Thank you QiChi,
for letting me know the article. I am well in Waterloo, and I hope everything goes well for you in UBC.
Since others also have pointed it out to me, I felt obligated to voice my concern at this time. Thus, I am sending a copy to Mr. Lin and Mr. Chang. Mr. Lin produced the documentary to be shown in Taiwan starting on Oct. 30, and Mr. Chang is a reporter for the Central News Agency. They have the skills to search archives and I respect their attitude for truth. In addition, I am sending copies to a few other concerned people.
I don't know if the article is true because I have yet to read the documents mentioned in the article.
More than ten years ago, China Times Weekly published an article citing US released files in the National Archive, but wrote the entire article based on their interview with Mr. Dean Rusk, who was the Assistant to the Secretary of the State managing Asian Affairs in the early 1950s. They twisted Rusk's words.
Dr. C.H. Yeh and I wrote to China Times Weekly, and requested a transcript of their interview with Mr. Dean Rusk. Their (US) lawyer sent us the transcript. I carefully compared the transcript with their published article, and found them twisted Mr. Rusk's words. They said much more than what Mr. Rusk has told them. Dr. Yeh and I wanted to proceed with a court action, suing China Times Weekly for damage to Gen. Sun's reputation in the U.S. I also wrote to Mr. Dean Rusk for clarification of his interviews. Mr. Dean Rusk wrote to me, and his letter calmed the flood of speculations in the Chinese media. Since the speculation and accusation have stopped, we have not pressed forward for the court action. Another reason for not going forward was due to the grave illness Gen. Sun suffered at that time. He passed away shortly after. However, I wrote a letter to China Times (U.S.) lawyer, explaining how the author put words in Mr. Rusk's mouth.
With an incidence in the past, I have read the article carefully. The article did not disclose the entire content of all document, neither has it given the accurate source of the files for scholars to verify. On the other hand, it is very opinionated. The article lacks the quality of scholar publication, and I put little faith in this type of articles. We have to investigate and carry out more research on this matter.
I am also interested and anxious in seeing the document. I want to find the truth myself. I want to approach the truth in a scholar manner. Being a scholar yourself, I think you will agree that Gen. Sun is a historical person. What and how he did is important for us all, and we should all learn from the past for the benefit of the future.
C. Chieh