Taiwan Today

------------------------------------------------------------------
The dramatic story below is the account of one of three courageous young men who escaped to freedom in August 1960 by swimming from Amoy to the free China bastion of Kinmen. These three young men are now in Taiwan telling the people of China of their experiences under the Communists and of their decision to flee oppression. They will soon enter colleges on Taiwan where they will be able to pursue the educational goals the Communists denied them.
------------------------------------------------------------------

Can you imagine the anguish involved in making a decision to leave your family and loved ones, to walk out of your home not to return, to leave your native land and to risk your life in the process? Can you imagine the despicable conditions that force you to risk everything for freedom?

I did a lot of thinking before I decided to try to escape from the Communists. Bitter experiences and thorough analysis combined to convince me to get away. My decision was not made overnight. No matter from what angle I considered the facts, however, I always came to the same conclusion—I should escape.

I was a student in the fifth grade of ele­mentary school when Shanghai fell into the Communists in 1949. I was too young then to realize the great change that would rapidly come over the life in China. I was soon to know what it meant to live under the brutal oppression of the Communists. At that time, however, my life was well defined. The only thing for me to do was to continue to work hard at school and get along as best I could.

I entered middle school in 1950 and began the long struggle to prepare myself eventually to pass the college entrance examination, my most immediate goal in life. Here I met the first big setback in my life. I failed to pass the college entrance examination after completing middle school courses in 1957. The reason, without any doubt, was because my "political reliability rating" was not satisfactory. My bourgeois family background and my penchant for expressing my own opinions were my special crimes.

Disappointed but not discouraged, I determined to continue my education as best I could under the existing circumstances. I enrolled as a student in the correspondence department of the "University of Communication" in Shanghai. The correspondence program offered one lecture a week for the benefit of the students in the program. It was at these lectures that I first met Chen Wang-li and Yu Cheng.

Chen, Yu and I soon became fast friends. We came to trust each other and to express our innermost thoughts to each other. We even discussed the very dangerous subject of the nature and policies of the Communist regime, finding that we shared a deep abhorrence of the Red plague on the Chinese people and on Chinese culture. We despaired of continuing to live within this system which we hated so passionately. A way of relief would have to be found. We examined the possibility of running away. We all had some friends and relatives who had already escaped to Hong Kong. But most of these had got out early in the period of Commu­nist rule. It was not easy now to obtain per­mission to go to Hong Kong. Chen had already had some experience in trying to obtain approval to visit Hong Kong where he had a relative. His experience, however, was very discouraging. We would have to think of another way to escape tyranny.

In 1958, we concluded that a way to escape communism would have to be found. In this same year, Communist bungling resulted in considerable unemployment in the Shanghai area, while other areas of the country were in dire need of workers and technicians. Yu and I found ourselves among the unemployed and began to search for jobs. We obtained interviews with a representative of a glass factory in Amoy who had come to Shanghai to recruit workers for his factory. Yu was quickly accepted, but I was rejected. Seeing Yu accepted encouraged me to make a stronger effort to obtain a job in the same factory. I applied again and managed to convince the factory representative that I would be a good and useful employee. My application was finally accepted. Yu and I then headed for the area from where we later made our escape. We regretted that we had to leave Chen be­hind, but hoped to get together again in the future.

In the Amoy factory, my first assignment was to work on the design of a new electrical system for the factory. I worked hard at this job only to find out later that my labor was meaningless because the plans I drew up were never used. At the time when I accepted the job, I had been promised a monthly salary of 45 JMP, but now I only received 30 JMP for my first monthly pay. I lost no time in protesting this injustice, but my complaint got nowhere. This was only the first of a series of disputes I had with the authorities of the factory leading finally to my being sent to a country district to undergo "reform through labor" for my bourgeois attitude.

After One year of backbreaking labor and a never-ending din of political slogans, I asked for permission to visit my family in Shanghai. The labor regulations provided for home leave for those who worked away from their family. In Shanghai, I saw Chen again and we renewed our determination to escape to the outside world.

It was at that time I suggested that we prepare concrete plans and agree on the time for our flight. Chen proposed that we obtain a small boat in Amoy and row away to freedom. I agreed on that and promised to undertake the job of finding a boat when I returned to Amoy.

Having now completed my period of "reform through labor," I returned to Amoy to take up my old job again. I told Yu of our plans to push ahead the preparations for escape. Yu and I began regularly to rent a small rowboat to paddle between Amoy City and Kulanghsu, a small residential island just off Amoy, under the guise of healthful exercise. In this way we set up a pattern of boating that did not arouse suspicion when the time came for our big effort. In addi­tion, we learned something of the currents and navigation in the waters around Amoy.

It was about this time that the Commu­nists provided us with an idea which finalized our method for escape. I noticed a bulletin posted on a wall in Amoy announcing the capture of a young man who had been en­gaged in anti-Communist activities. (After coming to Taiwan, I learned that this young man was a member of the "Anti-Communist One Heart Society," a widespread under­ ground resistance movement which has con­nections with the Chinese Government on Taiwan.) According to the Communist an­nouncement, this young man, Tseng Yi-kuei by name, swam from Amoy to Quemoy in 1959 to establish contact with the free China forces in order to obtain support for his or­ganization on the mainland. I told Yu of this story and suggested that if this fellow could swim to freedom we could do the same. Yu agreed that this might be the best way.

In March of this year, Yu and I were pleased to have Chen visit us from Shanghai. He was on the return trip from Canton where he had gone under the pretext of purchasing some violin wood. I told Chen of our new idea for swimming to the free world and immediately found a receptive mind. Chen had seen the Jacques Costeau movie "The Silent World" shortly before and had arrived at the same conclusion that swimming would offer the best way for escape. He refined the idea somewhat by suggesting that we try to buy or build skin diving equipment like that demonstrated in the movie he had seen. We decided that since it would be impossible to purchase such equipment, we would have to make our own. I knew of a formula for gen­erating oxygen from chemicals which was used in miners' breathing apparatus. The chemicals could be bought on the open market without arousing too much attention. Chen thought that he would be able to purchase other materials in Shanghai to complete the diving apparatus. Chen would sell his camera and other personal possessions to raise money for the purchases.

Before Chen returned to Shanghai we had completed our plan for escape and had set a tentative date for the try. According to the plan, we were to begin our great adventure in August and Chen was to make arrange­ments to visit Amoy in July or August to join us.

In Amoy, Yu and I were to study the currents, the beaches, the patterns of the security patrols, and finalize the detailed plan. We began to frequent the Meihua beach on Kulanghsu as this was the closest point to the outside world. We learned the path and the time schedule of the security patrols and got acquainted with the beach so that we would not attract attention in the future. We also took advantage of the secluded part of the beach for practicing swimming in order to build up our endurance and get acquainted with the currents in that area.

In July, Chen came down from Shanghai bringing with him all the materials we needed in constructing the diving apparatus. I met him at the train when he arrived. He was a little nervous and excited. He told me that his baggage had not been searched and that the equipment had come through all in­tact. We hurried to where Yu was waiting and began to construct our diving apparatus. This was the most critical piece of equipment. If anything went wrong here we would find ourselves in serious trouble.

In a few days we had the first of the three diving lungs all assembled and proceeded to the beach to test it. We found a secluded place on the beach and while I stood guard Chen and Yu tested the diving lung. When I heard the shout of joy from among the rocks, I knew that the apparatus worked.

In another week we had the other two diving lungs completed and tested and we pulled together all of the other equipment. Aside from the diving lungs, we had all the necessary articles to keep us under the water while diving. We had three small floats made from large sheets of rubber, a wrist watch, a wrist compass, a length of rope, three flashlights, a bottle of vitamins, some sugar, a jug of water, and three pieces of lead. All the equipment was checked and ready.

I had mapped out the route to be followed. I knew that the free Chinese forces held some small islands close to the Amoy harbor and so I chose a course that would take us to these small islands and would not require swimming all the way to Quemoy. The course was set.

I selected the day and time for the escape operations according to the moon and the tides. August 21 was the date. Because on that night a dark moon would hide us from the security patrols and a high tide at midnight would carry us effortlessly well out into the bay.

At dusk that evening we three strolled cas­ually down to Meihua beach on Kulanghsu carrying our gear in small bags. After walking along the beach for a short time we moved unnoticedly into the shelter of a cluster of rocks at the edge of the beach and waited for the midnight to come.

I remember that the waiting was interminable. We did not dare talk for fear of re­vealing our presence. Several times the se­curity patrol passed close to our hiding place. Each time we stopped breathing and managed to remain quiet until midnight.

Now came the time. I signaled to my com­panions to get ready to make the silent dash to the waters edge. I crawled out of the rocky hiding place and searched the beach with my eyes to make sure the patrol was not near. All was ready.

Without any exchange of words we ran to the water and plunged into the fast receding surf. Under the water we used our flashlights in order to keep close together in the inky darkness. We swam on and on.

When we finally surfaced after a long pe­riod of time, I turned to look back at Amoy which was now only a cluster of lights a long distance behind us. For the first time in years I had a feeling of being a free man, even in the midst of great personal danger. I looked back only for a moment and then began to swim again with my companions.

We swam on and on for many hours after losing our only watch in early struggle in the water, we lost track of the time. In the first light of dawn we approached a small rocky island. After scouting it cautiously, we determined that it was not inhabited. We crawled exhaustedly out of the water onto the small no-man's land between the Communist and the free Chinese forces.

When day broke, we saw an island to the east of our barren refuge. Was this free or Communist-held territory? Being the strongest swimmer, I swam out to a point where I could see Amoy and check our position with other known points on the coast. I reckoned the island to the east must be in the hands of free China and returned to tell my friends.

We rested until a little past noon and then set out again to swim to the island we now believed to be free territory. We stroked the water with all our might in the final dash to freedom. Here, within sight of freedom, we encountered the onrush of strong currents and experienced our most desperate struggle against the surging tide. This for­midable wave began to carry our tired bodies toward the mainland away from our objective, freedom. Just as we were about to give up in despair we saw a small boat coming toward us. Again fear took hold of us. Was this a Communist boat? Was all our planning and our struggle to be for nothing? Whoever they were we were at their mercy, we could not escape them.

As they came close, our hearts leaped for joy as we made out the insignia on the uniforms of the men in the boat. We were free! Soon strong arms pulled us into the boat of the free Chinese forces.

We had attained our goal. We had escaped to freedom.