THE YOUTH DEPARTMENT OF THE CHINESE MOSLEM ASSOCIATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-02771R000500570011-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 6, 2000
• Sequence Number: 11
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2000/08/17 : E r'4WP 1 R0005605
(Classification)
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THE YOU' DEPARTMENT OF TIM CHIT ESS MOSLEM ASSOCIATION
The Youth Depart .ment# an integral part of the Chinese Moslem
Association, was inaugurated in Taipei on July 13, 1952, in response
to the call made by President Chiang on March 29 for unification of
all young people, according to :SHIFT Tzu-chou (0 zf- ), Honorary
Chairmen of the Board of the Association and National Policy
Advisor, and CHTANG Tzu'hsuan (8 zj- , religious leader for Tai-
pei district. The predecessor of the Youth Department was the
Youth Committee,, which came Into existence at Chungking during the
Sing-Japanese war.
There used to be quite a large number of Moslems on Formosa;
however, fifty years of Japanese occupation and lack of outside
contact have drastically weakened their religious faith. At
present there is only a handful of genuine Formosan Moslems. Over
and about two-thirds are young people. According to a recent
registration drive in the southern part of this island, of the 721
registered up to July 26 over 50% (including 12 returned students
and 125 army, naval, and air officers) are college and technical
school graduates, over 60;Z are between 20 and 35 years of age, and
about one-third are females. These figures cannot be considered
conclusive since the registration drive has not come to an end.
However, one thing is quite certain; that is, a high percentage
of the young Moslems are military men.
Major CHIANG huo-chung (jW- .) and YANG Lien-ehung
both staff members of the Youth Department, emphasized that whatever
policies are laid down b; the Government relating to the unification
of young people would be followed faithfully by the Youth Department
In addition to the propagation of the Islamic faith among young
Moslems. In other words, the Youth Department would operate within
the framework of the Islamic Association in helping the Governiient
strengthen youth unification and would accept Government policies
as its own. The Youth Department with its headquarters established
in Taipei is headed by Lieu tanan t-Gener al Wk Chf eng-hsiang (16 V )*
as Chief Secretary, under whom there are 19 staff members in charge
of different activities. Their tenure of office is two years o
Via was born in Ch t ingliai Province in . He graduated from
the Army College ' at ranking, specializing in cavalry. He has
been a battalion, regiment and arty com;:tender o He. fled the
Chinese Communist occupation of Sinkiang, coming to Formosa
via Pakistan, India, :lecca, Iraq and the Philippine n 0 He is
Kuomintang member Q
Approved For Release 2000/08/27
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State Dept. declassification instructions on file
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7 :1&fii 1 R0005 ~ 05 iit3u.re to
(Classification) Despatch 1o m 87
from Taipei
As the Youth Department is just beginning to function, pro jeret ,
such as selecting young I~'ioalems to apply for scholarships offered by
the Egyptian and Turkish Governments, employment services, financial
aid to Moslem students, strengthening religious ties, etc., are
still in the planning stage. At present there have been tentatively
established four sections in the Youth Departments Business, Or-.
anization, Education, and Public Service. A branch office or the
: ?
Youth Department was set up at Kaohsiung on July 27a Other branches
will be established in. the course of time at Taichung and Taitungfl
The M,zoslems are well-known for their esprit de cars, and
Chinese Moslems are generally regarded as akin to otuer Moslems the
world over. China has a reported Moslem population of fifty million,
roughly one-ninth of the total Chinese population. Most of them
are spread over the northern and northwestern parts of China main-
land Q The Chinese Moslems, although considered a separate race,
are actually no different from ordinary Chinese except in their way
of life For centuries they have been at odds with the Chinese
central goverment. During the Sino-Japanese war, General PAl
Chung-hai (Iti ), head of the Association and vice-Chairman of.
the Chinese Government Military Strategy Advisory Committee, with
Government backing, succeeded to some extent in absorbing quite a
large number of vloslems into the Chinese Moslem Association under
t h e anti-Japanese bay-rner, o However,. i t may be recalled that Pat was
then branded by some Moslems as a betrayer of Islam because of his
unconditional adherence to the Chinese Government, Pai is undis-
putedly a strong leader of the Chinese Moslems, but by no means
the only one. In the fight against Co mmunism, the Goverment is
once more appealing; for unification of all Chinese .;eople, and the
General once again comes to the fore in activating the Moslemm
Association and in organizing the Moslems. It must ce admitted
that a successful unification of Moslems under the anti-Communist
banner would greatly further the anti-Ctmniuniat cause, especially
in the matter of foreign relations with Moslem countries and in the
event of a counterattack against the mainland o It would be an
easy matter for the Youth Department to band together all young
Moslems now on Formosa; how effective it will be as a link between
the Goverment and mainland 'AIoslemns remains to be seen in spite of
the fact that ithaamedanism is incompatible with Gorrmmunism,o This
is exactly the task the You'' Department has set for itself.
Approved For Release 2000/08/21: CLUB-D00050d570011-0