March 29, 1962
To the Youth of Our Country:
Fifty-one years ago today, the 72 martyrs, since immortalized at Huang Hua Kang (the Yellow Flower Mound in Canton), sacrificed their lives for the common cause of national revolution, and in so doing they wrote the first glorious chapter in the history of the Republic.
Under the leadership of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, they dedicated themselves to national independence, to freedom and equality, and to the salvation of the Chinese people through implementation of the Three Principles of the People. With the example of the revolutionary martyrs shining from above, we are celebrating Youth Day once again. It comes at a time when the anti-Communist movement on the mainland is growing steadily, and also when there is an increasing urgent determination to launch a counter-offensive for national recovery.
As we commemorate this epic day, the responsibility shouldered by the youth of this generation could not be greater. Theirs is the solemn opportunity to carry out their sacred mission of restoring the mainland, delivering the compatriots from suffering, thereby to regain their pride and glory and write a new era in the life of their nation.
Youth of our country! The Chinese Communists have perpetuated such evils on the mainland that they are cursed by the people there and even the heavens are incensed by so much viciousness. The anti-Communist revolutionary forces on the mainland are rapidly developing and converging into one big torrent. Living conditions are desperately miserable as a consequence of natural calamities and man-made starvation resulting from the Communists' utter failure to push through their tyrannical policies. The fate of the people is such that we have no heart to elaborate.
Cadres, officers and men of the Chinese Communist armed forces, of the Chinese Communist Party, militiamen as well as ordinary farmers and workers, have come to realize that they have been victims of Communist deception. They are awakening from the illusions of the past and are beginning to hate their oppressors. They have been insulted by being subject to Communist tactics of "struggle" and "reform through labor." Their indignation toward the hateful Communist regime is running so high that the Communists cannot suppress it.
Determination to overthrow the Communist regime and its gangster leader, Mao Tse-tung, is rising even if it means the sacrifice of their own lives. This sentiment is increasing day by day and is shared by nearly all the people on the mainland. These people will surely be the spearhead of our revolutionary forces when they launch their attack to recover the mainland.
Three years ago, the Chinese Communists boasted to the world that the communes would turn the whole population into soldiers and make all of them productive. This has resulted in increasing the agony of the people and expanding their anti-Communist movement.
The Communists now are on the horns of a dilemma. Young people of the mainland are acting valiantly in the fight against tyranny. These are only a few of those who succeed in recent months:
Liu Cheng-sze, the Communist pilot who flew his MIG-15 to Taiwan.
Members of the Hai Fang Opera Troupe, who gained freedom en bloc.
Communist cadres and militiamen of Tang Chia Wan in Chung Shan county, who repeatedly rose against the Communists.
Tens of thousands of farmers in such counties as Wu Hua, Hsing Ning and Lung Chuan of Kwangtung province, who revolted, seized food and called for a counter-offensive by the Chinese armed forces.
Such anti-Communist actions can be compared with the uprising of the New Army in 1911 and the magnificent history written by the dedicated revolutionists who, under the guidance of the Three Principles of the People and following in the footsteps of our martyrs, fully demonstrated the traditional courage and loyalty of Chinese youth. It can be expected that as the brutal and perverse oppression of the Communists continues, still more righteous-minded people will seek freedom by land, sea and air. Countless conscientious military personnel and civilians will prepare to rise and fight in the country-side or on the frontlines, even in big cities like Tientsin and Peiping, in response to our counteroffensive. This is a natural human behavior after disillusionment. It is also the inevitable result of the people's longing for freedom and recovery of their country.
Youth of the country! On the mainland today uprisings of the people's revolution are spreading widely and growing in intensity. This strengthens our confidence that tyranny is doomed, that traitors are certain to perish and that the counteroffensive to recover our country will surely succeed. There is no doubt that we can annihilate the Communists, re-unify our country, and restore freedom to the people on the mainland in the nearest future.
Youth of the country! In the course of our anti-Communist struggle we have secured the key to national recovery and are about to crack open the Iron Curtain. The anti-Communist revolution on the mainland and the holy expedition from Taiwan to save our people and punish the traitors may come at any time. Young people of our country must be prepared in mind and in action to face an issue that has a definite bearing on national existence, one's own future and on the very meaning of life.
First, youth should aim at the elimination of the Communist tyranny, the alleviation of our compatriots' agony and should practice the Three Principles of the People.
Second, to achieve the goals of anti-Communism, to save the nation and the people and to implement the Three Principles of the People you must respond to the call for reform, mobilization and combat. To combine these qualities effectively, you must reinforce the strength of mobilization by reform, coordinate the combat requirements by mobilization, and enlarge the effectiveness of reform by combat.
Third, to be effective, you must discipline your body, cultivate knowledge and acquire a strong personality. You must be perseverant, practical, self-strengthening and ready to make contributions.
Young people both at home and abroad must be united in determination to reinforce our combat strength and speed the time of victory.
Personality is the foundation of one's career. Physique is the energy for combat. Combat and learning are parallel and not contradictory. Only through united strength and wisdom and coordination can we achieve our common goal through determined efforts and thus save the nation and people.
This era is like a big furnace. Those who cannot stand the test will become ashes. Those who can stand it will become the steel with which to carry out the great mission of this era.
Participation in our anti-Communist revolution provides a task without precedent in history. Youth of the whole nation will naturally strive to join the fighting line in this holy war and consider it the greatest of honors to be able to do so.
Only those who dedicate themselves to this revolutionary holy war will be able to discharge their duty as first-rate citizens and to be considered as great patriotic. This opportunity to save the nation and the people and achieve meritorious deeds for the country is hard to obtain and easy to lose. Young people who are not willing to submit themselves to the Communist tyranny and not willing to see their country destroyed must not wait. Do not hesitate. Act now. Failure to do so will cause regret for the rest of one's life.
Youth of the country! Since the Communists seized the mainland 13 years ago, they have done everything to destroy the people's freedom. Having witnessed this great disaster, we have sworn to turn our wrath into action. As a result of our hard work, perseverance and solidarity on the part of our troops and civilians we now have turned the tide in our favor. Our strength has risen to a new height and the enemy is facing his greatest crisis.
In my New Year's Day Message to our countrymen this year, I said that "now is the time for us to press on in our all-out fight against Communism. Either subjectively or objectively, we can no longer vacillate or hesitate to perform our duty to deliver our people, our nation, and the whole world from catastrophe. The situations both at home and abroad are such that we can no longer passively wait and see if something will happen."
This is also an unparalleled opportunity for the youth of our country to make their contribution to the nation and to create a new era. Comparing the situation now facing us with the episode of Huang Hua Kang, we have reasons to feel even greater confidence. The Canton uprising of 1911, which followed nine failures, preceded the triumph of October 10. In that uprising as in the preceding 13 years, the command post of the revolution was outside the mainland. In all cases actions began in coastal districts and then spread inland. Elements joining in the revolution comprised patriotic youth at home and abroad.
Today the situation is exactly the same. In the last 13 years, with Taiwan as the base for national recovery, anti-Communist and anti-tyrannical uprisings have broken out in Tibet, Sinkiang, the Northeastern Provinces and Inner Mongolia, then spread to various inland provinces and cities. Youth from Taiwan, on the mainland and overseas have pooled their strength and are forming a strong confluence from these three sources. This is indisputable evidence that the anti-Communist cause—with patriotic national unity as its foundation and domestic and overseas youth as its vanguard—will speedily achieve success, just as did the Revolution of 1911.
Youth of the country! This is a bright age; it also could be a dark age. It is a time for creation; it also could be a time of destruction. Our future, whether blessed or doomed, glorious or disgraceful, hinges on how we decide to conduct ourselves. This is the juncture when anti-tyrannical flames are burning brightly on the mainland and the national call for a counteroffensive, surging ahead as strongly as the waves of the Taiwan Straits, must be translated into action. At such a moment, you should rededicate yourselves to the great cause, to redouble your efforts and to be prepared for the national call to fight for the preservation of our national culture and our ethical standard, to sacrifice, if necessary, for the maintenance of our political democracy and counterattack for the restoration of freedom to our compatriots on the mainland, and also to march forward to our sacred goal of national recovery, people's salvation and the rebuilding of a new China of the people, by the people and for the people, on the basis of the Three Principles of the People.
Now let us all join in the cheers of the day:
Long live the revolutionary spirit of the 72 martyrs enshrined at Huang Hua Kang!
Victory to the sacred war for our national recovery!
Long live the Three Principles of the People!
Long live the Republic or China!
President Chiang Kai-shek's Testimony on Easter Sunday
April 22, 1962
Today is Easter Sunday. Christians throughout the world are raising their voices in praise and prayer. This triumphant day marks the culmination of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which was made for the redemption of the whole of mankind. The forces of evil have been defeated and death conquered.
Amidst the praises and prayers of fellow Christians, I would like to offer my testimony on how the wonders of the Cross and the meaning of the Resurrection find expression in the revolutionary struggle for our national recovery and world salvation.
The meaning of the Cross is concerned with Jesus' act of redemption for the unfaithful, the unrighteous and the selfish in this dark world. He sacrificed himself on the Cross, as a scapegoat for sinners, and achieved salvation, thereby realizing his mission of fraternity, equality, liberty and a paradise of well-being and peace on earth. Christians should consider the recognition and worship of the Cross as their greatest honor. The Cross is the sign of Christianity's bold struggle and bloody sacrifice. It is also the symbol of fraternity, equality, liberty, well-being and peace for all mankind.
The wonders of the Cross and the fact of the Resurrection can be easily and clearly explained. When Jesus was nailed to the Cross, died, and was entombed, His enemies were naturally pleased. They believed that they had foiled Jesus' aspiration to open the way to Heaven for all humanity. Their feeling of victory lasted only three days. Before dawn on Sunday morning, Jesus' disciples felt a darkness in their hearts far deeper than that in the skies. They were filled with sorrow and despair.
Their feelings were not difficult to understand. On the one hand, they were sorrowful at the loss of a teacher who had been with them day and night for three years. On the other, they were disillusioned because their long-cherished Messiah's ideal of a Heaven apparently had been shattered. In this atmosphere of fear and indecision, they did not know where to turn or what to do. Limited as are the minds of men, they had no idea that God—in His sublime love, kindness and mercy-would arrange the Resurrection of His beloved Son, who had been so devoted and faithful. The sacrifice of the Cross attests to the mysterious ways of our omni-potent Creator. Through the combined force of God's mercy and Jesus' faith, the wonders of the Cross were proved in the fact of the Resurrection.
Jesus Christ Himself repeatedly made clear to His disciples and followers that "whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his Cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it." He also gave a simple parable to explain what he meant. He said: "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." This gives us increased understanding of the wonders and significance of the Cross and the Resurrection, which have parallels in our anti-Communist struggle for self-deliverance and world salvation.
It is said in Corinthians II of the New Testament that "be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial?" The lesson of our 40 years of anti-Communist struggle is that any individual, group, race or nation wishing to be "yoked together" and to coexist peacefully with Communists and Communist regimes will be devoured by the devil. The fact that the Chinese mainland has been shut behind the Iron Curtain and that our compatriots are suffering extreme hardship under the Peiping regime is undeniable evidence of this.
The history of these 40 years proves that Communism is an organized violent force and planned witchcraft. It intends slavery for freedom-loving people and conquest for the free nations. It symphonizes the destruction of the free people and also imposes threat to the security and peace of the free world. The Communist bloc chooses to control its people through oppression after oppression, making terror out of terror. Its aggression is endless; it robs and struggles continuously. It is a bloodthirsty creature, an unending new colonialism and the source of aggressions and wars. It also contains the seeds of its own destruction. If its aggressions can be stopped, conflicts will at once occur within its own dominions. The more serious the conflict within its domain, the stronger its tendencies toward aggression. "No existence without struggle" is its motto. Because it wants to force the sins of the minority upon the shoulders of the majority, it would continue its evil conduct until it conquered the whole world, bringing about the demise of mankind in a total holocaust. Therefore the evil actions of Communism amount to internal suppression and external aggression. Communism will never desist from this policy and change its intentions. It will continue to move toward the destruction of mankind and itself as well. This coincides with what the Gospel tells, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men." It is the last act of the tragedy.
The Chinese mainland has been shut behind the Iron Curtain. For 13 years, our compatriots there have suffered persistent Communist oppression, persecution and slaughter. We have not paused in our efforts of counteroffensive and national recovery. With the progress of these years, we have paved the way to certain victory. In this wave of anti-Communist struggle, our people have been awakened by the nation's distress. The wrongs we experienced and the sacrifices we made have heightened the vigilance of the whole world. In the continued struggle of national revolution, we have learned the wonders of the Cross. The Bible says. "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair ... Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body." So we may say that the suffering and sacrifice of our compatriots on the mainland have had their sublime reward, because there is world wakefulness to the realities of Communist evil. Once the measure of the Communist iniquity is full and the people no longer can tolerate it, we shall fulfill our mission of counteroffensive and national recovery for the sake of our national existence and world peace.
Fellow Christians! The wonders of the Cross are revealed, step by step, in the course of the anti-Communist struggle of the Republic of China. The evils of Communism which know no limit are spreading and developing, while the salvation of God is boundlessly progressing and expanding. The spread and growth of evil can cause bewilderment among individuals, extinction of nations and even destruction of the world. But the progress and expansion of salvation can remove the illusions of misguided individuals, thus leading to the revival of a nation or the reconstruction of universal peace. In the fierce tides of Communist totalitarianism and aggression, no one man can be saved. Nor can one state or one nation survive. Our country and people have suffered great losses and made great sacrifices. Our struggle for national recovery is the vital hinge on which rest both the peace of the world and the well-being of mankind. This is what the Bible says, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory," and "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."
Fellow Christians! We have need of increased awareness and prayer to probe deeper into the wonders of the Cross. The Communist bloc constitutes a diabolical danger. The Communists seek to strengthen and extend the evil grasp of Satan, to destroy the salvation offered by God. They not only reach from beyond Christian churches to inflict violence, but work on the churches internally through psychological infiltration. They manufacture imaginative peaceful coexistence. They support an appeasement policy to foster further aggression. All of these sinister deceptions have been detected in international politics and have been exposed as fraudulent. But Communism has turned to the churches in pursuit of its expansion and conspiracy of control. We must ask ourselves conscientiously: Can believers and non-believers work under the same yoke? Is it possible for Jesus to be in concord with Belial? Do we want to serve sin and safeguard our physical lives? Or will we refuse to become moribund servants and gain salvation for eternal life? These are alternatives on which every Christian and every church must make wise decisions.
St. Paul, in his epistles to the Corinthians, wrote: "For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." We Christians must be aware that "without death there can be no life." And we must perceive the wonder of the words "Death is swallowed in victory." From self-salvation, we shall achieve the salvation of the nation. From the salvation of the nation we shall help the advance along the road toward the salvation of all humanity.
Easter Meditation 1962 of Madame Chiang Kai-shek
One day in the Lenten season during my morning devotional hour, I opened the Bible and my eyes came to rest on a chapter according to the Gospel of St. John. On top of the opened page I perceived the words "The betrayal of Christ." As if a mechanism had been released, consecutive events in Christ's life unrolled a reel of scenes before my mind's eye. The prognostication of betrayal by a dipped sop, the garden by the Cedron Brook, the Judgment of Gabbatha. the preference of the populace for the robber Barrabas, Gethsemane, the empty sepulchre, the resurrection and soteriology flashed through my brain in rapid unabated sequence. This account I have known well since childhood, yet my eyes continued to travel through it slowly word by word, verse by verse. With the reading there grew a cumulatively keen perception and understanding of our Lord's mission on earth. It conveyed to me a sense of closeness to Him, an illuministic reality, a tangibility that could almost be felt yet cannot be described. It was as if the geometry of time and space had taken a segment of the past to become a segment of the present, and I were put in its midst witnessing frame by frame each event and its aftermath.
His tragic yet noble mien, when asked by Caiaphas of His disciples and of His doctrine, conveyed a forthrightness of simplicity and dignity replete in finality of reason. "I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort, and in secret have I said nothing." Again He said: "Why askest thou me? Ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold they know what I said." One of the officers who stood by struck Jesus and queried: "Answerest thou the high priest so?" Undeterred and unfazed He replied: "If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why smitest thou me?" Such was the Son of Man under accusation, duress and violence.
Then He was taken before Pilate who asked "Whence art thou?" but Jesus answered him not. Pilate probed further by saying, "Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee and have power to release thee?" It must have surprised if not chagrined the Governor of Judea when Jesus forthwith replied, "Thou could have no power at all against me except it were given thee from above." What a magnificent economy of words and conciseness of positive thought! And with the words "Father, the hour is come," Christ in. anticipation of His crucifixion gave his final affirmation. Thus the choice of freedom or martyrdom that was within the competence of the representative of Tiberius, Caesar, the symbol of Pax Romana in Judea to give, left Him totally unmoved.
The re-reading of these passages proffered a spiritual experience which, I repeat, must be felt and not described. It would indeed be a poor attempt on my part to relate, let alone approximate, this feeling by recalling what was said of Gustav Flaubert going home a distracted man with his head awhirl after reading Goethe's Faust in the open air amidst the tolling church bells of Rouen. And, if I may say so, my state of mind was of transcendent faith rather than of transported wonder.
Most of us would agree that man lives in the four spheres of the emotional, the mental, the physical and the spiritual, conveyed in vehicles appropriate to each sphere. We know, too, that the emotional, mental and physical well-being of man reacts, interacts and functions in a manner in consonance with his subjective and environmental well-being which, in turn, molds his outlook on life. But it is only in the sphere of the spiritual, cultivated in sincerity and emanating from innate moral courage that integrity of purpose can be forged. Only in spirituality is man privileged to transcend his mental, physical and emotional states, for only in the realm of the spiritual does man become superior to his every other human sphere, and is able to view human nature with all its foibles with understanding, sympathy and tranquility.
Without integrity of purpose man endowed with reason and intelligence often cultivates his intellect only to misdirect it. We all know the hypnotic power of auto-suggestion in self-deception by which, through wishful thinking, rationalization and the constant improvisation of make-believe, subtle sophism indeed becomes second nature as long as the minimal need is met. Applied to everyday life, the most abject degradation is acceptable to some people provided life is to be had at all. Others indulge in the immobility that luxuriates in stagnant lethargy by which any expending of energy is an unmitigated effort. Still others revel in what may be called agreeably the "morality of existence" by virtue of which existence stands sui generic, and is therefore in itself an achievement. Still others, directly or indirectly, are "inspired" by material benefits to sing their reticulated praise. Then there are also the typical Babbitts who are ever-ready and willing to sacrifice principles to get ahead; and lastly, the simple-minded well-intentioned who fancy themselves progenitors or progenies of peace without realizing that peace can only be based on justice. All these intellectuals who, by the severation of spirit from the integuments of their being, are but poor minions in the hands of the anti-Christ. They are unfortunately the intellectual dross of our age.
Furthermore these categories of minds usurp in the name of intelligence, good sense and sound reason. The doctrinal opportunists beholding the negative and enfeebled leadership faltering and falling into disaray, seize upon the essential fact that the frail intellectual minds can be made to serve as the atrium of infection. And that moreover the mass mind can be used to do their bidding through appeal to basic emotions and quasi-ideals. These syndromes in themselves are indeed ominous and difficult to combat. But, to my mind, they are nowhere near as lethal as the seemingly innocuous habit of indulging in cynicism, callous cynicism. If it has been commonly said that majestic nobility is the pride and the thumb-sketch of seventeenth century Europe, then surely we must admit that cynicism under the guise of realism has become the credo and epitome of our present age in the free world. The Proustian nostalgia of true paradise found only in paradise lost is in company with the cynicism of Voltaire and Balzac, but they were merely schools of thought—of intellectual exercise that did not imbue an all-pervading fatalism in their age. On the other hand, the proponents of the world absurd together with its odd companion the materialistic anti-Christs are lashing at us unabated with man-made gales of literally billions of waves pounding at the foundations of our society.
In contending with the present challenge of a world over-run by prejudicial ignorance and selfish ends, let us on this Easter morning remind ourselves of our Lord's teaching that "he that loses his life for my sake shall find it" is of eternal verity, for therein lies the main answer to our personal quandary as well as to the ills of the world.
A little more than a month ago, I happened to come across an account of an ungainly, unprepossessing, lonely, introverted youth who won posthumously the Victoria Cross in Kohima, Burma, during World War II. He was a simple soul, and his nationality only an accident of birth. I am sure anyone reading about him would be moved by his selfless courage and sincerity of purpose. The official citation of Lance-Corporal John Harman tersely stated: " ... His heroic action and supreme devotion to duty were a wonderful inspiration to all."
And on the memorial now standing at Kohima are these words:
"When you go home, tell them of us and say,
For your tomorrow we gave our today."
With humility of heart, I, too, should like to be among those who for posterity's tomorrow give their today.
Statute for the Collection of Provisional Special Defense Assessments
Passed by the legislative Yuan and proclaimed by the President of the Republic of China
April 30, 1962
Article 1. With a view to finding reliable sources of revenue to intensify preparations, to strengthen national defense and to maintain economic development, this Statute for the Collection of Provisional Special Assessments is enacted.
Article 2. Items subject to the collection of Provisional Special Defense Assessments and rates are as follows:
1. An assessment of 30 per cent shall be levied on the amount of the individual income tax, collectable once, using the tax for 1962 as the basis of calculation.
2. An assessment of 20 per cent shall be levied on the amount of commodity import duties. However, commodities listed as Nos. 66-69, 1, 92-96, 202, 204-229, 623, 624, 651 in the Import Tariff are exempted. Other production equipment for productive enterprises in accordance with the stipulations in the Statute for Encouragement of Investment shall be upon approval of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, exempted from such assessments under this Statute.
3. An assessment of 30 per cent shall be levied on all existing commodity taxes.
4. An assessment of 30 per cent shall be levied on the slaughter tax.
5. An assessment of 50 per cent shall be levied on the amusement tax.
6. An assessment of 50 per cent shall be levied on the feast tax.
7. An assessment of 40 per cent shall be levied on the land value tax collectable in the second half of 1962 and the first half of 1963.
8. An assessment of 30 per cent shall be levied on the house tax, collectable in the second half of 1962 and the first half of 1963.
9. An assessment of 40 per cent shall be levied on the deeds tax.
10. An assessment of 50 percent shall be levied on the salt tax.
11. An assessment of 30 percent shall be levied on electric light charges.
12. An assessment of 30 per cent shall be levied on telegraph and telephone charges.
13. An assessment of 30 percent shall be levied on railway passenger fares.
14. An assessment of 30 per cent shall be levied on highway bus passenger fares.
Article 3. The collection of Provisional Special Defense Assessments shall be effected simultaneously with that of the respective taxes, charges and fares. In lieu of a separate receipt, a stamp shall be affixed on the related receipt, indicating the rate applicable and the amount levied. The procedure of collection shall be prescribed by the Ministry of Finance.
Article 4. All proceeds from the Provisional Special Defense Assessments shall be deposited in the National Treasury. Procedures of deposit shall be prescribed by the Ministry of Finance.
Article 5. Penalty clauses pertaining to the relevant taxes, charges and fares shall be applicable to the Provisional Special Defense Assessments. Arrears and fines shall be collected in proportion to the respective rates of taxes, charges and fares. In making decisions on enforcement and distraints, courts shall give full consideration to the relevant provisions of this Statute. Failure to collect assessments in accordance with this Statute, or delay in depositing the collected assessments in the National Treasury on the part of agencies designated for the collection under Items 11 through 14 of Article 2 of this Statute, shall be subject to punishment to be prescribed by the Executive Yuan.
Article 6. The period of enforcement of this Statute shall be from May 1, 1962, to June 30, 1963.
Vice President and Premier Chen Cheng's Statement on Provisional Special Defense Assessments
April 30, 1962
The Special Budget of the Central Government and the Statute for the Collection of the Provisional Special Defense Assessments, having been reviewed and passed by the Legislative Yuan, was proclaimed today by the President for enforcement beginning May 1, 1962. I wish to express my heart-felt appreciation and thanks to all members of the Legislative Yuan for their full cooperation with and support to the Executive Yuan, and for the untiring spirit they demonstrated in the last few days.
National defense is the prime requisite for the national security and freedom of the people. The Peiping regime is coming ever closer to the day of total collapse. Under the Communists' dual oppression of starvation and slavery, the anti-Communist actions of the mainland people are becoming more and more intensive as day succeeds day. Desperately seeking survival, the Chinese Communists may be expected to launch new aggressions in the Taiwan Straits to mitigate their grave internal crises. Facing this situation, we should strengthen our national defense and step up our preparations to meet any emergency.
In the primary stage of its anti-Communist policy, the government has laid special emphasis on the security of the Taiwan Straits to make sure of economic prosperity, social stability and military preparedness. This is to say that we have reaped the fruit of our own efforts. But much yet remains to be done in the strengthening of troop mobility to resist any large scale offensive of the Chinese Communists and to assure adequate response to the anti-tyranny movement of our mainland compatriots. Coexistence with the puppet regime is impossible, and we, therefore, must strengthen our national defense and prepare for coordination with military action to achieve mainland recovery and the salvation of our compatriots.
Expenditures required for national defense must be met immediately, and these are beyond the scope of our normal national budget. If we issue a large quantity of banknotes, we may meet our temporary needs. We should, however, bear in mind that this will cause malignant inflation. The past has taught us something of such inflationary risks.
To assure our national existence, adequate measures, therefore, must be found to meet the requirements of national defense and, at the same time, to save our people from too heavy a burden, to avert malignant inflation, and to maintain economic stability and growth. After long and careful deliberation, it was decided that revenues must be found through additional taxation and this must be done according to law and within some specific limits. A special budget therefore was drawn up and the Statute for the Collection of Provisional Special Defense Assessments proposed.
During the period of enforcement of this law, the government will see to it that all revenues arising from it are collected and expended under over-all control and for the exclusive purpose of reinforcing preparations and strengthening our national defense. The government also will take parallel measures to guard against undesirable effects from psychological or other man-made factors. It may be recalled that after the August 1959 flood the government levied special taxes to raise revenues with which to expedite relief and reconstruction work and that the result was highly successful. The present additional levy for national defense is of even greater importance.
It is the government's hope that all of our compatriots, especially these in the industrial and commercial fields, will understand the circumstances in which our country finds itself and that they will patriotically support the government's determined policy against Communism. Efforts must be exerted both to increase production and to maintain the stability of commodity prices. The burden, to be borne for the promotion of our common security, is temporary. This step not only is essential to the completion of our defense preparations but also will provide the most definite safeguard for all our material accomplishment and advances on Taiwan.