resettlement within their borders.
" As a result of the President's announcement, and in view of the heavy com
mitments of the Lutheran churches in relief programs within the Colony, LIS is
planning to cooperate in assisting with the resettlement of these refugees in the
United States. The extent of LIS participation will be determined after there
has been further consultation with the government, the LWF offices in Hong
Kong and Geneva, and the Lutheran church bodies in the United States.
“The Lutheran churches are presently maintaining a large-scale relief program
in Hong Kong for Chinese refugees which includes the distribution of food and
clothing, the maintenance of medical and dental facilities, a vocational training
program , and a program for the rehabilitation of handicapped and tubercular
cases . They also maintain a program of self -help which has made possible the
development of small handicraft industries, and a student-aid program , in ad
dition to other projects which are designed to assist the refugee become self
supporting .”
Sincerely yours,
PAUL C. EMPIE, Executive Director.
Senator FONG. We have concluded with our witness list. The sub M
committee stands recessed until tomorrow at 11.
Thereupon, at 4 p.m., the subcommittee recessed to resume Fri
day , June 8 , 1962,at 11 a.m. )
REFUGEE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND MACAO
FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 1962
U.S. SENATE,
SUBCOMMITTEE ON REFUGEES AND ESCAPEES,
COMMITTEE ON TWashington, D.C.
The subcommittee met , pursuant to recess, at 11 a.m., in room 318,
Old Senate Office Building, Senator Philip A. Hart ( chairman of
the subcommittee ) presiding.
Present: Senators Hart ( chairman of the subcommittee ), Wiley,
and Dirksen .
Also present : Curtis E. Johnson, staff director ; Dale S. de Haan,
research consultant ; Carl Ziemba, committee counsel; and Earl Nishi
mura , minority counsel.
Senator HART. The committee will be in order.
This continues the taking of testimony on the problem of the Chi
nese refugee in Hong Kong.
Of all the refugee problems across the world to which this sub
committee has given some study, the problem in Hong Kong seems to
be the most difficult.
The enormity of its present proportion, and its potential for even
greater dimensions, tends to create an attitude of hopelessness, and
even despair, among many of those who have sought a solution . Then
the recent massive flight of Chinese into Hong Kong, and their invol
untary enforced return to Red China, shocked the free world . In
cluded in the stock was the realization that this was a problem in
which all of us have a share, including those millions here who never
anticipate the day that they shall ever see Hong Kong.
The responsibility to assist in relief and rehabilitation, and to
kindle the spark of hope again in the hearts of those people who fled
from China, lies with all of us in this world we like to call the free
half.
Today we have with us a native Chinese and a distinguished Ameri
can who can speak knowingly of the great tragedy of Chinese refu
gees. She does it in her capacity as the president of Chinese Refugee
Relief, an organization which I think has effectively as any drama
tized and brought to the concern and conscience of America this refu
gee problem .
It is my understanding that she will be presented to the committee
by Senator Miller -- and Senator Tower also.
I see Mrs. Chennault is accompanied by two distinguished Mem
bers of the Senate. Senator Dirksen is an old hand at making difficult
decisions seem easy. Senator, do you want to suggest that they join
us here, or that they decide between themselves who shall have the
great pleasure of presenting Mrs. Chennault ?
87
88 REFUGEE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND MACAO
Senator DIRKSEN. I have one of these decision meters. You flip it,
and that makes the decision .
But senioritywise, II suppose Senator Miller would have first call to
present Mrs. Chennault, if he so desires, and Senator Tower can make
a presentation at the sametime.
Mr. Chairman , I might say, of course, that Mr. Miller served with 8
the Flying Tigers, the 14th Air Force, under Lieutenant General
Chennault, and that is a high distinction indeed. So I am glad to see
him , as a great Senator and as a great warrior for his country .
Senator HART. I have a strongimpression that, notwithstanding his 1
war record, it wouldn't cut any bait if the seniority were not there.
STATEMENT OF HON. JACK MILLER, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE
STATE OF IOWA
Senator MILLER . Mr. Chairman , members of the committee, I divine
that the members of the committee already know about the splendid
background and knowledge of this truly great lady. As the dis 4
A
tinguished Senator from Illinois pointed out, it wasmy privilege to
serve with General Chennault during World War II in China. I
know that General Chennault knew the dangers and the potential of 4
communism. As a matter of fact , one of the most memorable events
of my life was the day I stood in the compound in Chungking and
heard General Chennault give his farewell address to the Chinese
people before returning to the United States, during which address he
warned of the dangers of communism .
This great lady, the widow of the late distinguished General Chen 4
nault, will speak to this committee this morning with knowledge,
because she has lived with the Chinese people, she is of the Chinese
people, she has traveled extensively throughout China, and moreover ,
she has a deep and abiding intimate interest in the future of the
Chinese people.
It is with the greatest of pleasure that I present Mrs. Anna Chen
nault to the committee.
Senator Hart. The committee is delighted to have you. 1
1
STATEMENT OF MRS. CLAIRE L. CHENNAULT
Mrs. CHENNAULT. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee,
I am Anna Chennault. I am an author. I am also a newspaper
woman ; I worked as a war correspondent in the Second World War.
I am the widow of Lt. Gen. Claire Lee Chennault who led the Flying
Tigers and the 14th Air Force in China. Today I speak as a citizen
of the United States.
My grandmother was born an American in Washington, D.C. My
mother and sister were born in America. Although I was born in
Peiping, I became an American when I married General Chennault.
It is therefore as one with close ties to both the United States and
China that I come heretoday to ask your consideration of the plight
of the refugees from Communist China in Hong Kong. I worked
closely with my husband when he was the symbol of deliverance to the
Chinese people from the cruelty of the Japanese. In a personal way,
I feel that I am now engaged in his unfinished business of delivering
the Chinese people from the cruelty of the Communists.
REFUGEE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND MACAO 89
I can tell you about the heart and mind of the refugee, for I
myself and my four sisters were refugees from the Japanese terror
in China during World War II. We were in Hong Kong when Pearl
Harbor was bombed .
I know the misery of physical privation of the homeless and the
emotionalprivationof the forgotten . When I think of the refugee
in Hong Kong, I can only pray “ There but for the grace of God
go I.”
I appear today as president of Chinese Refugee Relief. This is
a private committee formed with the approval of President Kennedy
to implement the sympathy of the American people for these refugees,
Associated with me in this committee, which was organized to seek
private funds for refugee relief, are Mr. David Lee, a prominent
Chinese -American businessman of Washington , D.C., and Mr. Jack
Anderson, awell-known Washington correspondent who , during
World War II, spent many months traveling in China with National
ist guerrillas.
I am proud to report to this committee that the honorary cochair
men of Chinese Refugee Relief are former President Harry Truman
and former President Herbert Hoover. I have talked to President
Hoover many, many times and I have seen him in New York very
recently and talked to him on this problem of Chinese Refugee Relief.
He showed great interest and has given me his advice.
President Hoover, who has had years of experience in China and
who was administrator of World War I relief in Belgium and Poland ;
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. John McCormack
of Massachusetts, has consented to serve on our advisory committee.
Two days ago I also had the honor of talking to the Speaker of the
House, Mr. McCormack .
Our organization does not appear before the Congress to give advice
to Government. It would be presumptuous on our part to advocate
any specific policy in viewof the global implications the Hong Kong
refugee problem evokes. We completely understand that many im
portant decisions of Government policy must be made, based onspecial
sources of information not necessarily within our knowledge . We are
therefore not here to urge action by Government or to prejudice your
considerations. We know that there are limitations to what the
United States or any other government can do, that it is folly to over
crowd the lifeboats.
Our organization does feel, however, that it can appropriately offer
all assistance within its means in a number of areas after policies are
determined . The refugee problem in Hong Kong is not a pretty
one, despite the heroic effort of the colony to deal with the problem .
other witnesses have told you of their physical misery. But for me,,
who has been a refugee, their most terrible misery is in the heart, for
the most vital need of men is hope, and the refugee goes to sleep fear
ing that the world has no room for him and that his future holds no
hope. But more than food, more than shelter, these good people need
hope, the hope of tomorrow .
And I am afraid they are going to need more and more hope. Mr.
Lee, who is here with me today , has just returned from a personal
inspection of conditions in Hong Kong. He has returned with the
alarming information that many of the refugees who flooded into
90 REFUGEE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND MACAO
Hong Kong in the past few weeks, many of whom were turned back
to mainland China, are primarily farmers fleeing what they sense
is the prospect of another crop failure in Red China this year. His
talks with authorities and refugees in Hong Kong have convinced him
that these people were attempting to escape a worsening famine on
the mainland, and that with the crop failure they expect this year
could come another later mass effort to flee Red China.
It is against this background that Chinese Refugee Relief was
formed with the encouragement of President Kennedy, with whom I
met on June 2. Our purpose is to raise private funds by public
solicitation to help implement the ultimate decisions of the United
States and the many other governments which are or will be con
cerned. We want to add " people to people " to " government to gov
ernment."
We can foresee many important tasks to be done by private organ
izations such as ours in helping to implement the policies of the west
toward the Hong Kong refugee problem . These would include :
Giving directassistance to refugees from Hong Kong — and perhaps
from Macao - once they are in the United States under procedures
established by law and public policies formulated by you after weigh
ing all of the factors involved .
In cooperation with existing international refugee organizations,
church and social welfare organizations aiding in the handling of
Chinese orphan children to be brought here for adoption in accord
ance with the plan announced by Attorney General Robert Kennedy
this week .
If possible, playing a direct role in the feeding and medical care
of refugees while they are in Hong Kong in accordance with the
policies ofthe governments concerned .
Assisting in the resettlement of refugees in other countries which
may express a willingness to take them in .
I must emphasize that Chinese Refugee Relief does not see this
problem as one which can be successfully handled by any one organi
zation . There are many roles to be played together in this effort.
Therefore, Chinese Refugee Relief stands ready and willing, for the
common good, to cooperate fully with all recognized refugee agencies ;
the many experienced church organizations; and the social welfare
agencies, allof whom play primary parts in this program . But
Chinese Refugee Relief is, we believe,well qualified by its composition
to play an effective, realistic role as a private agency gearedto help
implement decisions you will make.
In your consideration I hope you will share our feelings on several
points webelieve are essential to public understanding of this problem .
1. The problem did not end when the Red Chinese again sealed the
border to the stream of refugees who saw in Hong Kong a new chance
for freedom and a better life. Almost all of the present refugees in
Hong Kong entered the crown colony during the past 10 years in little
noticed but, nevertheless, highly dramatic and dangerous flights to
freedom .
2. These refugees, desperate as their need for food and the common
necessities of life is, want more than anything two things— freedom
and hope. If the events of the past few weeks have done anything,
they have served to rip aside the bamboo curtain, letting the world
REFUGEE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND MACAO 91
see for the first time the desperate faces of men , women , and children
who have lived under Communist rule .
Believing in America as they did during World War II, when there
was nothing else to believe in, and only the Flying Tigers from far
off America somehow brought deliverance from the bombs of the
Japanese, the refugees now in Hong Kong still look to America with
the same belief and trust . And we of our organization believe that
in its own interest, the United States, within the limitations you ap
preciate of what it safely can do,must keep alive that hope and belief
in the good will and power of the United States.
3. The American public should be fully informed of the status of
refugees who are now being admitted under the stepped -up program
of immigration recently announced by President Kennedy. The
refugees now beginning to enter the United States are those who have
been in Hong Kong for as long as 10 years. They are not those who
have just come over the border. Those who are now coming to the
United States have been fully cleared as to security by agencies of
the U.S. Government.
They represent the top level refugee group - businessmen, techni
cians, engineers, and others possessing specific skills. None of these
refugees are coming here to be a burden on our reliefagencies or to take
jobs from American workers. They have guarantees of employment
and livelihood provided to them by their Chinese - American relatives in
this country who have long helped to support them in Hong Kong.
Nor will the children of refugees represent a problem to their com
munities. We Chinese-Americans can point with pride to the fact
that because of the strong family bonds that characterize the Chinese
people, juvenile delinquency is almost unknown in Chinese-American
communities, and that Chinese-American citizens are not found on
American relief rolls.
Once this is understood, we believe that the American public will
recognize that these people will make a. lasting, worthwhile contribu
tion to their communities and the Nation.
4. Above all, and most important, II hope that whatever aid this
Government and the American people feel they can give will be given
to the refugees and not to the Communist masters of Red China. I
know there are some well-meaning individuals who believe that we
can best help the hungry people by putting grain into the hands of
the Red Chinese Communist Government. They do not realize that
this will consolidate the power of Red China in denying freedom to
its people. As one who has lived in the shadow of Chinese communism ,
this I beg you, under no circumstances to do such a thing. The
Chinese people have endured much more than starvation in the many
years that the madmen of Chinese communism have used them as the
pawns of power. Indeed, they have always been subjected to starva
tion by their Communist overlords - calculated, systematic starvation
so that their Communist masters could export food to Cuba, and wage
hot and cold war on the sons of the free world in Vietnam and Laos.
I know how many pressures there are on the U.S. Government to
solve the problem of sending food to help the hungry people in China .
It is the hardest task of statesmen to find answers to the complicated
problems of refugees looking for hope. But as Americans surely we
canask that, if we are embarrassed by our wealth, we can find ways to
92 REFUGEE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND MACAO
give it away to friends rather than giving it to our enemies, and we
certainly want to help the hungry people in the free world , but cer
tainly not helping Red China, our enemy:
Ali it would do is to renew and reinforce the inhuman yoke of
communism over the helpless Chinese people.
And it would be madness from our American point of view. We
would be making the same mistake we made when, under the pressure
of scrap dealers, we shipped scrap iron to Japan before Pearl Harbor.
Such impossible appeasement would be shot back in our faces in
southeast Asia as it was shot back at Pearl Harbor and Korea. If I
speak out, it is because I have been a war correspondent during the
Second World War , and I was the wife of a serviceman . I lived
through war, and I lived through the killing of American boys by
the Chinese Communists. And please remember, we still have Åmer
icans as prisoners in Communist China.
I tell you that the people of China today, miserable as they are,
would rather face more starvation than to have America , in a mis
taken humanitarianism , add to the strength of their Communist
masters who hold them in a slavery from which they try to flee. I
note with bitterness that reports describing the situation at the Hong
Kong border inform us that Communist army guards are well fed ,
wellclothed, and well armed while they turn on and off like a faucet
the flow of refugees to serve the propaganda needs of the Communist
government in Peiping. Obviously, the Red Chinese Government
does not lack food for its own jailers .
What I am pleading for today is that my American people be real
istic in whom they help, that they concentrate their thoughts on
helping the refugees, not the Government of Red China ; that they
try to help human brothers who want to be free, not perpetuate their
slavery.
If I thought that we were only stirring the sympathies and the
warm heartsof the American people to take part in any program for
the Chinese people which would seduce this Nation into supporting
themastersof Chinese slavery, I would resign from any effort to help
in this problem .
I am sure President Hoover, with whom I have talked many times,
will agree with me.
5. Whatever is done to bring help from America to those without
hope should be accomplished as quickly and graciously as possible.
In thesimplest manner and with dignity show the sympathy and
understanding of the American people to fellow human beings in
distress who believe in you.
We have a saying in China that“ one picture is worth a thousand
>
words.” In place of words, I introduce to you the first refugee family
to come to the United States under the emergency program . They
are Mr. Eng Se-Suey, his wife,his two daughters Mee-Har, 15, and
Me-Wan , 13, and a son, Leung-Hing, 10. I will be glad to serve as
their interpreter as they tell you what it means to be a refugee. And
you can hear from their own lips what they think about supplying
food to Red China.
I would like also to point out that, serving as interpreter, I speak
five dialects of the Chinese language. Mr. Eng is from Taishan.
Actually his name could be spelled four or five ways. In Taishan
REFUGEE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND MACAO 93
dialect it is E-n-g. In Cantonese it is E-n. And in Mandarin, it is
Wooit could be spelled W-u, or W-0-0.
So there are many ways to pronounce his name. But I just want
to qualify myself as interpreter.
Senator HART. Mrs. Chennault, before we hear this family whose
presence in this country all of us welcome, I know the committee
would have me thank you for a forthright and helpful statement.
Your willingness and that of Mr. Lee, whom I understand you to
say is present here today, and Mr. Anderson - if either of them care
to come up and make any additional comment, we would be glad to
have them .
But for your willingness to organize and assist in this effort, we
want to thank you.
There were many points you made in this statement concerning
which , I am sure, members of the committee and other Members of
the Senate who are here today might want to pursue by way of
questioning
I wouldhope that followingthe opportunity to visit, through you ,
with the Eng family, you would remain, in order that any of uswho
desire may have the opportunity to ask questions.
May I suggest to the Eng family that America is better for their
adding to our cultural bloodstream . And I hope you will assure the
family that all of us feel that way about them.
Would you inquire of them how long they have been in Hong
Kong waiting to come to the United States?
Mrs. CHENNAULT. May I ask Mr. Eng to sit beside me ?
Senator Hart. Yes, please.
STATEMENT OF ENG SE -SUEY, INTERPRETED BY MRS. CLAIRE L.
CHENNAULT
Mrs. CHENNAULT. Mr. Eng wants to express his appreciation for
all the assistance this country hasgiven him , and these other organiza
tions who help him to come into America . He is very happy and
very grateful that he comes to America, a free country , and he feels
like a different person . It was wonderful to leave the misery as a
refugee and comeinto this country as a free citizen.
Senator Hart. I hope you will give him the assurance that I indi
cated earlier, that he and his family are most certainly welcome.
Senator DIRKSEN. Mrs. Chennault, his father lives in Park Ridge,
Ill., as I understand.
Mrs. CHENNAULT. Yes.
Senator DIRKSEN . We sought to be helpful in this matter, when
some difficulties were encountered, in cabling and doing all the neces
sary things to expedite the Eng 'case. As I understand, his father
had been a businessman in Park Ridge for nearly 35 years and is
presently the victim of cancer, and may not live very long.
We are grateful, indeed , that we could be of some service in bring
ing them over. And I think I should make some statement regard
ing an attorney in Chicago named Lowell Jacobson , who lives in
Park Ridge, who knows the father, Frank Eng, very well, and who
made some real effort in order to expedite action. I think he ought
87544-6247
94 REFUGEE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND MACAO
to be congratulated on his efforts and on his compassion and interest
in the matter.
Mrs. CHENNAULT. Mr. Eng wants to express that today he is in this
country, and still has the opportunity to see his ailing father with
cancer. It is all the good deed of this country, and all the great
friends, and of course Senator Dirksen, from Illinois, giving him all
the assistance, to enable him to come to this country and realize his
dream . And he will never forget. And he also wants to express that
his family and his children are growing up as Americans, and be good
citizens to this country .
Senator Hart. Now, Mrs. Chennault, would you inquire when he
first sought to come to this country ?
Mrs. CHENNAULT. He left Communist China in 1953.
Senator HART. And went to Hong Kong, I takeit.
Mrs. CHENNAULT. He left Canton, and went to Hong Kong.
Senator Hart. Now, when , after he got to Hong Kong, did he first
ask to come to the United States ?
Mrs. CHENNAULT. He started requesting to come into this country,
starting the procedure in 1955.
Senator Hart. In 1955 you made application .
Mrs. CHENNAULT. That is correct.
Senator Hart. It is now 1962.
Mrs. CHENNAULT. Yes, 7 years .
Senator Hart. And it is correct, is it not, the reason he was able to
come in now is because of the dramatic influx from Red China to
Hong Kong in May of this year ? It was because of this that the parole
method was developed, or applied, I should say, by the President.
Isn't it true that because of the dramatic flow of refugees into
Hong Kong last month, Mr. Eng now has been permitted to come here ?
Mrs. CHENNAULT. You are correct. He said if not because of the
emergency law , he still wouldn't be here today. And because of the
small quotas of allowing Chinese into this country, many, many
Chinese refugees are still waiting, and there is a long, long list of Chi
nese waitingto come into this country . I think he mentioned 100
being allowed to come into this country every year.
Senator HART. To be exact, for therecord, this country, under its
basic immigration laws, has concluded it has room on a regular basis
for only 105 Chinese a year.
Now,I think that the more people in this country see the Engs and
families like them , the greater the opportunity will develop for under
standing and appreciating the need to improve the immigration atti
tude inthis country.
A couple of weeks ago the President of the United States and
Mrs. Kennedy had as dinner guests at the White House the American
winners of the Nobel Prizes. I know Mrs. Chennault knows the event
to be a very dramatic incident. It just happens that 15 of the Presi
dent's guests were not born in America. But we need these people.
We are the better because they are here. I agree with your statement
that we cannot overcrowd the lifeboat. But we had better make sure
that our response to the hopes and the aspirations of the rest of the
world is consistent with what we preach and for what we stand.
I am sure your presence here serves to remind the conscience of
America about this point, and we are the richer for having you.
REFUGEE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND MACAO 95
Senator Wiley has joined us, and it is possible that Senator Wiley
would have a comment.
Senator WILEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have one or two
questions, that don't relate themselves so much to the matter of what
we are discussing here. But in view of the fact that the witness
escaped from Red China into Hong Kong in 1953, I presume that he
alsovisited back and forth into Red China, made contact with people
who kept coming into Hong Kong. So my question is what percentage
of the Chinese people are Communist ?
Mrs. CHENNAULT. The percentage of Communists is very , very
small. In fact he said most of the Chinese people, the simple Chinese
people, they only want to have enough food, enough clothes for the
family. But under the Communist control, they haveno choice but
do whatever the Communist regime wants them to do. But those who
have escaped , actually, they are all against the Communists, and those
many who remain in China that could not escape, they actually have
no free choice, but to life under communism .
Senator WILEY. How does Mao Tse -tung maintain the control that
he has over 500 million Chinese ?
Mrs. CHENNAULT. Mao Tse -tung controls the country with secret
police — by fear and suspicion. And each little village had a Com
munist worker to organize the people, and make them suspicious of
each other, and they all live in fear,and no one dared to say anything
because you might get killed.
Senator WILEY. Could you tell me how close Mao Tse-tung and
Khrushchev operate !
Mrs. CHENNAULT. The Chinese Communists actually need the sup
port and help from Khrushchev, from Russia. And they have to
cooperate and work together. He also mentioned that there wouldn't
be any way to dividethese two forces. They sort of lean on each
other, and they will always work together.
Senator WILEY. Are the Chinese under Mao Tse -tung investigating
the creation of modern weapons, such as bombs and the interconti
nental ballistic missiles ? Have they got scientists engaged in that ?
Mrs. CHENNAULT. The Russians help the Chinese Communists only
to a limitation . They don't give them too much, because they also are
suspicious of the Chinese, and they are afraid they will get too
powerful and too strong. So they help them in light industry and
machines and so on. But as faras atomic bombs and other things
like that, the Russians have not given the Chinese too much help, be
cause they are always sort of careful not to give them too much , so
they would turn against the Russians.
Senator Wiley. In other words, what the witness means, as I get it,
is that Russia has not been willing to give Mao Tse -tung the know
how, or give to Mao Tse -tung the weapons, is that right ?
Mrs. CHENNAULT . That is correct.
Senator WILEY. Is this immigration of Chinese confined to Hong
Kong, or is it pushing out in other directions, toward India, and
maybe into Siberia ?
Mrs. CHENNAULT. Most of—actually 100 percent of the refugees
are going to Hong Kong.
Senator WILEY. Would you repeat that !
96 REFUGEE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND MACAO
Mrs. CHENNAULT. Most of the refugees, he said, almost 100 percent,
go to Hong Kong. He hasn't heardof any refugees going to India
or Siberia .
Senator WILEY. What about Chiang Kai-shek's offer to take some
into Formosa ?
Mrs. CHENNAULT. The Chinese Nationalist Government have been
very helpful to try to help some ofthe refugees togo toTaiwan. But
he feels that Taiwan is also a small area that will not be able to take
care of as many refugees as they want to do. And so he feels that
even the Taiwan Government will need help to solve the refugee
problem .
Senator WILEY. One concluding question.
What is the judgment of the witness as to how the Chinese feels
toward Chiang Kai-shek — that is, how the Chinese in China feel
toward Chiang Kai-shek.
Mrs. CHENNAULT. He said all the Chinese are for President Chiang,
especially, he said, in Hong Kong. The first of the yearthey celebrate
October 1, which is the national day for Communist China , and Octo
ber 10 is the celebration of the national day for Nationalist China.
And most of the Chinese in Hong Kong now, they always celebrate
October 10 ; in other words, to show theirsupport of Nationalist China.
Senator WILEY. I am sure, but I have another question which you
provoked by that answer.
Is it your judgment — and I might ask you , madam — is his judg
ment that if there should be an invasion of China, that the Chinese
would respond to the appeal of Chiang and fight on his side ?
Mrs. CHENNAULT ( speaking on her own behalf). I do think so. I
have been making trips back to the Far East every year, and my
husband started an airline in the Far East, and it is still operating:
I have talked to people of all classes. And the feeling is now for
the Nationalist Government to go back to mainland China.
Senator Wiley. Well, is it your judgment that this pushout, then,
is due to the lack of proper nourishment or food, that people want to
leave ?
Mrs. CHENNAULT. As I point out in my statement, I thinkpeople
not only want food, but freedom . In the earlyyears,many Chinese,
when the Communists first came in, they thought, well, they are just
Chinese — and I also point out most of the Chinese arefarmers, they
have no political ideas, as long as they are being left alone, have the
land to farm—if they are happy, theycan feed their family, they will
be all right.
But even to this basic thing, they do not get from communism .
And I think this is the reason that many Chinese refugees leave China.
The famine in China, of course, in a way is manmade. Most of the
farmers have the feeling, “ why shouldwe work so hard, when we don't
>
get anything in return ?” The food they produce will be used to buy
arms— and they do not have enough food to eat, and they are not able
to take care of their family. And most of all, they have no freedom .
And that is why I think many refugees risk their life to escape to Hong
Kong, even they know there will be no place for them, there will be no
food, no jobs, and no security, and no hope. And yet they try to
escape from communism , hoping they will be free and there will be
some hope for them to look for a brighter tomorrow .
REFUGEE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND MACAO 97
Senator WILEY. Is there any way to get that food to the people
withoutletting Mao Tse-tung handleit ?
Mrs. CHENNAULT. This isa question I think is really calling for
much serious study. I don't see how we could send food toRed
China, and yet not to let the food fall into the hands of the Communist
government. We are interested in helping the hungry people. But
we certainly do not want to help our enemy.
SenatorWILEY. Mr. Chairman, I wantto say that it has been a high
privilege for me to sit here this morning and see this fine American
citizen , Mrs. Chennault. We know what contribution she has made,
what contribution her husband has made. I will agree with your
sentiment that we are practically all of us sons of foreigners. And we
can use
th
more of this quality stuff in America.
I ank you .
Senator DIRKSEN. Well, Mrs. Chennault, I just want to say that
was an impressivestatement you made to the committee this morning,
and I am delighted to see you here.
Senator HART. Before we leave, Mrs. Chennault - I leafed through
your statement and got the impression you were cautioning us, that
although a bamboo curtain is up in Asia, and Hong Kong has closed
the door, so to speak, that nonetheless, we should anticipate new in
fluxes of people at anytime. Is thatcorrect ?
Mrs. CHENNAULT. I do think so . So this is not a problem just for
today. This is aa problem for many tomorrows to come. And this is a
job that no one agency can do alone. And I think it calls for lots of
help and study on this problem , and to help these people who escape
from Communist China .
Senator HART. Well, in view of the fact that this flood of refugees
may descend upon Hong Kong again at any moment, do you have any
suggestions as to what the government of the crown colony should be
doing, and what we should be doing to help them ?
Mrs. CHENNAULT. In my statements, of course, I have pointed out
that now that thereare over 11/2 million refugees in Hong Kong,
they need food, shelter, and clothes. When wintertime comes they
will need clothes. And also of course Mr. Eng was just telling me
there is a water shortage in Hong Kong, which I think many other
witnesses have mentioned, and so this is not just how to give food to
the refugees, but the resettlement of these refugees that calls for fur
ther study. And of course any help and assistance we give to the
refugees will need funds. This is the time to call for the public, the
more fortunate people, to help the less fortunate people . I think that
every organization doing relief work should now get together and
try to work together and help the people and work with the Hong
Kong Government to solve the problems, the best we know how.
This is a wonderful thing that this country has tried to admitmore
refugees. But this is just аa drop of water in the bucket, as the Presi
dent said .
The biggest problem is how to help the refugees in Hong Kong, to
give him a new life, andgive them work and self-support and not just
sending them food to feed them. This is my own opinion on this
problem .
Senator HART. Now, to put the question bluntly, if 50,000 or 100,000
Chinese seek freedom , should the door be closed at Hong Kong ?
98 REFUGEE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND MACAO
Should we, in effect, or should the crown colony Government, stop the
entry of these thousands of refugees ?
Mrs. CHENNAULT. Of course, you have heard reports that many
refugees were turned back to the mainland. And of course werealize
the problems that the Hong Kong Government have to face. That is
why many concerned have suggested that we should think of a way
to transfer these refugees to maybe some other countries who will
accept them , and maybe have a place for them . And have work for
them .
Certainly this is not a problem that the Hong Kong Government
could handle alone. Of course, the gate, shall we say, to freedom
should not be closed to the people who wish to be free.
Senator Hart. And if it is simply overwhelming the resources of
Hong Kong, and if the crown colony has done all that a man reason
ablycan be expected to do to permit the door to stay open , but it is
still not enough, then your message, I take it, is that we and other free
people must do more ?
Mrs. CHENNAULT. I do think so.
Senator Hart. Specifically to assist.
Mrs. CHENNAULT. Yes. Not just we Americans, but I think many
other free countries have the responsibility to show the people that
we, as free countries, want to help them and give them hope.
Senator Hart. Now, to a question that Senator Wiley asked , and
which you said presents an extremely difficult problem — the business
of food for the people of China, Red China .
You know , under our program, an American family cannot even
send a parcel of food to a family in Red China.
Now , would you object to that being changed ?
>
Mrs. CHENNAULT. No. As an American citizen, and many years
working with my husband, General Chennault, fighting communism ,
my feeling would be any food sent to Red China will not be delivered
to the hungry people, butto feed maybe the army and actually the
Communists who had killed our American boys and keep many Ameri
cans in prison .
In answering this question , Mr. Chairman,if you would permit me,
I would like to call my very close friends and my husband's associate,
Mr. Corcoran. I think he has dealt with this problem , and also
worked with my husband very closely. If you will permit me, I would
like to ask Mr. Corcoran to help me in answering this question. May I ?
Senator HART. The committee would welcome Mr. Corcoran now ,
or, if he would prefer, he may file a statement.
Many in the audience may wonder if this is the Tommy Corcoran
about whom they have read so long. I want to assure them he is.
The committee welcomes him .
STATEMENT OF THOMAS CORCORAN
Mr. CORCORAN . Mr. Chairman , I would be glad to tell you what I
think about this food to Red China problem .
It happened that after the war I was rather intimately associated
with General Chennault's attempt to help UNRRA provide relief
food and medicine to China, then under the Nationalist Government.
General Chennault formed his airline in the attempt to move inland
the food from the United States and the medicine from the United
REFUGEE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND MACAO 99
States that was piling on the docks of Shanghai, which was then the
port of entry, Canton was another port of entry, and to try to get it
through the redtape of the then local government bureaucracy, which
was then trying to play ball thebest it could, to the starving millions
in China, when after the war all transportation had been eliminated,
and people actually were starving and dying from lack of medicine
in the interior of China.
I worked intimately with that problem for several years, as an
associate of the general.
What always impressed me was that although the American Gov
ernment put its very best into that relief problem , it simply could
not manage the control of either the medicine or the food . Two citi
zens of such eminence as Fiorello LaGuardia , as the head ofUNRRA,
and Herbert Lehman , as the head of UNRRA, tried their best to see
that there was some kind of international control of this food , and
UNRRA, as you remember, was an international distribution.
Now, earlier President Hoover had faced this problem , after World
War I, in Poland. And even at that time the desperation of the
Communists was such that even Lenin permitted Hoover to move in
all -American relief teams, and a great many men of my generation
were in thoserelief teams,who actually in asense took over the coun
try territorially, as far as the distribution of American supplies were
concerned , and themselves made sure that Americans handed out the
food , handed out the medicine, and saw to it that the American Gov
ernment got credit for it. And it has always been amazing to me
that Lenin himself permitted that to be done.
Now , when we went into this international problem , in UNRRA,
where the food and the medicine were handled on an international
basis, we first found it inevitable that every other country had its own
problems with China, and in relationship to China. And it was in
escapable that as, in the situation that we found ourselves in in the
Congo, that everybody had his own motives in going into that inter
national effort, and unquestionably shading the disposition of the
material we gave them , inevitably, for their particular national
interest.
We had a great deal of trouble with UNRRA in Shanghai in par
ticular. And there was another associate of General Chennault, a
man named Whiting Willaver, who for many years has been an
Ambassador of the United States, who at thattime was the foreign
economic administrator for the United States in nonoccupied Asia ,
that is, the countries into which we did not send our troops of occupa
tion. He tried desperately to wrestle with the problem . And Chen
nault tried desperately to wrestle with the problem . So that you had ,
I would say , four of the ablest American servants who ever tried to
see to it that the American Government's purposes in distributing that
food and medicine were carried out. But they couldn't handle it in
China for very practical, concrete reasons.
You try yourself to conceive what happens when a shipload of food
or a shipload of medicine arrives at a dock in Shanghai. The food is
put into a godown. Who polices the godown ? You couldn't send
the U.S. Army to police the godown. You can't send American
troops to policethe godown.
100 REFUGEE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND MACAO
Even with a friendly government which was doing its best, in the
case of the Chinese Nationalist Government, there are elements in the
Chinese Nationalist Government who were playing their own game.
The food was simply stolen from the warehouse. How are you going
to prevent the food not being stolen from the warehouse. You can't
putour own Army in.
Then over territory as great as China is, you had enormous problems
of distribution from the importation to the interior. How does it get
into the interior? It gets into the interior over modes of transporta
tion like railroads — there were none in China in our day — or it gets in
on men's backs, or up the river on river boats, or in our case it gets in
over an airline. But who now controls the airline, who controls the
railroad ?
Now, suppose you are sitting in a country that is short of food .
Although in a good many cases, for the purpose of this deliberate
Communist Chinese effort,the food shortageisto some degree unreal,
you can't help but notice that the food is being exported all the time
from Communist China, as the only thing it has to send out into the
world, to buy foreign exchange, for instance, to get itself arms from
Russia, toget itself machinery partsfrom Russia. The Russians have
deliberately exported from the Chinese, at whatever cost of starvation
to the Chinese peasant, whatever was necessary, as you know they
have done with the Cubans. They have always got a bigger deal for
what they send in than any other trader ever got in thisworld . The
Russians have been taking food out of China regularly, despite the
food shortages, for years, as the price of their contribution .
Now , do you think that at the present time the desperation of the
Chinese Communist economy, that the Chinese Communist govern
ment, whose police will be around the godowns, whose police will con
trol the river boats, whose police will control the railroad transporta
tion, whose police will control the airlines, and whose agents will
necessarily control the distribution at any other points than the im
mediate point of disembarkation - because you haven't enough people
to send over theenormous territory of Chinato do the administrating.
Do you think that government isn't going to take that food , and in
substance say to the people who are atits mercy, " you play ball with
us, you eat and you have medicine. You don't play ball with us and
you don't eat and you don't have medicine .”
Now , you can put it down, out of our own experience, even with
the government that was not as ruthless as this one, we could not con
trol the swiping of the food, the management of the food for govern
ment purposes through what was alleged to be the black marketopera
tor, but he was often an agent of some portion of the government.
Even with the best men wehad to give inthe United States, with the
enormous power that we then had available, we couldn't manage it.
So that as far as putting food in in large quantities, by government
agencies, there is no question that you run a 99 percentrisk that this
would become an instrument of the power of the minority who, as this
witness has testified, control a majority of the people inChina today:
Now, then , President Hoover in a certain sense has understood and
has suggested that it might be possible, in order to show the world that
we meant to be humane, to propose that as nearly as possible the an
alogy to what he did in Poland might be recreated.
REFUGEE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND MACAO 101
That is, you might say — we do not try, because we know that over
the geographical vastness of China it isimpossible for us not to give
food to a government which will control it and make it an instrument
of policy. It might be possible that around the port areas, for in
stance, or at the Kowloon border, north of Hong Kong
you give us an area and you get out, and we will ourselves set up the administra
tion , as Hoover did in Poland, after the war, of a dispensing mechanism , that at
least for the people who can reach that area will have their food and their
medicine from American administrators, who will make it perfectly clear to the
world that America is being humane, but America is not being a “ patsy ” and hand
ing it to people who at the same time are keeping internal pressure on American
boys in Vietnam and Thailand and everywhere else and without breaking the
heart of those people in Asia , like Vietnam and Thailand, you are trying to hold
in line by saying America is being a “ chump " again, it is going to make the same
mistake it made about the agrarian reformers, it has not learned its lesson.
And we in Thailand and Vietnam now assume that the internal pressure on us
from the Chinese Communists is going to be fueled by America .
Now , if it were possible, Mr. Chairman, to say to the Chinese Com
munists , and to prove it, that “we will clear an enclave for you, and
we will feed, with obvious American administration , around Kowloon,
or around Shanghai, those who can reach it, and you will keep out,
and as far as we are concerned, this is like Hoover's Poland, our
show ” -then you could be sure whatyou would do.
But may I suggest another thing ! Just as in UNRRA , we ran into
this problem of the complication of the particular relati
that
ons of other
nations toward Communist China. I would not say do
you could
this internationally. After all, we learned in the Congo that in an in
ternational effort of this kind of scope, every nation has its own game
to play. And if you tried to do again, on an international basis, a
food relief job in China, and try to do it the same way you tried to
do it in the Congo, you would get into the same cross-purposes you got
into in the Congo.
Now, I come back to your specific question - sending food relief
parcels to individuals in China. I don't know how much could be
sent that way. I understand that there is some portion of the food
parcels that have been sent by refugees in Hong Kong back to their
relatives that get through. I would not assume, when there is a short
age, that the recipient of the parcel can get it all. You can't believe
that either. If a parcel of food addressed to a particular person
lands in a particular town, and lands through government instrumen
talities of transportation, which at least make it certain that every
body in the town knows that the recipient has received the parcel , I
don't believe you can assume that it isn't divided, nor that the govern
ment doesn't, for its purposes, see to it that a portion of the division
goes to the favored of the government in that town. Nevertheless,
they would have to give some portion of it or the transmission would
not continue. That is, you might get 5 percentof the parcel through
to the recipient of the parcel. Maybe you could do that as a humani
tarian gesture, but it couldn't amount to anything like the enormous
government grants of food. Some portion of the food might get
through . But you don't fool yourself, neither as to the quantity of it.
nor as to the percentage of anything that is of value.
And as to whether the Chinese Communist Government would ever
face up to letting you really be sure Americans control the distribu
tion, I don't know . I can't believe they would.
102 REFUGEE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND MACAO
But to look it square in the eye, Mr. Chairman , shipping food into
the territory of any strong government, particularly a government
carrying theterritorial strength of aa thing like China, cannot possibly
become but 99 percent the instrument of power of the government,
because on the experience of UNRRA , and the enormity of China, and
in the particular power of this Communist government over China,
the administrators are not available to the American Government to
do under these, circumstances what men of the stature of LaGuardia
and Herbert Lehman and Chennault and Willow could not do.
I think it is utterly unrealistic to think that there is any way of
guarding this thing so that 99 percent of the operable political value
of that food won't come under the control of whoever is the master
of territorial China.
Senator Hart. Let me raise this as a possibility down the road . If
there is, in fact, starvation on a massive scale in China, would it be
your judgment that except for energetic work on the part of the free
countries to find ways of establishing Chinese relief for those trying
to escape this starvation, that we would say, swell, the starvation
2
is on a scale never known to modern man, but we," for the reasons
you have described , "simply cannotpermit this food surplus of ours
to be used in a shipment of food to Red China ?" I am just trying to
test down the road.
Mr. CORCORAN. Well, Mr. Chairman, there are two things you have
to realize about these Communist countries that are trying to indus
trialize.
Starvation is a. deliberate policy. It is guns insteadof butter, with
all of these Communist countries. The Russians deliberately starve
their people in order to industrialize, and to acquire military power.
The Chinese Communists are doing it right now, and are going to
continue to do it right now. So starvation becomes to that degree an
instrument of policy. This is a guns rather than butter policy.
No matter how much you pourin, you understand thatinsofar as it
is under the control of the Government, it might just as well be sent
to Soviet Russia for atom bombs and machinery than given to the
people.
So as longas that policy exists in a Communist country, you can
not decide. I mean as long as they persist in that policy, all deuces
are wild.
Now , then, you get to the next problem .
In relation to this particular country, you do have a problem that
substantially you are in cold war with them right now. And it is
not so much what happens to you as what happens to people that you
aretrying to hold in an alliance with you.
Suppose, for instance, you have sent troops into Thailand, you have
sent troops into Thailand to tell them you are going to try to keep
them free - you have made that decision . Now , what do you think
the effect is — why did you send troops into Thailand ? You sent
troops into Thailand because they are worried about what is happen
ing in Laos, and so you had to send troops into Thailand, as I under
stand from what I read in the papers, in order to keep the Thai
determined to be free. The Thai know that the Chinese are after
them sooner or later anyway. So do the people of Vietnam.
REFUGEE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND MACAO 103
Now , suppose allof a sudden , in order to save your humanitarian
heart, the Thai and the Vietnamese understand that you are going,
in substance, to finance the Chinese in their ultimate aims of aggres
sion against Thailand and Vietnam — their reunion in the ancient
Chinese empire,in which the Chinese Communists regard them , as
they did with Tibet and Nepal. What do you think is going to bethe
effect on the Thai? In substance you are arming the Chinese Army.
And then what do you do in Thailand and Vietnam ?
Now, as I say, this is a problem , as somebody said, whether a gov
ernment with humanitarian intentions can be moral and political at
the same time.
There is no answer to your dilemma. You cannot afford to risk
your safety for the warmth of your heart.
There is a way in which you can prove to the world that you would
be willing to. And one of those is as has been suggested. Say
frankly to the Chinese Communist Government, " Wearewilling to
feed hungry people so long as we can keep the food for the hungry
people in ourown control, and not as an aid to youin your aggressive
purposes or your propaganda purposes to the south . Moreover, give
us a free area in Shanghai, don't make us trust an international com
mission whichyou can threaten if India is on it, or you can threaten
if someother European power is in on it, to play your game. Move
over, let us put another relief mission in ." And we say to the world,
and before the world opinion “ yes, we will help , prudently, Wewill
help if we are sure who is going to be helped . We will help if we
are sure this is not going to be used against people whom we have
urged to stand fast against this thing, and say to them , yes, move over,
give us a place to stand, give us 200 square miles north of the Kow
loon border, we will feed everyone who comes and give medicine to
those who come, but thereis none to go back. Give us this free part
around the area of Shanghai; we will do this.” And we say this to
the world and we mean it. But we are notgoing to be pious patsys.
Senator Hart. I am very glad Mrs. Chennault persuaded you to
give us theseviews, because they arevoiced against a background that
I know is full, and they certainly will be helpful.
Mr. CORCORAN . Mr. Chairman, I am very appreciative of the chance
to do it. I have been wrestling with these Chinese problems since
the year before Pearl Harbor. And I am afraid I never take my
sentries down when I am dealing with the Communist Chinese.
Senator HART. Mr. Johnson .
Mr. JOHNSON . No questions.
Senator HART. Are there any questions from the staff ?
Mrs. Chennault, again, we have enjoyed having you . We salute
you for the leadership you are giving in the effort to assist a prob
lem which is, I think, on the conscience of many more people today
than yesterday, and certainly that was on their conscience6 weeks ago
This committee is very grateful to you, and to those associated with
you , particularly Mr. Anderson and Mr. Lee .
Mrs. CHENNAULT. Thank you. I feel it is my duty as an American
citizen to do what I can for this country, and for the people who are
less fortunate than we are.
Senator HART. I think I ought to note for the record the contribu
tions that have been made, not alone in the effort to relieve human
104 REFUGEE PROBLEM IN HONG KONG AND MACAO
misery in Hong Kong, but across the world, by American voluntary
agencies is a chapter that would thrill every American and fill them
with pride. It is a chapter of which very few people are aware. It
is something that a person ought to look at when he feels that some
how or other America is not responding fully to humanity's needs
elsewhere.
Mrs. CHENNAULT. We certainly need everyone's help .
Mr. Eng has just presented me with a check of $ 20 to the Chinese
refugee relief. He just told me, even he himself, a refugee, and
they do not have much money. But he feels that he is now in this
country, he is more fortunate than the rest, and he wants to do what
ever he can. And he has presented a check of $ 20 in helping Chinese
Refugee Committee.
Senator Harr. Well, using that Chinese maxim that a picture is
better than words, I think that act is more eloquent than testimony.
Thank you very much.
Senator Tower, did you care to make any statement ?
Senator TOWER. No, thank you.
Senator HART. We are very glad you have spent the morning with
us. The committee is adjourned.
(Whereupon , at 12:30 p.m., the committee adjourned, subject to