Refugees from the Chinese mainland are one of the most reliable sources of information about the Peiping regime. The Chinese Communists have total control over mass communications on the mainland but cannot plug the loophole of escape. Since 1949, millions of refugees have fled to freedom.
In the last 16 years, I have talked to many of these refugees. The last one is among the most unusual. This is why:
1. He had been a member of the Chinese Communist Party since 1946.
2. He had fought in the Korean War and was honored as a "second-grade combat hero". Later he was invalided out of service.
3. He had received security training and served in the Security Bureau of the Chinese Communist Military Council. He had been a bodyguard for Mao Tse-tung, Chou En-lai, Liu Shao-chi, and Ho Lung. His rank was lieutenant colonel.
4. He is only 38 years old.
Obviously, he belonged to the privileged class on the mainland, received the protection and blessing of the party, and was a favorite of the regime. Nonetheless, he abandoned it all and came to Hongkong to start a new life in freedom.
I shall call him Kuang, which is not his real name.
Kuang's ancestors lived in Hopeh province. His grandfather emigrated to Swatow in northern Kwangtung province. Both his grandfather and father were poor. When he was 16 years old (1943), he joined the local Chinese Communist guerrillas. Three years later (1946), he became a member of the Chinese Communist Party and was promoted to deputy platoon chief. He fought as a guerrilla from 1943 to 1949. When the Chinese Reds seized the mainland in 1949, he took over the broadcasting station of Swatow in his capacity as "military representative" and later served as commander of a reconnaissance and communications company in the Military District of Swatow.
In 1951, he was sent to Korea. After nearly three years of fighting, he was returned to the mainland, seriously wounded. He was already a captain and "second-grade combat hero".
Security Training
In 1955, he was sent to the Security Bureau of the Chinese Communist Military Council for training. Requirements are very strict. Qualifications include unquestioned ideological loyalty, acceptable family background, and special contributions to the party. Kuang's qualifications—nine years of combat, ten years of party membership, and an elementary education—seemed all right.
After completing the training in 1957, he became a "protection cadre"—euphemism for bodyguard—with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Afterward he was a bodyguard for Mao Tse-tung, Liu Shao-chi, Chou En-lai, and Ho Lung (Ho is vice premier of the Peiping regime).
In November, 1962, he was transferred to Canton as chief of the bodyguard group in that city. He worked for Generals Li Tien-yu and Huang Yun-sheng. A year later, he was transferred to the Border Defense Bureau of Kwangtung to serve as the first deputy chief of the "department of protection". He fled to Hongkong in October, 1964, and stayed underground for six months.
Double Standard
Why, had he thrown over his life on the mainland and came to Hongkong? He told me:
"My wife was taken by my superior. I resisted and was ready to kill the adulterer. I lodged an accusation with superior authorities but it was not handled properly. I had to break with the party."
His wife is manager of the Hsin Hua Book Store in Canton. The other man is Maj. Gen. Yeh Shun, formerly chief of staff of the Military District of Canton. Because of Kuang's charges, Yeh was not promoted to lieutenant general and lost his post as chief of staff.
I was skeptical and asked:
"Since the Chinese Communists do not take sexual relations seriously, why were you so upset? Why didn't you find someone else?"
He said:
"The Communists believe that 'what is yours is also mine, but what belongs to me should not be touched by you'. I could not endure to have my wife taken away." I guessed that his wife was young and beautiful, and also that he was proud of his record and position. When his privileged status was violated, he reacted against Communism.
I told him that as a good Communist, he was not supposed to have permitted a personal matter to interfere with party loyalty.
He said: "I was criticized. My wife accused me of intending to kill Yeh Shun. Superior authorities said I was impulsive."
Mao's Ill Health
I changed the subject and asked about the men he guarded.
He replied:
"Mao Tse-tung goes to bed at 4 a.m. and gets up afternoon. He has a throat ailment and a cough. He has gall bladder trouble and is jaundiced. Despite the warnings of doctors, Mao still smokes 50 to 60 cigarettes a day. He had a stroke in the spring of 1959. He long has been separated from Kiang Ching (his wife) and lives an ascetic life.
"Mao can swim. To encourage the people to learn swimming, he once swam in the Yangtze River (Peiping's press claimed that he swam across that river) and the Shin-shan-lin Reservoir with scores of swimmers around him as an escort. Actually, he jumped into the water, swam a few meters and then quit. Later, in accordance with the instructors of Lin Piao, Peiping's minister of defense, the general staff ordered the armed forces to respond to Mao's call to learn swimming and listed it as an important skill. The people are also urged to learn swimming. The real purpose is to prepare for war in the Taiwan Straits.
"Kiang Ching (Mao's wife) is now deputy chief of the bureau of motion picture censorship in the ministry of culture. She seldom appears with Mao in public places.
Ho Lung Licentious
"The lives of Liu Shao-chi and Chou En-lai are comparatively quiet. Liu goes to bed at 10 and gets up at 7. He exercises or gardens after rising. His teeth are false and he has a serious gastric ailment. Chou En-lai has a kidney ailment. The nerves of his right arm are sometimes paralyzed, perhaps because of thrombosis. Ho Lung is healthier than the other three. He is licentious. Once he was on intimate terms with a woman deputy section chief in a mining bureau. He forsook her, accused her falsely, and sent her to a labor school for reform. Later, he found another woman, Chiu Shih-hsin, an assistant instructor of the Tsinghua University in Peiping."
I asked: "Has the Peng Teh-huai case been ended?" (Peng formerly was minister of defense. He was purged because of anti-party activities.)
He answered:
"I am not sure. There are still remnants of the Peng clique in the armed forces, but they have lost their influence. The liquidation of Peng and his clique was very thorough. Peng himself is detained in a house near the northern border area. More than 100 high officers of Peng's clique, including Huang Keh- cheng and Li Ta, have been sent to a high level military college in Peiping for reform:'
Commando Attacks
I said:
"The Chinese government in Taiwan has carried out many commando attacks against the coastal mainland in the past two years. What arc the effects? And what is the impact on the inner mainland?"
He answered:
"These attacks are of course better than no attack at all, but the effects remain to be assessed. The Chinese Reds have deployed security forces as the first line of coastal defense. In the rear are militia and further behind are the regular troops, who control Strategic points and watch the front areas closely. Because they are afraid of a large-scale attack from the Republic of China, the Chinese Reds have been conducting militia training and exercises. Militia training gives the Chinese Reds a chance to hit two birds with one stone: they intend to use the people to carry out their 'human sea' tactics in case of war and at the same time they want to tighten control over the people and prevent them from responding to any attack from Taiwan. As for the Communist demonstrations calling for the 'liberation of Taiwan', everyone knows that the Chinese Reds are bluffing and trying to create an atmosphere of war. The purpose of the demonstrations is internal and political, not external and military.
Red Distrust
"I have no way of knowing what agents from Taiwan are doing or have done on the mainland. In the last 10 years, the number of the people going to the mainland to engage in secret activities could not be so large. I believe many agents were planted in different areas before the fall of the mainland in 1949. Contradictions have persisted between the central and local authorities of the Mao regime, between the soldiers and the people, among the cadres, and between party members and non-members. How to use and enlarge these contradictions is the most important task before the Taiwan authorities. The Communists never trust others and sometimes are suspicious of each other. Ideologically and emotionally, they are always in a state of strain and are spiritually unstable. Not until I reached Hongkong did I really relax."
I asked:
"Is the recent abolition of military ranks an attempt of Mao to eliminate these contradictions?"
He said:
"Exactly. There are serious conflicts between the military men and the civilian cadres, and the authorities must find ways to eliminate them. However, the abolition of military ranks can only mitigate the friction temporarily and will not root out the basic contradictions.
"The Communists report that mainland youths join the military services enthusiastically. People outside the mainland may regard this as propaganda. Actually, young men are eager to enter military service because soldiers are well paid. To become a soldier is to become a privileged person. During the period when the mainland was suffering from serious famine, men of the armed forces were well-fed and had surplus food to send to their dependents.
Military Do Best
"Military men do better than the civilian cadres. For instance, the position of magistrate is equivalent to that of lieutenant colonel. But the salary of a magistrate is a fourth to a third less. Such inequalities have aroused the discontent of local cadres. Servicemen are proud of military badges and colorful insignia.
"Following the abolition of military ranks, the Chinese Reds have narrowed the differences in payments to the three services, in payments to servicemen and civilian cadres, and in payments to high, middle, and low-level officials. Nevertheless, because the mainland is still at war - 'Taiwan has not been liberated and U.S. imperialism has not been defeated - the armed forces remain the backbone of the Peiping regime. At a time when soldiers are needed to fight wars, suppress revolts, and protect socialism, they must be given special treatment. The Chinese Reds will continue to compensate and pacify the soldiers."
I asked about Kuang's life in Hongkong.
He said:
"I had a deposit of several thousand dollars of Peiping currency in the 'People's Bank' of Canton but could take out only a portion. I have some former subordinates who escaped to Hongkong earlier and who have given me a lot of help. I was married a month ago. My wife is the younger sister of a former subordinate in Canton. My escape to the British colony was made easier because of help from subordinates in Canton. My wife is working in a factory. I hope to open a small business."
Through With Party
"Have you been threatened by the Red agents in Hongkong?" I asked.
He said:
"I know the Communists dare not do anything to me here. My elder brother is the deputy chief of the department for Asian affairs in the Chinese Communist 'Central Intelligence Bureau'. The party ordered him to write me, urging my return and assuring me that I would not be punished. I certainly do not believe such a false assurance. I told my brother that I was through with the party and that he need not feel concerned about me. He did not write again."
I asked:
"Do you understand Taiwan better now than when you were still on the mainland?"
He replied:
"I have not made a deep study yet. However, I have always admired Chiang Ching-kuo (elder son of President Chiang Kai-shek and minister of national defense of the Republic of China). I think many youths on the mainland also admire him. Mao An-yin (Mao Tse-tung's son, who reportedly died in the Korean War) was less active than Chiang Ching-kuo and was less well liked by mainland youths. Chiang Ching-kuo suits the aspirations of the young people."
After we said good-bye, I saw Kuang disappear into the crowds of Hongkong. I could not help wondering where he would go and what he would do. I am certain of just one thing—this young "second-grade combat hero" will never return to the mainland to work for the Peiping regime.
—translated by Teng Yen-ping
Editor's Note: Pok Shau-fu is publisher of the Chinese-language Newsdom Weekly of Hongkong.