ASIAN TOUR 1967 ' i~ 16
TA IWAN
PRESS CONFERENCE GIVEN BY THE PRIME MINISTER,
MR. HAROLD HOLT AT GRAND) HOTEL TAIPEI 6THAPIL, 1967
PRIL-E MINISTER: Good Morning, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press:
I just propose to comment quite briefly first and then
give you the opportunity of asking questions of me, but first may
I thank you for your pleasant introduction, and all of you for
the very friendly way in which you have greeted me this morning.
I am now nearing the end of this fascinating first visit
to Taiwan and the seat of the Government 0ñ the Republic of China,
and as you will no doubt be aware, wie leave at noon for the final
stage of this journey I have buen making, the visit to South Korea.
This is not the first journey I have made since becoming
Prime Minister to countries of South East Asi"-and the Pacific,
but this particular group of' countries selected on this occasion
includes those which have not previously been visited by me, except
for one quite inadvertent stopover for an hour or two while we had
an aircraft diverted in the course of a journey I was making a few
years ago to Tokyo. That is the only other time I have ever set
foot in Taiwan and so this has been a true journey of discovery for
me.& I feel that not only have I learned a great deal in the
other countries visited, as I expect to do in South Korea . aleo, but
my visit to Taiwan, base onabled me to come closer to your leaders,
to get to kniow several of them personally for the first time, to
renew old friendships with others, to see something of your quite
remarkable economic development, to see at first hand the treasures
that you have preserved from your thousand years of civilisation
and culture, all these things have been quite fascinating and
stimulating for me and I am sure that I shall be in a better
position to come to judgement with my colleagues c~ f the Cabinet
on matters relating to your country and its problems as a result
of tiis visit here.
I would have liked to express publicly my appreciation
to the Government, to the President and the Vice President, the
colleagues in the administration for the generous hospitality
we have received and for the very enjoyable and instructive time
we have had while we have been with you.
Q. Mr. Prime Minister, as I understand it, you might have
a pre-departural meeting with the generalissimo? Can you tell
us any major points to be discussed during this?
P. M. Well, I haven't myself restricted the range of the
discussion, it will be. for the President to indicate matters
to me he might wish to raise. For my part, having already had
the benefit of some useful discussions with him at our first
meeting, there is no special matter which I wish to raise with
him this morning, but I am sure that what passes between us will
be mutually informative and in that sense helpful.
Q. Mr. Prime Minister, to what extent, Sir, do the people
of Australia consider themselves Asians
P. M. Well, vwe are not racially Asians, of course, nor are
we by historical development of -the Asian tradition or culture,
but geographically vie are in the area of the world where the
peoples of the South East Asian area and the Pacific generally,
and indeed Asia as a whole, geographically are our neighbours
and in substance, as a result of the relationships wie have
developed over recent years, are very much not only our. neighbours
but our good friends. 2
2-
I think the very fa-ct thiat I have been able in the
course of my own short Prime 11inistership to visit, on the basis
of warm welcome, so many different countries of the area of
differing political outlooks and social structures is confirmation
that Australia does enjoy very good relations with the countries
of the area. This has been, I think, exemplified fully in this
visit where I am journeying to four countries very different in
political and social complexiono. but in each country I have been
most gratified by the warmth of w-. elcome which I and my party have
received. A warmth which I kn-ow reaches not only to me but to my
countrymen whom I represent.
It is only in comparatively recent years that Australia
has become conscious of its increasing involvement in the problems
of the area. This involvement reaches not only into matters of trade
butof political co-operation, and over at least five separate sets
of issues in the last twenty-five years Australia has foutnd itself'
militarily involved in the area, so w; e believe ourselves to be
very much part of the Asian scene.
Q. Sir, I have witnessed your troops in active service in
South Vietnam. If the war cannot be concluded in limited detail
are you going to send more troops down there?
P. M. Well, that is a policy matter which would have to be
discu ,* sed with my own Cabineti colleagues, and on the advice
finally of our own military advisors, and, of course, following
a request to that effect from the Government of South Vietnam.
We don't send troops there without the approval, and indeed at
the invitation, of the Government of South Vietnam.
It will be realised that Australia has other commitments
in other parts of Asia, for example, wie have troops stationed in
Malaysia, Singapore, in Ubon in Thailand, and there is a large
programme of training of our military forc'-s inside Australia,
which draws on our regular forces to a. cozoiderable extent.
So there are some practical limits as to how far wie can go in
a period when wie are also trying to press on with the development
of an under-populated continent, but when I mention that over the
last four years we will have more than doubled our expenditure
on defence, it will be seen that wie are making a grow%-ing
contribution to the security of the area generally and the
percentage of our gross national product devoted to defence is
moving up between 4.5 and
Q. Do you think thl ' t the countries having sent troops
to South Vietnam should have a voice about the future courses of
their forces in Guam and any other places?
P. M. I am sorry, I didn't get the reference in what.
Q. Countries that have sent troops to South Vietnam should
have a voice about the future course of action there, for instance,
in Guam or any other places.
P. M. Well, of course, there was a gathering after the Manila
Conference of those who had forces involved, and I am quite
certain that if there were concrete peace proposals coming forward
we should be consulted at all significant stages of such a
discussion. Wie have no reason to complain in Australia of any
lack of communication, indeed, we are in very frequent contact
with the Government of South Vietnam, I would say through our
Ambassador, virtually on a daily basis, and this is true to an
Aevmeenr iclaa rgaendr eoxthteenr t cwouitnht riceosm mwuhonsice atfioonrc ewsi tha ret hep aUrtniictiepda tSintagt esw iothf
ours in supporting the South Vietnamese people.
-3
Q. Mr. Prime Minister, how do you visualise the possibility
of strengthening. the ties of Sino-Australian relations in terms
of economy and culture?
P. M. Well, I think visits such as the one I have been making
and reciprocal visits from your leaders, will be helpful in that
direction. Wde get to know each other more closely and our problems
in more depth and dotail. As to trade, the briefing vie had from
your Cabinet Ministers indicated very good possibilities of
increasing imports into this country from Australia, as your own
economy develops and we would recognise that if this is to be,
then Australia must be looking to ways and means of improving our
purchases from Taiwan. These 4re connections, I think, where we
can be of help to each other.
I suggested last night, and I was glad to find that the
suggestion did not appear as difficult as I thought it might, that
we could have on display perhape at some time in Australia some of
the cultural treasures . hich you have here in Taiwan. One could
think of a variety of ways wh-, ich the knmovledge oif the two
countries can improve one for the other, and it will be my endeavour
to promote this process.
Q. Mr. Prime Minister, vie understand that Australia has
recognised Outer Mongolia rec.-ntly. Wie would like to know if
Australia has no tendency to establish an Emibassy to be used as
a listening post w~ hat benefit can it get froma this representation?
P. M. Wiell, I would like to communt on that in a little detail.
It is a fact that the Government recently took a decision to
recLgnise Outer Mungolia. This was not a matter which had been
reached hastily or suddenly by us. It ha-, s been under consideration
for some time and I want to make it clear that the decision was the
exercise of an entirely independent judgement by Australia and was
not the product of any pressure or influence from any other source.
But ie have taken the view that recognition should be given to
countries which observe the international standards appropriate to
membership of the United Nations and we have put that view forward
in respect of Mainland China on earlier occasions. But in the
case of Outer Mongolia, they have been members of the United Nations,
I think, for six years or thereabouts now.
They have, so far as vie have been able to judge, observed
the standards appropriate to membership of the United Nations.
They are members of Ecafe and Australia next year will be host to
Ecafe, an.-of all the Ecafe members attending that conference
Mongolia is the only country which had not, up to this point of
time, received recognition, and this did have a varyinS bearing
on the time of our decision. Another factor that had a bearing
on it was my own visit here.
Now it may seemi strange to some people that one announces
a decision which is not likely to be popular in the host country
just before you visit that country, but I think you must understand
something of the Australian character to rtecognise the significance
and appropriateness of this. I would not like to have come to this
country and have said nothing about this matter, and then
subsequently, afte: r having enjoyed your hospitality, gone away
and announced this decision. It would have been thought outside
either that it had the tactical approval of your Government, in
those circumstances, or else that objections had been raised which
we had not been prepared to accept. So we felt it was fairer and
honest more honest dealing to take our decision on what we
believe to be the merits of the case and announce it before Ly
visit here. 1o4*
-4
The other factor which I would like you to bear in
mind is that Australia has, it will be agreed, been a
consistent supporter of the Republic of China, in the United
Nations. We have joined consistently in backing your own
moves to maintain your independent position and status, and
we were, I think, very helpful to you particularly on this
last occasion, when thanks to -the effLorta of your Foreign
Minister and his colleagues of the Government, a very good vote
was secured on the issue of recognition.
Now Australia is likely to be more persuasive and
have more impact on other countries, if they feel vie do have
an independent judgement. We do exerciae that judgemient honestly
and fairly than if they get the impression that we just go along
automatically with any particular decision, and I think this is
well recognised by your Government as being typical of the
Australian attitude. We like to feel that we act with firmness
and forthrightness but with friendliness and in the case of your
own country we can fairly claim to be staunch friends throughout.
Q. Mr. Prime Minister, may I know what is your evaluation
of the cha'_ nces of the Chinese people on the Mainland to regain
their freedom, particularly in view ol" the political troubles
on the Mainland, after your discussions with our President Chiang
and our Vice President?
P. M. I think you would be able to get a much more satisfactory
answer on that matter from your own Govenment here than you could
hope to get from somebody as remote from the Mainland as we are.
I have been trying as I have gone around, and I have asked the same
question in the three governments w-, hich I have visited, what is
their evaluation of what is going on on the Mainland of China?
I am sure that your own government is the best informed of all the
governments I have visited and I would hope in the course of this
morning before I leave, to have some more information on that
matter, as I have a briefing with some of your authorities and
also shall be talkinG with the President, but in Australia vie have
very inadequate facilities for reporting in any . authorative way
in what is going on in either the cities or the countryside of the
Mainland. Any more questions
Q. Some on the latest immigration policy, I Llean your
policy as to be understood or misunderstood by Asia?
P. M. Well, I thinkc the-,: e is a good deal of misunderstanding of
it, not only on the part of the Governmaents of the countries of
Asia. We find a quite understanding attitude amongst them, after
all, there is not a country that I Icnow which doesn't maintain
a policy of immigration control. But in the sense that there has
been some ff-eling in the past of racial discrimination in Australia
I think that experience of Asians who have come to Australia in
recent years has helped to dissipate that very largely, and there
have been liberalisations of policy which have contributed to this.
I pointed out, when a similar question was asked in Hong Kong the
other day, that since the var some thirty thousand people of Asia,
and others who would have not been admitted under the rules which
applied before the war, have come into Australia.
There have been many thousands-who have taken out
naturalisation at the moment there is some twelve thousand students
from Asian countries in our schools and in our universities,
sometimes occupying places in univora ' itioa L. in university categories
on which quotas have to be imposed for Australian students, and
these become very good ambassadors for Australia when they come
back. Those of you who visit our country, I am sure, will find
friendliness, complete absence of discrimination and a warm welcome
to you. But wie have a problem of social integration in a relatively
small population of people and wie think that the trend is in the right
direction and this is intelligently perceived, I believe, by the
governments of the countries of Asia.