opinion
yours
Letter ignores ‘facts’
After having read the letter “Flag Flown Wrongly,”
which appeared in the Emerald Oct. 11, we were surprised
that the authors were so misinformed regarding the
Chinese revolution of the 20th century. In order to avoid
having other readers misled, we, Chinese students from
the Republic of China, would like to tell you the truth.
The Chinese Communist Party was established with
help from the Soviet Union and was dedicated to the de
struction of the democratic government of the Republic of
China. The Communists' big chance came after the out
break of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, which marked the
beginning of the National Government’s War of Resistance
Against Japan.
In July 1937, Mao Tse-tung as well as
Chu Teh and Peng Ten-hua jointly sent a cable to
Generalissimo Chiang, pledging to close ranks with the
National Government and to rename the Red Army of the
CCP as the National Revolutionary Army in waging a com
mon battle against the Japanese invaders under the lead
ership of Generalissimo Chiang.
The National Government, in August, made public an
order on regrouping and reorganizing of the Red Army of
the CCP in compliance with the spirit of “eradication of red
terror" in the country.
One month later, Mao Tse-tung secretly instructed
Chu Teh to act in line with his principle of “devoting 70
percent of strength to expansion of our own forces, 20
percent to haggling and bargaining for a compromise and
10 percent to to the war of resisting the Japanese invad
ers.”
Therefore, the communist army began disobeying or
ders and besieging and raiding local troops and guerrilla
bands of the National Government. The effect of Mao’s
History supports Taiwan
I am writing this letter in answer to the letter of com
plaint you printed last week relative to the flying of the flag of
free China on our campus.
Before I begin, I wish to make clear that I am neither a
reactionary nor a revolutionary and that I have no objection
to flying the flag of the “People's” Republic of China, butnof
to the exclusion of our friends, the free Chinese of Taiwan.
You see, I’m older than many of you. I was one year old
when Chiang Kai-Shek’s Kuomintang threw the Germans
out of China and sided with the U.S. and England. This was
at a time when the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis threatened to
put barbed wire over the entire world.
Free Chinese built large airfields and roads, by hand
and sometimes without even shovels, to help American
aviators do jobs that were necessary to prevent Japanese
invasion and occupation of southeast Asia.
The Americans were there as volunteers under a pri
vate company called CAMCO. It was led by General
Chenault and later became known as “the Flying Tigers.”
The Republic of China flag was sewn to the shoulders of
their jackets and, for America, that flag became a symbol
for resistance to oppression in Asia.
Later, the world war over, civil war came to China. We,
as a nation, guaranteed safety to free Chinese//they would
evacuate the mainland. Millions of people chose to follow
free China. Another million or so followed, knowing full well
that they could not be evacuated.
All of those millions werenot “enemies of the people.”
They were the people, but Mao did not even begin to
suggest the tolerance of such a large minority within his
system. It is important to realize that they were driven, at
gunpoint, from the mainland because of differing political
viewpoints. And we, as a nation, had promised them pro
tection. (And this is still an American university.)
Today, free China has the strongest economy, next to
Japan, in Asia; the highest standard of living and the best
record of honor and friendship to the U.S. of any nation in
the world. They feel betrayed when their interests are ig
nored by our press, our foreign policy and our people.
These are a people who have died for U.S. policy in
many parts of Asia. (While I lost at least one friend to the
mainland volunteers in Korea. Ironic. Almost all of us lost
friends to them.)
At the present time, I cannot see a reason for this sort
of divisive hate propaganda. People’s Republic of China is
huge, monolithic and progressive. Free China is small, but
traditional, preserving much of the very soul of the Chinese
people.
Both should be honored as nations. Enough people
have been killed over these issues. Lasting unity, on either
side, will not be served by nit-picking.
Until there is an answer, why not fly both flags? (And
on the record, for the Communist Youth Brigade, please
remember you are not the legitimate government of the
United States. Not yet. And hate propaganda ain’t the way
to get there.)
Jim Carroll,
Junior, Asian Studies
scheme of achieving “an all-round expansion of the armed
might of communist troops” resulted in a tremendous
harassment of the National Government.
The National Government tolerated the disobedience
and disruption of the Communist army and had on seven
occasions entered into peace talks with the CCP since
then. Each time it ended with communist troops gaining
substantial interests and ignoring commitments.
In the wake of the National Government’s War of Re
sistance Against Japan, Russian armies gave weapons,
captured from the Japanese in Manchuria, to the Chinese
Reds, who then mounted an all-out insurrection against the
Government they had pledged to support.
After the Chinese mainland fell to the Communists in
1949, the calamity which the Russian people once went
through painfully befell the Chinese people to a greater
degree. More than 60 million Chinese people on the main
land were killed by the Communists as “counter
revolutionaries” and “class enemies.”
After the Chinese mainland fell to the Communists in
1949, the calamity which the Russian people once went
through painfully befell Ithe Chinese people to a greater
degree. More than 60 million Chinese people on the main
land were killed by the Communists as “counter
revolutionaries.”
Large numbers of intellectuals were subjected to both
spiritual and physical tortures during the Communist
“thought reform,” followed by the “three big reforms,”
which took away from the Chinese people all their proper
ties, land, products as well as their management rights.
Under the “people's communes,” the communists
made all Chinese peasants serfs for collective enslave
ment, and as a result, countless people lost members of
their family.
On the contrary, the people of the Republic of China on
Taiwan lead a free way of life retaining traditional Chinese
values. They are at liberty to express themselves, to leam
and to lead a good life subject only to the rule of not injuring
others.
Government of the Republic of China is based on the
teachings of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, who founded the Republic of
China October 10, 1911. His philosophy for government
consists of Three Principles of the People. These Princi
ples are Nationalism, Democracy and Social Welfare (also
called the People’s Livelihood).
Confucius’ ideas are found in Dr. Sun’s system, but so
is the Lincoln proclamation that government should be of
the people, by the oeople and for the people. The more than
1 million tourists visiting Taiwan every year are witnesses
to this fact.
The temporary aberration of communsim will be termi
nated by the 850 million Chinese people. They never voted
for Communism; they have never had the opportunity to
vote against it. When their chance comes, they will stand up
and turn thumbs down on Communism. The people of the
Republic of China are doing all within their power to expe
dite that moment of mainland liberation.
Flag program popular
A letter to the Editor appearing in the October 11
Emerald protesting the display of the flag of the Republic of
China prompts this attempt to clarify the intent of the “Flags
of Nations” program inaugurated last year.
The University of Oregon is proud of the fact that more
than 60 nations of the world are represented by some 700
foreign students enrolled here. Last year, the University
invited consulates of these nations to donate a national flag
to be displayed on an appropriate national holiday and at
our June commencement. To date, 22 nations have hon
ored our foreign students. Telephone calls and personal
visits by foreign students since the program began last
February suggest to me that the foreign students them
selves are, in fact, honored by the recognition of their
presence on this campus.
Ju-i Maxine Yuan
Graduate, Fine Arts
Wei-yi Ku
Graduate, physics
Jiingliang Shyu
Graduate, Business
Muriel Jackson,
Director of University Relations
‘Foreign’ label is wrong
Your % inch headline (ODE, Oct. 9) heralding “Foreign
Student Group Offers Aid” is misleading. Persons clas
sified as Asian-Americans are not foreign. Asian
Americans are U.S. citizens.
I hope your quote of Lynn Osaka, co-director of the
Asian American Student Union, (“We have to be aware that
we’re not the same as Americans because we’re not. We’re
different.”) was inaccurate or lifted out of context. If the
quote accurately portrays her views, it points out the iden
tity problems faced by some Asian-Americans. Your head
line contributes to the identity crises.
As one who is classified Asian-American by this com
munity, I am, at the same time, a citizen of the United States
of America. Though I may prefer to drink tea instead of
coffee, the joys and hazards of being an American are
mine. Please do not consider me foreign. I may be different,
but not foreign.
Aisan-Americans consitute the largest American eth
nic minority on the UO campus. Some persons confuse
Asian-Americans with international students from Aisan
countries. Just as all persons of Caucasian ancestry are
not Americans, all persons of Asian ancestry are not
Americans. However, calling an Asian-American foreign is
akin to calling a Caucasion-American foreign.
Hilda Yee Young,
PO. Box 3022, Eugene