Taiwan was in a weird state in the early 1950s. The KMT which had formerly ruled China now just had the island of Formosa. Perhaps it was necessary to kid themselves that the defeat was just a setback in a longer struggle. Maybe if Taiwan could recruit some of the PLA soldiers captured in the Korean War. That would prove that everything isn’t so peachy on the mainland. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
This stamp has a strange visual. The prisoner who has broken the chains that bind him appears to be drowning. Perhaps if a helping hand from Taiwan was coming out of the dark sky to save him it would make more sense. The 10th Taiwan World Freedom Day commemorates the day that a ship carrying 14,000 PLA prisoners of the Korean War landed in Taiwan. They had elected to go there instead of returning to mainland China. This event was played as a victory and was the start of a long lasting worldwide anti communist organization, the Asian People’s Anti Communist League. This bunch is now known as the World League of Freedom. I am sure they gave the CIA their banking information.
Todays stamp is issue A205, a $3.20 Taiwan Dollar stamp issued on January 23rd, 1964. The two stamp issue in different denominations marks the 10th celebration of the World Freedom Day holiday. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth $2.75 unused.
After the Korean War ended in 1953, Chinese soldiers who had “volunteered” to fight on the North Korean side but taken prisoner by the United Nations forces were given a choice as to whether they would prefer to repatriate to China or go to Taiwan. This seems a bizarre choice to offer as they were prisoners and therefore it was impossible to know their real intentions. It was of course also bizarre to believe the Chinese Army marching into North Korea was volunteering instead of acting under orders from Peking. In any case, 23,000 of the POWs were sent to Taiwan. Many apparently had served previously in the KMT Army during the late 1940s Chinese Civil War. It was not unusual in that for soldiers or whole units to change sides.
1954 was a time when the USA was formalizing relations with Asian countries as a buffer against the advance of Communists. The most prominent part of this was the South East Asia Treaty Organization, SEATO. This was modeled on NATO and lasted from 1954-1977. Taiwan formed the Asian People’s Anti Communist League in South Korea with the Philippines also a member. It’s goal was to provide support to anti communist activists around Asia and eventually world wide. You hear of course about the Socialist Internationale with all it’s anarchists but not so much about the other side. The organization’s Secretariat went through many homes passing through South Korea, Manilla before a 10 year stay in Saigon in then South Vietnam. The fall of Saigon in 1975 temporarily ended the organization but it was reconstituted in Taipei in 1977. In 1991, the name changed to World League of Freedom to recognize the fall of Communism at least in the Soviet sphere.
Over the years the group has attracted some iffy people. Among them were former SS officer and adventerur Otto Skorzeny, Japanese mobster Yoshio Kodama, and former American General John Singlaub. American Senator and later Presidential candidate John McCain was briefly involved but later resigned and asked that his name be removed from their lists. Taiwan politician Chou Kujen is the current leader.
Well my dink is empty and without a handout from the Asian People’s Anti Communist League I will have to stop drinking. Come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2019.
