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In a not always too objective examination, a Formosan diplomat
looks at the past, present and future of
his homeland
. 0
The
Silence of the
Si'
By CHOW SHU-KAI
Ambassador of the Republic of China to the United States
Photographs by Robe
THE PROBLEM of China in the
last 100 years is how to build up
a modern state through the preser-
vation of the best of the old native
culture and the absorption of the
new foreign cultures. For this task,
Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the Father of the
Republic of China, prescribed three
cardinal principles governing the
protection of national integrity, the
establishment of representative gov-
ernment, and the improvement of
the people's livelihood. The first two
are the means and the last one is
the end.
In waging this struggle, Dr. Sun
and his successor, Generalissimo
Chiang Kai-shek, had to cope in
turn with the Manchu dynasty, the
warlords, the Western imperialist
powers, the Japanese aggressors and
the Communist rebels. The conclu-
sion of the Second World War should
have ushered in a new era to China,
in which she could put into effect
the aforesaid principles of Dr. Sun
Yat-sen.
The Chinese Communists, how-
ever, embarked upon a different
course. Taking advantage of the ec-
onomic dislocation arising from the
war and the confusion among the
allies, they had no scruple in enlist-
ing the help of the Soviet Union by
accepting the Russian terms which
had been rejected by Generalissimo
Chiang, and with this aid they work-
ed havoc in an already devastated
country. The resultant economic col-
lapse enabled them to seize the en-
tire mainland.
In his State of the Union Mes-
sage in January this year, President
Johnson made a special mention of
China and expressed the hope that
she should "concentrate her great
energies and intelligence on improv-
ing the welfare of her own people."
Alas, since they are Communists
first and foremost, their objective is
not to build up a healthy China for
the Chinese pecple but to transform
her into an ultra-Communist socie-
ty and use it as a base for promot-
ing communism in other parts of the
world.
Irdo not for one moment suggest
that the government I have the hon-
or to represent has always been
manned only by angels and saints.
We have had faults and we have
made mistakes. By and large, how-
ever, We have been dedicated to the
principles of Dr. Sun Yat-sen for the
building up of a free, viable, demo-
cratic and peace-loving China. We
made great efforts along this direc-
tion in the early 1930's with con-
siderable success, which has been
forgotten or deliberately ignored by
certain China-watchers in foreign
lands. Long years of war against
overwhelming odds made the coun-
try hapless after the defeat of Ja-
pan. While the hands of the Chinese
government were tied, the Soviet
Union aided and abetted the Chinese
Communists to overrun the main-
land.
NOW THAT MOSCOW and Peiping
are quarreling violently, it is ap-
propriate to point out that Mao Tse-
tung once received Russian assist-
ance because he accepted Stalin's
terms which had been rejected by
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.
It may be recalled that towards
the end of World War II, Stalin
proposed to Generalissimo Chiang
that China surrender to Russia many
rights and concessions beyond what
were granted by the Yalta Agree-
ment. More especially, Stalin want-
ed us to expel the influence of the
United States from China after the
war. Had Generalissimo Chiang
agreed to these conditions, Mao Tse-
tur qty to prove it. On the contrary,
#.iey were determined first to dehu-
manize the Chinese people into ro-
bots, then to turn China into a huge
military camp, and finally to use it
to communize the rest of the world.
They have militarized the national
economy for the sole purpose of
strengthening their capability to
make wars.
By depriving the people of their
daily necessities, they have squand-
ered resources in producing nuclear
weaponry and in sending money and
agents to countries in Asia, Africa
and Latin America to stir up revolu-
tions. Their avowed objective vis-a-
vis the TJnited States is to drive her
out completely from Asia and .the
Pacific. Their grandiose ambition
and their insane behavior seem to
be too fantastic to be credible to
' . As a vast country rich in natural and human
resources and with unlimited potentialities, the
United States does not have to seek any aggrandize-
ment or domination at the expense of other lands.
All she needs are good neighbors to provide peace
and tranquility in which she can exercise her rights.
The United States desires nothing from China and
the Chinese people except the reciprocation of
friendship." - Ambassador Chow.
:':':':............ .....:.............................. .... ......... r..........
crops. Many of these disasters could
have been prevented or minimized
had there been investment for vari-
ous control measures. The mainland
is in need of at least 25 million
tons of fertilizers every year. Since
money has been diverted to else-
where, the Peiping regime only man-
ufactures and imports about one-
third of this demand.
One index of the Communist agri-
cultural failure is the persistent
shortage of food. To support a popu-
lation of 650 million, the minimum
requirement of grains should be 200
million tons a year. Since 1957, the
domestic production has never ex-
ceeded 180 million tons. In fact, the
figure for 1966 was only 175 million
tons. If we bear in mind the popu-
lation increase of 2 and a half per
cent every year, the meagreness of
the diminishing food supply can be
imagined.
As for the industrial program of
the Chinese Communists, a similar
kind of madness is also displayed.
In order to attain military prowess,
they are anxious to build up heavy
industries overnight. They concen-
trate on the production of military
equipment and build transportation
lines only to meet strategic needs.
Certain light industries are develop-
ed mainly for the purpose of expor-
tation to earn foreign exchange.
In carrying out these lopsided
projects, the Communists are hind-
ered by their own mistakes. There is
the shortage of raw materials be-
cause of the neglect of agriculture.
There is the high cost of production
due to bad planning and poor coor-
dination and the uneconomical
transportation system. Though the
urban workers fare slightly better
than the farmers, the same depri-
vation of incentive results in low
productivity and inferior quality. In
an industrial society, the training of
technicians and skilled labor is also
a prerequisite. To the Chinese Com-
munists, education largely consists of
indoctrination. So there is a scarc-
ity of competent personnel.
AS THE CHINESE Communists per-
sist in their insane behavior, they
have encountered increasing diffi-
culties at home and abroad. With-
in the Peiping regime there is no
such distinction between the hard-
line Communist and the soft-line
Communist. The Maoists and the
anti-Maoists have the same objec-
tive, though they may differ some-
times on emphases and tactics. Since
its usurpation of poweron the main-
land, the Chinese Communist hier-
archy has practiced a sort of collec-
tive leadership. The domestic and
foreign policies of the past years
are joint products.
When things go wrong, however,
no one wants to bear the responsibil-
0
tung and his cohorts would have
been driven into oblivion during the
postwar period.
For his patriotism to true China
and his friendship for the United
States, President Chiang incurred
the enmity of the Soviet Union, the
evacuation to Taiwan, and the in-
sults by certain elements who, unlike
John F. Kennedy, are "ignorant of
history."
Communism as a theory and the
practice of the Chinese Communists
are utterly repugnant to our cultur-
al tradition and against the interests
of our people. That the Chinese
Communists were able to seize the
mainland was a tragic accident.
Nothing could be further from the
truth than to say that communism
is acceptable to the Chinese people,
that Mao Tse-tung and his cohorts
are interested in promoting the peo-
ple's welfare, and that the Peiping
regime or any regime of a similar
character is a going concern.
If the Chinese Communists were
agrarian reformers as some people
portrayed, they had ample oppor-
rational people. But the blueprints
for world domination of Hitler and
the Japanese militarists were also
dismissed as fantasies at the time.
IN THEIR regimentation of man-
power, the Chinese Communists
want the people to behave like ro-
bots and deprive them of private
ownership and profit incentive. In
the agricultural field, the Chinese
Communists have turned the main-
land into a huge slave camp through
the introduction of the rural com-
mune system. At the height of this
insane campaign, families were
broken up, and the people were
treated like cattle. The consequent-
disintegration. of rural life forced
the Communists to relent a little.
But the main features of the com-
mune system have persisted.
Under the collectivization scheme,
the farmers simply refuse to work
more than what is necessary, thus
hampering the increase of produc-
tion. The countryside is constantly
plagued by flood, drought and pesti-
lence, taking a heavy toll of the
riA it.%z at Ae-A?1KIC
APRIL '67 THE DAILY MAGAZiNE
PAGE TWELVE
APRIL '67 IHE UAILY MAUAZINE
APRIL '67
THE DAILY MAGAZINE