Editing 79-01-A2 (section)

= Taiwan I =

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=== Transcript ===
Someone once said every form of government has a single characteristic
which forms the basis for its power; if that is lost, the government falls.
Monarchy, for example, is based on the affection and respect of the people
for the royal family. When the respect and affection disappear, the
monarchy falls. Dictatorship is based on fear. It is successful only
so long as the people fear the dictator. In a democracy the underlying
principle is virtue. When that is lost, the democracy fails.

There came a moment in World War II when the Japanese offered [[wikipedia:Chiang_Kai-shek|Chiang
Kai-shek]] a separate peace on the most generous terms. He of course knew
that the Chinese Communists in Northern China had an army ready and waiting
to seize power -- as they subsequently did. The Japanese offer must have
been tempting to the Generalissimo. He could have turned his full attention
to the Red army and guaranteed the continuation of his regime.

The Japanese of course would have been able to throw their entire
army fighting on the mainland of China against our forces in the South
Pacific.

Chiang Kai-shek told our [[wikipedia:Albert_Coady_Wedemeyer|General Wedemeyer]] of the Japanese offer
and of his refusal to make a separate peace. He said that he could not
betray his friend and ally, the United States: that he would fight to
the end by our side.

In spite of all the platitudes. the reiteration of arguments that
the declaration by the President, December 15th, was simply "recognizing
reality." One fact remains clear: The United States for the first
time in its history, broke a treaty without cause. We callously betrayed
a long time friend and ally which had refused to betray us. And we did
so with brutal rudeness.

During the two years of the Carter administration, there has been a
deliberate snubbing of the government of Taiwan. An Asian journey by our
Vice President took in most of the Western Pacific except Taiwan. We sent
no representative to the inauguration of the President of the Republic of
China, the son of Chiang Kai-shek. And, in December there was no consultation
with him, warning him of Mr. Carter's decision to accept the terms laid
down by the Communists in Peking. What our government did was entirely
lacking in virtue. 

This is Ronald Reagan.

Thanks for listening.
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=== Details ===
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<TR><TD WIDTH="150">Batch Number</TD><TD WIDTH="150">{{PAGENAME}}</TD></TR>
<TD>Production Date</TD><TD>01/??/[[Radio1979|1979]]</TD></TR>
<TD>Book/Page</TD><TD>[[Radio_Commentary_Books#Reagan:_In_His_Own_Hand|RihoH-61]]</TD></TR>
<TD>Audio</TD><TD></TD></TR>
<TD>Youtube?</TD><TD>No</TD></TR>
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===Added Notes===

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