Song Meiling gave a series of speeches in the United States
After Japan began its full-scale invasion of China on July 7, 1937, Soong Mei-ling fully supported the anti-Japanese patriotic action led by her husband Chiang Kai-shek, and her work was also expanded from the air force to wartime diplomacy and the rescue of orphans.
On March 10, 1938, the Wartime Child Care Association was established in Hankou, with Song Meiling as its chairman. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Children's Care Association set up more than 20 branches and 53 wartime childcare homes throughout the country to accommodate more than 30,000 refugee children. Song Meiling often brings candy and biscuits to the nursery to visit the children. In March and April 1938 alone, Song Meiling paid for the living expenses of nearly 2,500 refugee children.
Song Meiling did not have children of her own, and she poured out her maternal love to wartime orphans. Song Meiling had such a spirit of responsibility at the moment when the country was in trouble. Not only that, Song Meiling's tough performance in national integrity shocked Nazi leader Hitler!
It was August 8, 1939. Hitler sent his envoy von Gonin to persuade Chiang Kai-shek to threaten China that "defeat is decided and its demise is imminent" and that he wanted to accept the proposal of "Sino-Japanese peace", in fact, he wanted To make China a vassal state of Japan. Soong Mei-ling formally stepped forward to respond to Gonin on behalf of Chiang Kai-shek.
A clerk recorded the entire process of Song Meiling's confrontation with Gonin. After Chiang Kai-shek left, Song Meiling sat quietly, raised her head slightly, and looked at Gonin with her eyes half open, without making a sound for two minutes. In the cold, Gonin had to speak to himself first. Song Meiling looked directly at him expressionlessly, until finally Gonin expressed his full meaning.
After another 3 minutes, Song Meiling said, "Are you done?" Gonin hurriedly replied, "Yes, I am waiting to hear Madame Gao's argument." Song Meiling stood up, slowly and slowly stepped in front of a spring chair and sat down. After a pause, Song Meiling said: "First of all, I declare that I am not a diplomat, and I will not and am not accustomed to using diplomatic rhetoric. Let's be honest. If you are rude, don't be surprised. But I do not want you to embellish and embellish my words in your reply to the Hitler Fuehrer.
Then, Song Meiling solemnly and solemnly declared: "Our leader Chiang Kai-shek, myself, all the government officials of our country, all the generals, officers, soldiers, and the people of the whole country, all of us, swear to fight the Japanese aggressors to the end and must drive all the invaders out of China's territory." Now and in the future, we will never make peace with the aggressor, the Japanese bandits. If Japan cannot continue to fight and demands an end to the war, it must all withdraw its invading army and extradite Wang Jingwei, the emperor of puppet Manchukuo, and the traitors of all sizes to us to accept the trial of the government of the Republic of China..."
Song Meiling's words are really loud! Gonin was not mentally prepared at all, he was a little overwhelmed, and after being shocked, he adjusted his tone and replied: "Forgive me for taking the risk, what did you rely on to win this war?" For example, weapons, relying on Britain and the United States? Not necessarily reliable!" Song Meiling replied: "We rely on ourselves, rely on the sincere unity of the whole country, and share the same enemy!" ......”
The unwilling Gonin still wanted to continue to persuade, so Song Meiling directly issued an eviction order: "Your Excellency, still pretending to be a British businessman, transferring to Vietnam through Kunming to return to China?" At the end, Song Meiling added: "I should also give a verbal memorandum: I (my people) did not explicitly declare Mr. Undesirable!"
The gray-headed Gonin replied awkwardly, "Yes, ma'am!" I think our great Fuehrer will be very surprised: I can't imagine that your country is in today's predicament and still has such a tough attitude!"
Song Meiling replied without waiting for him to finish speaking: "It is not surprising that the Hitler Fuehrer was surprised by this. Because the rulers of the three axis countries have no idea about the greatness of the Chinese nation's perseverance. ”
That's a powerful answer! Song Meiling is showing the integrity and dignity of China's five-thousand-year civilization to the entire camp of invaders! And what really won the dignity of the Chinese nation was Song Meiling's speech in the US Congress, which was a wonderful chapter recorded in the annals of China's modern history!
After that speech, the international community reached out to the Republic of China, and Song Meiling gained the reputation of "diplomatic rose". As the first Oriental woman invited to give a speech to the US Congress, Song Meiling successfully persuaded the US foreign policy focus to shift from Europe to Asia, and won US aid to China, greatly accelerating the victory of the War of Resistance.
From February to April 1943, Song Meiling visited the United States as Chiang Kai-shek's special envoy. Song Meiling has successively given speeches and given interviews to reporters in the US Congress, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and other places, and has carried out intensive diplomatic activities, setting off a "whirlwind of Song Meiling" in the United States, making the United States and even the world look at China with astonishment.
The most notable was Song Meiling's speech to the U.S. Congress on February 18, 1943. Before the formal speech, the US side invited her to "say a few words" to the Senate, and Song Meiling gave an impromptu speech in the Senate without preparation. She said: "I was not an orator who was good at improvised speeches, but I was not an orator; However, I am not without courage. ”
After a basic greeting and testimonial, Song Meiling reversed the subject and told a small story from Eastern Buddhism. In the story, a young monk recites "Amitabha Buddha" every day, thinking that this will lead to positive results. Later, the abbot enlightened him that it was impossible to succeed if he only recited the Buddha in his mouth without actually practicing. After telling the story, Song Meiling said: "Dear friends in the United States, I (Yu) therefore feel that we (our people) should not only have ideals and declare such ideals, but should also realize such ideals with actions." She concluded by admitting that she was willing to join the parliamentarians here in understanding the lessons of this story.
After Song Meiling finished speaking, the warm applause lasted for a long time. The parliamentarians heard that Song Meiling used this little story to inspire Americans, reminding them not only in attitude, but also in action to give More practical support to China. The lawmakers began to think about the questions raised by Soong Mei-ling.
Song Meiling is really worthy of both talents and looks! Her speeches in the United States are still talked about today. And Song Meiling's speech in the House of Representatives directly conquered the hearts of Americans.
In her speech, Song Meiling first mentioned that her motherland had shed blood and sacrificed and had gone through five and a half years of indomitable resistance. She then praised the U.S. Air Force soldiers who aided the Republic of China's War of Resistance for their composure and perseverance, enduring homesickness, tropical dryness and heat, and fighting with Chinese.
Song Meiling said that the Chinese nation is in a moment of crisis. "When the Japanese warlords launched their all-out war against China in 1937, military experts from various countries recognized that China had no glimmer of hope," she said. But Japan cannot force China to bend its knees, as it once boasted; Therefore, people all over the world are deeply comforted by this phenomenon. ”
Soong reminded the United States that it cannot just focus on the European battlefield and ignore the potential threat of Japan. "Let us not forget that the resources that Japan today possesses in its occupied territories are more abundant than those of Germany," she said. We must not forget that if Japan is allowed to possess such resources without contending, the longer it will take, the greater its power will be. One more day of postponement would be the sacrifice of the lives of a number of Americans and Chinese. ”
Song Meiling concluded, "During the first four and a half years of the all-out invasion, China was alone and helpless, resisting the erotic rage of the Japanese warlords. For the sake of justice and morality, the Chinese people "sometimes have to sacrifice everything, even risk failure, in an effort to promote its realization." ”
These words are equally shocking today, more than seventy years later. Song Meiling's speech clearly expressed the indomitable spirit of the Chinese nation. At that time, the United States experienced the bitter lesson of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and was in awe of the bravery of the Chinese in resisting aggression under such difficult conditions. Therefore, as soon as Song Meiling's speech fell, the Chamber of Representatives resounded with warm applause for a long time. One of the lawmakers present said he had never seen such a scene before, and Thato's speech almost brought him to tears. At that time, a reporter from the Washington Post commented on Song Meiling: "Conquer the US political circles with wisdom and courage and eliminate the prejudice of the Americans against China."
Brom, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the US House of Representatives, said very movingly: "Mrs. Chiang's elegant attitude, thorough explanation of the world situation, and fluent and dexterous use of English in her speech not only enable every audience to understand its significance, but also to share the same views with it.
The people of mainstream American society were really touched by Song Meiling's speech. On the first day after her speech, Soong attended a White House press conference with President Roosevelt and his wife. A reporter asked Song Meiling: I heard that China has not made full use of manpower? Song Meiling replied: "China has done its best in manpower, but there is a shortage of munitions, and China has no shortage of well-trained pilots, but not enough aircraft and gasoline."
A reporter immediately asked: How does China get arms? Song Meiling replied: "The president has solved many important problems, and I agree with your president on this issue." President Roosevelt immediately said that the U.S. government would speed up aid to China. So the reporter turned the conversation to Song Meiling and asked her what she thought of military assistance. Song Meiling replied, "Heaven help the self-helpers."
The progress of the US aid to China is exactly as Song Meiling hoped. Before Song Meiling went to the United States, 53 transport aircraft on the China-India route carried less than 1,500 tons per month. On March 10, after Soong Mei-ling's speech to the U.S. Congress, Roosevelt telephoned Chiang Kai-shek to approve the creation of the Fourteenth Air Force, with Chennault as commander, and to increase the number of Chennault aircraft to 500 as soon as possible; In addition, the number of aircraft carried by Hump airlift will be increased, with the ultimate goal of reaching 10,000 tons of supplies per month. In fact, in the first half of 1944, the US Air Force aided China more than 500 aircraft, and in the second half of the year, the supplies coming to China through the Hump route exceeded 46, 600 tons per month. Afterwards, Chiang Kai-shek said with emotion: "Madame's ability is worth 20 army divisions."
When Song Meiling delivered her third important speech on her visit to the United States at the Hollywood Open Air Assembly Hall, in addition to the 30,000 people listening to it, more than 200 Hollywood celebrities who supported China's War of Resistance took turns to greet Song Meiling. Chinese well-known big-name movie stars such as Robert Taylor, Jallie Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Catherine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Litai Hayworth, Shulan Temple, etc. have become fans of Song Meiling, who not only donate generously, but also take pride in witnessing Song Meiling.
Song Meiling's story is full of legends! At the most critical moment of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, such a first lady, Song Meiling, was arranged to pierce the deadlock and open a large channel for foreign aid.
Song Meiling's trip to the United States completely changed the stereotype of Americans about China, and more than 250,000 people listened to her speeches, from Luce, the founder and president of Time magazine, down to ordinary housewives, workers and other Americans from all walks of life, who donated money to China. Tens of millions of dollars were donated from the American people alone, giving strong support to the Chinese people who persisted in the war under the most difficult conditions.
When Song Meiling visited the United States this time, the Chinese americans also deeply benefited. The US Congress seized the opportunity to repeal the More Than 60-year-old Chinese Exclusion Act, so that Chinese Americans were no longer discriminated against and their social status was significantly improved. At that time, the Uspan media tracked and reported her trip, and many magazines used her portrait as the cover, and Song Meiling became a household name in the United States.