Opinion
Page 8
The Michigan Daily
Vol. XCINo.54-S
Ninety Years of Editorial Freedom
Edited and managed by students
atEthe University of Michigan
U.S. sincerity &
the Third World
TIME WILL TELL whether the Reagan
administration is serious about "global
negotiations," but a recent conference in
Mexico indicates a change for the better may
be expected.
Global negotiations-the source of
cooperation between the industrialized North
and the underdeveloped Southern coun-
tries-have been traditionally snubbed by the
United States. Our diplomats have per-
petuated an increasingly bitter debate with
Third World leaders, most often in the United
Nations, because of their contrasting ap-
proaches to international development. Add to
that the Third World's abhorrence of the cozy
U.S.-South Africa relationship, and the moun-
ting tensions become clear.
Responding to pressure by our NATO allies,
the administration set a precedent over the
weekend by agreeing to participate in a 22-
state round of global negotiations next Oc-
tober. The announcement by Secretary of
State Alexander Haig was unexpected and en-
couraging.
Still, the apparent change in policy has thus
far been only rhetorical; nothing concrete has
been established concerning the many critical
North-South issues: energy production and
exploration, trade restrictions, the World
Bank and other multilateral economic resour-
ces, and South Africa.
President Reagan himself will attend the
summit, at the invitation of Mexico's
President Jose Portillo. Clearly, his presence
at Cancun will not be enough for the
delegations of India, Tanzania, Guyana, and
Bangladesh. Given past administration
references to the Third World-Secretary
Haig once called it "a misleading term if there
ever was one"-the majority of participating
leaders will demand a sincere and substantive
contribution by the world's most bountiful
nation.
"Despite two long years of confrontation
between two clearly identified groups," said
Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda of Mexico,
referring to last weekend's preparatory
meetings, "it was truly noteworthy that an ex-
change of views was possible without confron-
tation."
Noteworthy, yes. But the real test will come
in October, when the world will closely watch
the American president, and see if he really is
committed-not just to global negotiations,
but to tangible global cooperation.
Tuesday, August 4, 1981
The Michigan Daily
LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
More mail about
the death of Chen
Reports of death suspicious
4
4
To the Editor,
If one follows recent reports
from Taiwan closely, one would
find that reports concerning
Professor Wen-cheng Chen's
death are most confusing. Not
only the shift of theory from
murder to suicide or accidental
death was based on shaky
ground, but the floundering
statements made by Taiwan
Garrison Command (GC) sur-
faced almost everywhere.
Here are several points which
are worth pondering:
1) According to a July 4 news
report from the United Daily, a
newspaper which enjoys the
largest circulation in Taiwan,
Chen wassfomd wearing one shoe
and no socks. His waist helt,
strangely enough, was tied on his
lower chest, but was not worn in-
side his belt loops. The Taiwan
police for a period of time was
puzzled hy this unusual finding.
This piece of evidence was
ignored ever since the theory of
Chen's case was directed to
committing suicide. When the of-
ficial concluding report on
Chen's death was made on July
19, it was mentioned without ex-
planation.
2) The GC spokesman Mei-lin
Hsu stated that Chen was escor-
ted home by 9:30 p.m. on July 4
after Chen's release. Hsu's
statement was refuted by Chen's
family who claimed that they
have never seen Chen since he
was picked up by the police that
morning. According to a July 10
news report from Far East
Times, a Taiwan-related
newspaper published in San
Francisco, General Chin-hsi
Wang, head of the GC, lated ex-
plained the "misunderstanding"
by saying that Chen was escorted
to his brother-in-law's residence,
instead of his own. Yet, Far East
Times continued to report on July
17 that Chen's brother-in-laws
"firmly stated that Chen has not
returned home that night."
3) In her inquiry to the
Executive Yuan, the highest
executive branch in Taiwan,
Legislator Huang Yu Hsin-Inan
pointed out that a) pelvic bone is
one of the parts of human body
which is least likely to be
damaged. How could Chen's fall
from the four-floor building cause
a 3 cm. fracture? b) If Chen's bot-
tom reached the lawn first, there
shuld be sign of extravasated
blood. Coroners' report did not
mention this. c) If Chen's bottom
reached the lawn first, how could
he suffer 13 broken ribs? On the
contrary, if his chest reached the
lawn first, how could his pelvic
bone br cracked? d) If Chen
jumped from the building, there
should be a sign of fair amount of
blood spit out of Chen's mouth. e)
There are several side entrances
at the National Taiwan Univer-
sity. It is probably that Chen's
body was moved from
somewhere else. (Far East
Times, 7/14/81).
Without clarifying the above
queries, the concluding report
released by the Taiwan
authorities on July 19 may seem
premature. In fact, the report, af-
ter reading it, raises more
questions than answering them.
We hope that the Taiwan gover-
nment would live up to its
promise by conducting a
thorough investigation on Prof.
Chen's case. Paying lip service to
the American public would only
invite more suspicion and anger.
Timothy Lee
Executive Secretary of the
Organization for the Sup-
port of Democratic
Movement of Taiwan
July 28
4
Taiwanese students
aware of spying
4
To the Editor:
In your July 14th issue, the
Daily printed a letter which was
reportedly signed by 82 members
of the Free China Student
Association. In fact, the number
of signatures does not mean
anything. The KMT agents who
controlled the FCSA presented
the letter to the students who
came from Taiwan and said to
them: "To test your loyalty to the
party (KMT), please sign the let-
ter." Nobody dared refuse sign
because they knew the con-
sequences if they refused.
As a matter of fact, the spying
activities which are carried out
by KMT agents on campus are
not secret at all to the people who
came from Taiwan. Although we
are not permitted to intercept the
reports they send back to
Taiwan Authority or mails from
their superiors, neither do they
allow us to tap their telephone
conversations because we are
not legal investigators. Still,
there are so many other eviden-
ces that can prove that there are
KMT agents on this campus and
others.
The Command office has
openly acknowledged that
somebody in the U.S. supplied the
information to them. In other
words, they have agents in the
U.S. that keep track of Taiwanese
activities and report that back to
them.
There is no question that there
are KMT spies on campus. But,
who are they? That is an in-
teresting question. The group
that is trusted most by the KMT
Authority is FCSA. Can spies
work through other groups which
are not trusted by KMT? As to
the linkage between Chen's death
and FCSA on campus, five years
does not change the cause and ef-
fect relationship. Do not forget
that the Garrison Command Of-
fice collected all the information
from their agents and put it into
Chen's file, such as the so called
"Rainbow Project" waiting for
Chen to come back, the first time
since he left.
Furthermore, some former of-
ficers of FCSA are working for
the KMT party in Taiwan now
and are in charge of surveillance
of student activities abroad.
Chen's death is due to political
murder. Only the collaborators of
the KMT security agency will say
to wait for the result of the in-
vestigation from the KMT
security office.
Incidentally, of the 10 students
who were interviewed for the fir-
st article by the Daily, two, not
one, (FCSA's letter says only
one) were officers of the FCSA.
One of the two said that he knew
of at least one or two spies on this
campus.
-Sincerely yours,
16local Taiwanese
residents.
July 28
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