand and Indo­-China to relate their personal experiences under the Communist regime, their bitter struggle for freedom and their new life in Free China. Manila Bound Five representatives of the ex-POWs left Taiwan for Manila by air on March 16. They took with them national flags dyed in their own blood, swords made from scrap metal in the prison camp to protect themselves during the "explanation" period and photographs pre­sented to them by the Friends of the Armed Forces Club. They were greeted at the airport by more than 500 representatives of the Chinese community in the Philippines. At a press con­ference, they vowed that they would do their best to help overthrow the Communist tyrants on the mainland, when the time is opportune and that the people under the Red regime would do the same if a chance is presented. The first thing the representatives of the ex-POWs did in Manila was to lay a wreath at the tomb of the Filipino veterans who laid flown their lives for the cause of democracy in Korea. Apart from being invited to speak before various overseas Chinese organizations in Manila, they were received by Vice President Carlos Garcia, Admiral Raymond Spruance, U. S. Ambassador to the Philippines. They also took advantage of the occasion to pay a courtesy call on Mr. Kin Yung Chi. Korean Minister to the Philippines, to express on behalf of all the repatriated ex-POWs from Korea, their gratitude toward the Korean Government for its assistance in their struggle for freedom. The ex-POWs started their trip to the southern Philippines on April 20 and spent two days in each city in visiting the Chinese communities in Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Zamborage, Cotabato and Daving. Before their return to Taiwan on May 7, a farewell party was given by the Chinese com­munity in Manila, which was attended by 100 representatives of the Chinese organizations in the Philippines. Tokyo Bound Another group of six anti-Communist ex-POWs from Korea left for Tokyo on March 26 to reveal both the overseas Chinese and the Japanese the true character of Communism. These six repatriated ex-POWs who had seen conditions both on the mainland and in Taiwan made a sharp contrast between the land of slavery and the land of freedom when they attended in the afternoon of April 5 a three-hour round-table conference sponsored by the Voice of U. N. Tokyo. The discussion was tape-recorded and it was going to be broadcast over the Voice of U. N. in a special program. The ex-POWs were received by General John E. Hull, Commander of the U. S. Far East Command and Supreme, Commander for the United Nations Forces in the Far East, at his headquarters. They had a happy reunion with many of the United Nations Command Officers who were formerly with them in POW camps on Cheju Island, South Korea. They were guests of the United Nations Command Psychological Warfare Division as well as the Civil Information and Education Division on April 10 when they were invited to see facilities and work of the United Nations Command in spreading democratic ideas to combat Communism. The six ex-POWs were invited on April 8 by the Sino-Japanese Cultural Association to attend a round-table conference to give a first hand account of their personal experience with the Chinese Red army to a selected group of cultural and press leaders in Japan. They told the Japanese audience with sincerity and passion why to them repatriation to the Communist mainland was worse than being killed. Their account of true conditions under the Red tyranny either fortified the conviction of those who were anti-Communists or disillusioned those who still entertained some kind of wishful thinking regarding the Chinese Red regime. Two meetings were held for the ex-POWs on April 13. In the morning, they spoke before a group of senior staff of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Board on the Chinese Communist secret police system on the mainland and, in the afternoon, they spoke before about 1,000 members of the Japanese Public Security Board. It was the largest single Japanese audience the ex-POWs ever had during their tour in Japan. After a series of meetings in Tokyo, the ex-POWs visited the Chinese communities at Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, Nagasaki and Fukuoka. The last-mentioned place, being close to the Korean peninsula, has one of the largest Korean communities in Japan. The total number of Korean residents there is about 100,000, while the Chinese population is only a little more than 1,000. There were as many Koreans as Chinese present at the Fukuoka railway station on the evening of April 21 to meet the six ex-POWs. Korean girls wearing their colorful national costumes presented them with bouquets amid applause of flag-bearing Chinese and Korean well-wishers. This unexpected enthusiastic welcome gave additional meaning to the Freedom Tour. Early the next morning, the representatives of the ex-POWs called on the Korean Consul at Fukuoka to express their gratitude for the support given by the Republic of Korea during the days of their captivity in Korea. Before their return to Taiwan, the ex-POWs were invited to speak at a round-table conference held by the Green Wing Society on Japan in the Japanese Upper House building on April 27 and spoke at a May Day mass meeting, sponsored by the Japanese Patriots' Party, in the center of Tokyo. Bangkok Bound A third group of six ex-POWs, comprising all natives of Kwangtung Province, left for Bangkok by air on April 10. They were met at the Donmuang airfield by Mr. Sun Pi-chi. Chinese Charge d'Affaires in Thailand, Mr. Chang Lan-chen, Chairman of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok and representatives of various overseas Chinese organizations there. Extraordinary courtesy was shown to the visiting group by the Thai authorities at the airport. At a press conference held at the Chinese Embassy the next day, the ex-POWs told their audience that the general feeling on the mainland against Communism was "a factor more powerful than the hydrogen bomb" and that all the repatriated ex-POWs would be glad to have a chance to take front line positions in the fight against Communists in order to repay their debt of gratitude to the free world which made it possible for them to regain freedom. Thereupon, the six ex-POWs took off their khaki shirts one after another to show the tattoo marks which were eloquent evidence of their determination to fight against communism. On April 15, all the Chinese organizations in Bangkok gave a dinner party in honor of the ex-POWs in the Hoi Tien Lao when more than 1,000 people packed the largest Chinese restaurant in Bangkok to hear the ex-POWs report on Communist terrorism. After the welcome message delivered by Mr. Chang Lan-chen, chairman of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok, the leader of the visit­ing group once again vowed that the 14,000 anti-Communist ex-POWs wished to form a dare-to-die squad to land first on the mainland when counter-attack takes place. The group visited Ayuthia, Thailand's old capital, on April 26 and Songkhla in southern Thailand the next day. They arrived at Haadyai on the Malaya border on April 28. A meeting was held in the auditorium of the provincial middle school on May 5, which was also attended by the Governor of Chiengmai Prov­ince. The ex-POWs concluded their Freedom Tour in Thailand by paying visit to Pitsanulok in central Thailand and left Bangkok for Taipei on May 9. Saigon Bound The fourth group of five repatriated ex-POWs left Taipei for Saigon on April 15 at the invitation of the 1,000,000 Chinese in the Associated States, Two members of the group hailed from the provinces of Kwangsi and Yunnan which bordered the northern part of Indo-China. Upon their arrival at Saigon, they held a press conference on April 21 at the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Cholon-Saigon's Chinatown-before about 50 newspaper men from all over the world. In their report on the Communist terror on the mainland, the ex-POWs laid special emphasis on the confusion caused by the Communists on traditions and moral standards. After staying at Saigon for the first week, the group proceeded to the besieged city of Hanoi in northern Vietnam. All the three capitals of the rice-producing land: Hue of Vietnam Pnom Penh of Cambodia and Vietiane of Laos, were on their itinerary. (2) Students from P. I. to Serve Troops Under the auspices of the Chinese Anti-Communist and National Salvation Youth Corps, a Chinese transport, Chunglian, with a delegation of 12 students form Free China aboard, was sent to the Philippines to bring a group of 206 overseas Chinese students to Taiwan in order to enable them to spend their summer vacation with the troops. This is the first time that overseas Chinese students volunteered to return to their fatherland to spend their vacation in serving the troops. Apart from running various errands for the soldiers, they will entertain the troops with popular songs and folk dances. Upon their arrival at Keelung on May 3, the visitors were given a big reception at the Keelung wharf by various organizations. After a welcome speech on behalf of the 170,000 citizens of the port city of Keelung, Mayor Hsieh Kuan-yi presented them with a silk banner embroidered with the characters "Ai Kuo Ching Chun"-"love your country and respect the armed forces." In reply, the leader of the group, Hsu Kuo-liang, stated that the aim of their visit to Free China is to pay, on behalf of the Chinese community in the Philip­ pines, their respects to the armed forces and to convey to them the message that their brethren in the Philippines would do all they can to support the Government to recover the mainland. Of the 206 visitors, about 27% are senior middle school students, 20%, college students and 10%, junior middle school students. There are 63 girls who, ranging in age from 16 to 27, are talented in singing and dancing. The group has set up two-basketball teams, one art and letters group, one dancing group and one recreation group. The overseas visitors will stay in Free China for one month. An itinerary for the group has already been arranged. In the first week, the group will be given a familiarization course, and then they will be divided into several teams to join military units on this island and other outposts to give cultural and recreational services for two weeks. The last week has been set aside for them to visit various recon­struction projects as will as military bases in Taiwan. Before starting their work, the students paid round of courtesy calls on Governor O. K. Yui, Mr. Chang Chi-yun, Secretary-General of the Kuomintang Central Committee. Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Education, Youth National Salvation Corps, Friends of the Armed Forces Association and other organizations. At dinner party given by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission in their honor on May 11, Mr. Cheng Yin-fun, Chairman of the Commission pointed out that the return to Taiwan of such a large group of overseas Chinese students to serve the armed forces is a patriotic gesture worthy of the highest commendation. It is a manifestation, he went on to say, of the patriotic spirit not only of the students themselves but of all the Chinese nationals in the Philippines, who on numerous occasions in the last years have given ample proof of their loyalty to their fatherland. Our Government, Chairman Cheng pointed out, is planning to expand for the Fall Term, 1954, the enrollment of overseas Chinese students in local middle schools and colleges to 1,300. The group is scheduled to return to their homes in the Philippines on June 5 aboard a Chinese transport. (3) Overseas Visitors in Taiwan for Presidential Inauguration Scores of overseas Chinese groups are ex­pected to converge at Taipei before mid-May to join in the celebration of the presidential inauguration. Representatives of the overseas Chinese communities have come from the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, Honolulu, Mexico, Indonesia, Hongkong and Macao, and other parts of Southeast Asia to assist at the auspicious occasion on May 20. While a Chinese opera team formed by overseas Chinese in the Philippines and another "Flying Tigers" acrobatic team from Rennie Hill, Hongkong, have arrived in Taiwan to give a series of performances for the celebration of the inauguration, eight groups of industrial and commercial leaders from Hongkong and Macao and three from the Philippines will take the occasion to tour the island and study economic and in­dustrial conditions in Free China. A ten- member group headed by Chang Lan-chen, chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce in Thailand, will be in Taipei before May 20. The overseas Chinese groups from Japan and Honolulu were entertained at a dinner on May 5 at the Overseas Villa in Peitou. In an interview with the overseas Chinese representatives from Honolulu, Premier Chen Cheng told them that Free China welcomes overseas Chinese investments and is making all efforts to facilitate the inflow of such capital and to ease the difficult situation regarding foreign exchange conversion. Elaborate celebrations to mark the presidential inauguration have reached the final stage in almost all overseas Chinese colonies. A grand program has been mapped out by the Committee in charge of the inauguration celebrations in Bangkok. Thousands of overseas Chinese in Thailand are expected to join in mammoth rallies and parades. In Singapore, some 47 Chinese associations have worked out a program at publishing a special magazine on the occasion. Celebration parties will be held in San Francisco, New York, Paris, West Berlin, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Cuba, Chile, Hawaii, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaya, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, Korea and other places.