894A.00/10–3149
The Consul General at Taipei (Macdonald) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 15.]
No. 83
Sir: I have the honor to enclose the full text24 of a broadcast made by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek on the eve of the Taiwan Liberation day October 25, 1949.
Insofar as can be determined this is the first appeal made by the Gimo to the Taiwanese since the recent establishment of his headquarters in Taiwan. The principal point of the speech, which is arrived at after an excess of references to his “Taiwanese brothers” and the mainland devotion to the welfare of the Taiwanese, appears to be a call for general mobilization and the adoption of total war methods. “I do hope”, he said, “that our Taiwanese brothers will, in memory of the heroic deeds of Cheng Cheng-kung (Koxinga, the legendary hero of the Taiwanese) and following in the footsteps of their revolutionary martyrs who have sacrificed their lives to the cause during the last three hundred years, unite heart and soul and mobilise all their manpower and material reserves to defend their island and Pescadores and to support the war on the mainland.”
There is still no indication that the Taiwanese have any intention of overexerting themselves or in pooling their resources in the defense of a Taiwan subjected to the unpopular government of a Kuomintang despite their inbred dislike for Communism.
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed.↩