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    "label": "Associated Press Stenographic Transcript of General Douglas MacArthur's Address to Congress",
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    "id": "165976568",
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    "title": "Associated Press Stenographic Transcript of General Douglas MacArthur's Address to Congress",
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    "ocrText": "All this was changed by our Pacific victory, our strategic\nfrontier then shifted to embrace the entire Pacific Ocean, which\nbecame a vast moat to protect us as long as we hold it. Indeed,\nit acts as a protective shield for all of the Americas and all free\nlands of the Pacific Ocean area. We control it to the shores of\nAsia by a chain of islands extending in an arc from the Aleutians\nto the Mariannas, held by us and our free allies.\nFrom this island chain we can dominate with sea and air power\nevery Asiatic port from Vladivostok to Singapore -- with sea and\nair power every port, as I said, from Vladivostok to Singapore --\nand prevent any hostile movement into the Pacific.\nAny predatory attack from Asia must be an amphibious effort.\nNo amphibious force can be successful without control of the sea.\nlanes and the air over those lanes in its avenue of advance. With\nnaval and air, supremacy and modest ground elements to defend bases,\nany major attack from continental Asia toward us or our friends in\nthe Pacific would be doomed to failure.\nUnder such conditions, the Pacific no longer represents menacing\navenues of approach for a prospective invader. It assumes, instead,\nthe friendly aspect of a peaceful lake.\nOur line of defense is a natural one and can be maintained\nwith a minimum of military effort and expense. It envisions no\nattack against anyone, nor does it provide the bastions essential\nfor offensive operations, but properly maintained, would be an\ninvincible defense against aggression.\nThe holding of this defense line in the western Pacific is\nentirely dependent upon holding all segments thereof, for any major\nbreach of that line by an unfriendly power would render vulnerable\nto determined attack every other major segment. This is a military\nestimate as to which I have yet to find a military leader who will\ntake exception.\nFor that reason, I have strongly recommended in the past, as a\nmatter of military urgency, that under no circumstances must Formosa\nfall under Communist control. Such an eventuality would at once\nthreaten the freedom of the Philippines and the loss of Japan and\nmight well force our western frontier back to the coast of Californie\nOregon and Washington.\nTo understand the changes which now appear upon the Chinese\nmainland, one must understand the changes in Chinese character and\nculture over the past 50 years. China up to 50 years ago was\ncompletely non-homogenous, being compartmented into groups divided\nagainst each other. The war-making tendency was almost non-existent\nas they still followed the tenets of the Confucian ideal of pacifist\nculture.\nAt the turn of the century under the regime of Chang Tso Lin\nefforts toward greater homogenity produced the start of a nationalist\n-3-\nMORE"
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