Brooklyn Eagle (February 18, 1943)
Jap strength rising, says Mme. Chiang
Resources top Nazis’, she warns Congress in appeal for China
Washington (UP) –
Mme. Chiang Kai-shek today denounced the “prevailing opinion” that the defeat of Japan is less important than the defeat of Germany and urged Congress to lead the way in formulating one corporate body of all nations after the war.
In addressing Congress, she appealed for more aid for China:
…which has bled and borne unflinchingly the burden of war for more than five and a half years.
Before a crowded House chamber in her first public appearance, she praised America as:
…not only the cauldron of democracy, but the incubator of democratic principles.
She hoped that the Congress of that America would help make a post-war world in which it will be impossible for anyone to plunge future generations “into another orgy of blood.”
Mme. Chiang received prolonged and rousing ovations from Congressional members and packed galleries.
Presented by Wallace
Vice President Wallace presented her first to the Senate, where she spoke briefly and extemporaneously, saying she was overwhelmed at the reception given her.
She said as her listeners smiled:
I am not a very good speaker. As a matter of fact, I am not a speaker at all.
She said:
There is a traditional friendship between your country and mine. I feel that there are a great many similarities between your people and mine. These similarities are the basis of our friendship.
The address of the famous American-educated wife of the Chinese generalissimo was in impeccable English, and woven into it were the sayings of old Chinese philosophers to illustrate important points.
Offers philosophical advice
She concluded with this philosophical advice from a nation long torn by war to one barely initiated in its hardships:
From five and a half years of experience we in China are convinced that it is the better part of wisdom not to accept failure ignominiously but to risk it gloriously.
We shall have faith that, at the writing of peace, America and our other gallant allies will not be obtunded [dulled] by the mirage of contingent reasons of expediency.
Man’s mettle is tested both in adversity and in success. Twice is this true of the soul of a nation.
Madame Chiang left no doubt that her mission here, now that her treatment for an old injury has been pronounced successful, is to convince Americans that the Japanese are no less a dangerous foe than the Germans.
She prefaced her review of Japanese strength with this Chinese saying:
It takes little effort to watch the other fellow carry the load.
The prevailing opinion now, she added, seems to consider the defeat of the Japanese as of relative unimportance and that Hitler is our first concern.
She said:
This is not borne out by actual facts nor is it to the interests of the United Nations as a whole to allow Japan to continue, not only as a vital potential threat but as a waiting sword of Damocles, ready to descend at a moment’s notice…
Japanese military might must be decimated as a fighting force before its threat to civilization is removed.
She praised the American naval victories at Midway and in the Coral Sea, but emphasized that “they are merely steps in the right direction.” The six-month battle at Guadalcanal attests to the fact, she said, that the defeat of evil forces, “though long and arduous, will finally come to pass.”
Cites foe’s resources
But she warned Congress:
Let us not forget that Japan in her occupied areas today has greater resources at her command than Germany.
Let us not forget that the longer Japan is left in undisputed possession of these resources the stronger she must become. Each passing day takes more toll in lives of both Americans and Chinese.
Let us not forget that the Japanese are an intransigent people.
Let us not forget that during the first four and a half years of total aggression China has borne Japan’s sadistic fury unaided and alone.
She told the 78th Congress that as its predecessor had discharged its duty in 1941 by declaring war on the aggressors, the duty of the present Congress ls to help win the war and to create and uphold a lasting peace which will Justify the sacrifices and sufferings of the victims of aggression – to help construct a world in which all people may henceforth live in harmony and peace.
She said:
May I not hope that it is the resolve of Congress to devote itself to the creation of the post-war world? To dedicate itself to the preparation for the brighter future that a stricken world so eagerly awaits?
Pattern for peace
We of this generation who are privileged to help make a better world for ourselves and for posterity should remember that, while we must not be visionary, we must have vision so that peace should not be punitive in spirit and should not be provincial or nationalistic or even continental in concept, but universal in scope and humanitarian in action.
Since international interdependence is now so universally recognized, can we not also say that all nations should become members of one corporate body?
I can assure you that China is eager and ready to cooperate with you and other peoples to lay a true and lasting foundation for a sane and progressive world society which would make it impossible for any arrogant or predatory neighbor to plunge future generations into another orgy of blood.
We in China, like you. want a better world, not for ourselves but for all mankind, and we must have it. It is not enough, however, to proclaim our ideals or even to be convinced that we have them. In order to preserve, uphold and maintain them there are times when we should throw all we cherish into our effort to fulfill these ideals even at the risk of failure.