Pacific Story. In the mounting fury of world conflict, events in the Pacific are taken on even greater importance. Here is the story of the Pacific and the millions of people who live around this greatest sea. The drama of the peoples whose destiny is at stake in the Pacific War. Here as another public service is the tale of the war in the Pacific and its meaning to us and to the generations to come. Formosa, prize of the China Sea. The Japanese call Formosa the stone aiming at the south. From Formosa they launch their attacks on the Philippines, Malaya and the Netherlands Indies. From this springboard, this stone aiming at the south, the Japanese drove the Americans, the British, the French and the Dutch out of the southwest Pacific. Today the Japanese are solidly entrenched in this strategic island which lies 700 miles south of Japan, 200 miles north of the Philippines, 100 miles off the coast of China. European powers first saw the value of Formosa in the 17th century. The Portuguese called it Ilha Formosa, beautiful island. The Dutch established a base on its southwestern shore. Then the Spaniards built a fort at Kee Lung on its northern shore and built another in its northwest. It was in 1641 that the governor of the Spanish fortress at Kee Lung received... All three of those Dutch ships have their guns trained on us here in the fort, Governor Portillo. They have come here for trouble. They sent that boat ashore nearly an hour ago, sir. If those Dutchmen have come here for trouble, we shall give it to them. Every man is at his post. The guns are loaded. Keep a close watch on them and let me know if they... See who it is. Who is it? It is Leander. I have a message from the Dutch ships for Governor Portillo. Let him in. Yes, sir. This message, Governor Portillo, it was brought ashore by a Dutch officer. Let me have it. Where is the Dutch officer? We are holding him at the waterfront. Hmm. Hmm. To Gonzalo Portillo, Governor of the Spanish fortress in the island of Kee Lung. Sir, I have the honor to communicate that I am in command of a considerable naval and military force... to make me master by civil means or otherwise of the fortress of which your excellency is the governor. The insolent wretch. You seem very determined, sir. Quiet. That presumptuous fool. I now summon you to surrender. If your excellency is disposed to deliver the fortress to me, your excellency and your troops will be treated well. But if your excellency feigns to be deaf to this command, there will be recourse to arms. I hope your excellency will give consideration to this letter and avoid the useless effusion of blood. And I trust that without delay and in a few words you will make known to me your intentions. May God protect your excellency many years. Sign, Paulus Tradenius. That's what he said, that they want us to surrender. Quiet. Surrender. Why? And to whom? Salazar. Yes, sir. Have you your quill and paper ready? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Take this to the, to Paulus Tradenius. You have that? Paulus Tradenius, yes, sir. Sir, I have duly received your communication and in response I have the honor to point out to you that, that as becomes a good Christian who respects the oath he has made before his king, I cannot and I will not surrender the fort. I, I am, I am accustomed to find myself in command of great armies and I have engaged in numerous battles in Flanders as well as other countries and so I beg of you not to take the trouble of writing me further. May each one defend himself as best he can. That's all. No, no, add this. May the Lord have mercy on you. Is that all, sir? Yes, yes, yes. Write it and I shall sign it. We will let the Dutchman know that he will not. The Dutch ships bombarded the fort and landed a small number of troops. But the Spaniards threw them back. The Dutchman sailed away. But they did not give up. Eighteen months later they came back. What this is, Lord the First. Stand by. And fight. Rock side. Fire. Fire. Direct hit on the fort. Load all pieces. Load all pieces. Hold together. Leutnant Sotenga. Your orderly. Captain Den Harding wishes to speak with you at once. Very well, at once. Leutnant Sotenga reporting, sir. Leutnant, is the fortress continuing to reply to our fire? Not so vigorously, sir. We reduced much of it with direct hits. Then the intelligence we have received from our spies ashore must be correct. Three of the four companies of Spanish troops that were here eighteen months ago have now been recalled to Manila. There is only one company defending the fort? Eight Spanish soldiers, eight Luzon Indians, and some forty native archers have been sent from Manila to help them. We will send an attacking force ashore at once. You will command the landing party, Leutnant Sotenga, and we'll make all preparations. The Dutch swept ashore, gained a beachhead, and laid siege to the fort. They mounted artillery on a hill commanding the fortress. This is the sixth day of fort as we stood our cannonade in, Captain Den Harding. They are running up a white flag, Leutnant. Look through your field glasses. Yeah. Yeah, they are. And a party under a white flag is coming out of the fort. Why? They are coming to us. Cease firing. Cease firing! Cease firing! They are surrendering, Captain. They are surrendering. Leutnant Sotenga, this means that the Dutch have become undisputed masters of Formosa. The Dutch took over Formosa. They undertook to tame the wild Aborigines who inhabited the island. But the Dutch had only held Formosa two years when an event on the mainland in China changed the character of the island. The Manchus invaded China and overthrew the Ming Dynasty. One hundred thousand Chinese fled to Formosa. These Chinese were to be an important factor when the Chinese Napoleon, Coxsinger, invaded Formosa eighteen years later. Do I understand that this is an ultimatum from Coxsinger? Yes, sir. You see, Governor Collette, he says here that Formosa was the dominion of his father, and that the island should descend to no other but himself, Coxsinger. He demands that all foreigners must go. Does he not know that Formosa is now a possession of the Netherlands? He made it clear to me, sir, that if the garrisons of our two forts do not surrender, that he will put all of us to fire and the sword. We shall not be intimidated. Yes, Major. This courier has just come in with intelligence from Port Zelandia. Yes. What is it, courier? The Chinese on the island are helping Coxsinger and his army. The traitors! They flocked down to the beach to help Coxsinger when his war junks came in. How many war junks did Coxsinger bring? Many, very many. He came with twenty-five thousand Chinese soldiers and with twenty-six generals. When he landed, his soldiers beat drums and fired guns, and the Chinese on the island flocked down to help him. They fought like mad dogs against us. We have put down uprisings among our Chinese before. But now they have Coxsinger as a leader. And with the Chinese, if the island behind him, he is dangerous. Who is this Coxsinger? They call him Coxsinger, but his name is Cheng Cheng Kung. He's the son of a Chinese pirate and a Japanese girl. He's only twenty-two years old, but he's a general of great courage and enterprise and ability. A pirate? No, sir. He's not a pirate. He is devoting his life to restoring the Chinese empire. Kolya, do you have anything further to report? Yes, sir. Coxsinger is besieging Fort Provincia with twelve thousand of his soldiers. Very well. Read outside. Yes, sir. What is your advice, Colonel? That we surrender Fort Provincia and concentrate our forces here for the defense of Fort Zeelandia. Huh? And you, Major? My advice is the same as the Colonel's. Very well. That is what we shall do. I want you two to go to Coxsinger and offer to surrender Fort Provincia. The two Dutch officers went to Coxsinger. In a spacious tent, they waited the leisure of the twenty-two-year-old Chinese Napoleon. While the Colonel and the Major waited, Coxsinger leisurely combed his long black shining hair, of which he was proud. When they were at last ushered into Coxsinger's tent, they found him seated at a table surrounded by his generals dressed in long robes, all of whom had somber, awful faces. Coxsinger listened in silence to the two Dutch officers. Not a muscle in his face moved. His motionless, slanting eyes fixed on the Dutchman as they spoke. When they were finished... For Moser has always belonged to China. China wishes it now. All foreigners must leave the island at once. If you should choose to resist, hoist the red flag above your forts. Fort Provincia surrendered, but the Dutch hoisted the red flag above Fort Zeelandia. Coxsinger besieged it. Governor Coyette. Yes, Colonel? Coxsinger's bombarding us at the weakest point in the fort. How could he know where that is? I don't know. He has set up batteries on three hills. At this rate, he will reduce the fort completely. How long can we resist, Colonel? Not very long, sir. If Coxsinger should advance now, we would not be able to stop him. We only had 2200 soldiers and our casualties have been high. Then further resistance is useless. Order cease firing, Major. Cease firing! Cease firing! Hold down the red flag and hoist the white one. Yes, sir. Colonel, send a message to Coxsinger. He will hand over the fort. The Dutch forts fell in ruins. All vestiges of Dutch influence disappeared. For the next 220 years, Formosa was dominated by the Chinese. They absorbed some of the Aborigines. They killed many. And the most stubborn fighters among the Aborigines were driven into the mountains. Formosa became entirely Chinese in character. But in the passing years, other eyes were on Formosa. Let's stop here for a few minutes. Look at the cow. It's beautiful. And when you say anything is beautiful here in Formosa, it's really beautiful. It's the most beautiful place we've seen on this trip. Look at the harbor. It's big enough for the largest ships. Yes, that's the great port of the south here in Formosa. A lot of commerce moves through that harbor. It could be an important naval base, too. There's a photographer over there taking a picture of the cow in its harbor. Is that Japanese? That photographer that has his place right near the place where we stay down there. Is it? Yes, look, isn't it? Got a great eye for beauty, those jacks. Let's walk over and talk to him. He must have come up here on this hill all by his lonesome to take pictures. He's got a fine photographing outfit there. Hello there. Oh, hello. Hello. Getting some pictures, eh? Yes, sir. The view is very inspiring from here. Yeah, great harbor down there. Beautiful. Order of Taiwan is beautiful. Well, we've seen quite a bit of it, hiking over the country. Yeah. Say, have you ever seen those cliffs over on the east coast of the island? Sheer drop of 6,000 feet right down into the sea. Yes, sir. I have seen them. Very inspiring. It would be very hard to approach the island from that side. You get some pictures of the cliffs? Yes, from the sea. You know, the thing I like about Formosa is this tropical climate. It is warmer than Japan. It is halfway between Shanghai and Hong Kong and halfway between Tokyo and into China. Yeah. Taiwan is really closer to China and to the Philippines than to Japan. Uh-huh. But there are things here that one can never see in Japan. So I photograph them. Ever notice the flowers? I've never seen such bright and sweet-scented vegetation. Orchids, camphor oak, cork. No, but I photograph many of the rivers. Yeah, they've got a lot of water power in those rivers. What I like about this island is this tropical climate. Oh, it is not always pleasant. In winter, the northeast monsoons grow from the continent. And sometimes there are bad storms, typhoons. When there are storms, it is not good to be outside. Now, please, if you would excuse, I must go back to Takao. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. He certainly knows Formosa, doesn't he? Yeah, he certainly does. He even knows how far it is from Tokyo and Hong Kong and Shanghai. I don't know how that fellow can stay in business as a photographer. All the time we've been around here. I've never seen one customer in his shop down there in Takao. Why do you suppose he was up here photographing? In every city there were Japanese photographers, laundromen, drugists, shopkeepers. Their importance was better understood after the outbreak of the war between Japan and China in 1894. China was defeated. There were rumors that China, wishing to keep Japan from getting Formosa, urged Britain to take it. Britain declined and later France declined. The Chinese on Formosa tried to organize a republic but failed. In Shimonoseki in Japan, the delegates from China and Japan met at the peace table. Li Hongchang spoke for China. Marquis Ito spoke for Japan. It was a battle of diplomacy between past masters. Our forces have now gone to Formosa. Occupation of Formosa by Japan will not be very palatable to Great Britain, Marquis Ito. An injury to China is not an injury to Great Britain. Formosa is very near to Hong Kong. War between two powers does no injury to a third, Li Hongchang. I cannot give up Formosa. In that case, I must take it. It would be well for you to remember that other nations found Formosa hard not to crack. Besides, we want to be friends. Indemnity and the cession of territory are like debts, Li Hongchang. After the debts are paid, we shall naturally be friends. You press your debtors too hard, Marquis Ito. Within a month, we expect China formally to turn over Formosa to Japan. Why are you in such a hurry about Formosa when it is actually in your mouth? We have not swallowed it yet, Li Hongchang, and we are very hungry. Formosa became Japan's first colony, her first possession outside of the islands of Japan. It marked the crystallization of the Japanese policy of expansion, and so they faintingly called it the stone aiming at the south. Japan had taken Formosa, but it was still to be pacified. Years of fighting were required to put down the rebellious Chinese. Even more troublesome were the savage Aborigines. Lieutenant Kozou, what happened to the last two men at this post? They were killed by the savages, and you too must see it does not happen again. Yes, sir. Come into the guardhouse. Yes, sir. This guardhouse is big enough for four men. There is a guardhouse right this every quarter mile around the crest of this mountain. This is called the guard line. Is this guardhouse Aborig proof, sir? Yes, and here you see a group of four firing out. Do the savages have guns? No one is permitted to give them guns. Now come outside. You see, there is a barbed wire fence between the guardhouses, and there are barbed wire entanglements in front of the fence. The savages would not try to get through this. You are to fire at any savage who tries it. Yes, sir. The wire savages are all inside this barbed wire fence. It encloses nearly half of all the island of Taiwan. What of the tame ones? The tame ones have been willing to accept Japanese rule, and they are outside the fence, but they must not be permitted to go back with the wild ones. Yes, sir. The wild ones are uncivilized, and they must be kept inside the barbed wire. The barbed wire is electrified. Do not touch. You understand? Yes, sir. You have your orders. Keep a sharp lookout. I will return at regular intervals. Yes, sir. You keep watch on this side of the guardhouse. I will watch on the other side. Yes. And remember, you are to fire at any savage that tries to get through the barbed wire. The wild aborigines are headhunters. They are courageous and formidable, and they know the Japanese well. Although the Japanese have enclosed them in the mountain fastness of Formosa, they prefer this to yielding to the Japanese. This post is deserted. Where are the guards of this guardhouse, Lieutenant Kuzoa? I posted them here, sir, and gave them their orders. Where are they? Perhaps they are out around the barbed wire. We will soon see. They are nowhere in sight. Captain, here is one of them. What has happened to him? Look, he has been shot in the face. Dead? The other one must be nearby. Yes. There he is, right over there. Is he shot through? Yes, he is shot through the neck. Both of them were shot from the front. Where did the savages get the guns? I don't know. Look, what is that? It is a bamboo bridge, built right over the top of the barbed wire. For 50 years, Japan has been struggling to tame these wild aborigines. They are still wild. Meantime, Japan exploited the tame aborigines, and most of the Chinese are Formosa. They made Taiwan a military and commercial outpost of the Japanese Empire. I am a missionary. I have been here in Taiwan for years. Two years after the Japanese took Taiwan, they established the Bank of Taiwan to penetrate South China and the South Seas. Then that was one of the reasons for calling Formosa the stone aiming at the South. Yes. Within the next few years, they established branches in Amoy, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and all through Malaya. They were looking to the South. What are the industries? All the important industries of Formosa are government monopolies. The government has a monopoly on opium, on camphor and salt, on tobacco, and even on liquor. A Japanese spokesman for the government said, all these monopolies are for the good of the public, to check speculation and to maintain a high uniform quality of the products. Actually, these monopolies have made considerable revenue for Taiwan, though that was not the main object in establishing them. Not only are the important industries government monopolies, but the second-rate ones are controlled by Japanese private interests. All Formosa is exploited for the benefit of the Japanese. And politically, it is controlled by the Japanese militarists. To the militarists, Taiwan was a strategic jewel. Kee Lung in the North and Takao in the South, they developed into ports to accommodate great ships. Kee Lung in the North, they fortified. Takao in the South, they developed as a springboard to the South. Takao is nearer to Manila than to Yokohama. And it was from here that the Japanese landed in the Philippines in their drive on Manila. Criss-crossing Formosa, they built a system of communications in order to move troops to any point without difficulty. And in the Pescadores Islands between Formosa and China, they built their great military port at Mako and cloaked it in secrecy. Japan took 45 years to prepare Taiwan as a base for the drive southward. But they never completely subjugated the Japanese Chinese. In spite of the repressive measures of the Japanese government, millions of Chinese retained their language, religion, and their will to be free. Now that Japan is at war with China, we Chinese here in Taiwan will be watched closer than ever before. It was logical that the Japanese should dissolve our organization after the Mako Polo Bridge incident. It does not matter. They can drive us underground. But there are five million of us here who are potential enemies. More than just potential enemies. Now we must unify all the revolutionary parties in Taiwan. Yes. We must have a united front. We are stronger than ever before. The groups that once were moderate now see that all of us must take direct action. Yes. And let us all see that if Japan defeats China, that Japan will do the same with all China as she has done with Taiwan. She will exploit it economically and will use its position and resources for still further aggression. Li Puyang, will you outline the aims of our united organization? Yes. As Chinese, we have a great task to do here in Taiwan. As a united movement, our aims will be, first and foremost, to disorganize Taiwan's production and communications. Second, to strengthen the anti-Japanese... First and foremost, to disorganize Taiwan's production and communications. From the time of the Japanese attack on China in 1937, the Chinese underground in Formosa dedicated itself to this destructive task. The explosions went off in the mine just before dawn. The damage was so great that all operations had been halted in the mine. Japanese officials have started an investigation... The flames and billowing smoke are rising nearly a mile into the sky. The entire field of oil wells has been crippled, and no clue to the start of the fire has been found. Efforts are being made... The collision of the trains occurred at midnight and resulted in a wreck that demolished both trains and the mine. Wrecking crews are waking frantically at the scene. Efforts are now being made to... The Japanese form a small part of the population of Formosa, and across the narrow straits lies old China, still unconquered, still fighting. Today, as the tide of the war in the Pacific rises higher and higher, the Chinese in Formosa have, for the first time, since 1894, reason for encouragement. Today, the Japanese on Formosa are facing a rising tide of sabotage and violence. The attitude of the Chinese in Formosa is clearly set forth in the statement of Li Yupeng, leader of the Formosan Revolutionary League. Since the moment Formosa was ceded to Japan 50 years ago, we started prolonged and determined warfare against the Japanese. We can never forget the Japanese massacring us by tens of thousands. Our struggles never ceased for a day with one objective, the return to the arms of our fatherland, China. For 300 years, since the struggles between the Spanish and the Dutch, Formosa has been the prize of the China Sea. The heavy hand of the Japanese has blacked it out for half a century. The Japanese have been the most powerful force in the world. The Japanese have been the most powerful force in the world. The Japanese have been the most powerful force in the world. But today, a ray of light is flickering for its freedom. Instead of being the stone aiming at the south, it may well become the stone aiming at the north, at the heart of Japan. You have been listening to The Pacific Story, presented by the National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated independent stations as a public service to clarify events in the Pacific and to make understandable the cross currents of life in the Pacific Basin. A reprint of this Pacific Story program is available at the cost of ten cents. Send ten cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. The Pacific Story is written and directed by Arnold Marquis. The original musical score was composed and conducted by Thomas Paluso. Your narrator, Gain Whitman. This program came to you from Hollywood. This is the National Broadcasting Company. Thank you.
