The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project G. EUGENE MARTIN Interviewed by: Charles Stuart Kennedy Initial interview date: September 21, 1999 Copyright 2007 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Background Born in ndiana of Missionary parents" raised in the US and ndia. %alamazoo College" Syracuse University American nstitute, Aix en Provence Entered the Foreign Service in 1,-. Consular Training Course, FS Hong %ong" Chinese language training/0otation Officer 1,--11,-2 3isa fraud Environment China developments 0angoon, Burma" Consular Officer 1,-,11,71 Environment Economy Political situation 5Peoples Power7 State Department" Burma Desk Officer 1,7111,78 Narcotics nternational Narcotics Matters : NM) Chinese Language Training" FS 0osslyn & FS Taiwan 1,7811,7. Post 3ietnam atmosphere Hong %ong" Political Officer" Press & Publications 1,7.11,72 Chinese Press China political developments Travels in China China chaos Mao legacy Taipei, Taiwan" Deputy Political Counselor 1,7211,7, 1 China relations Environment US normalization with China Taiwan reaction to normalization SecState Christopher visit Post normalization jitters Taiwan relations with Congress American nstitute in Taiwan Taiwan 0elations Act State Department" Staff Secretariat" East Asia 1,7,11,20 Permanent Normal Trade 0elations :China) Panama Canal Treaty ran hostage crisis China policy State Department" Special Assistant to Deputy Secretary of State 1,2011,21 Aarren Christopher ran hostage negotiations Human 0ights China and Taiwan Budge Ailliam Clarke Change of Administration Transition State Department" Bureau of Legislative Affairs" Management 1,21 East Asia issues 0elations with Congress Taiwan Congressional Fellow Program 1,2111,22 Program content Senator David Pryor Chemical weapons issue Congressional delegation to Ottawa State Department" Office of Personnel 1,2211,2C Assignments procedure State Department" Special Assistant, Bureau of East Asian & 1,2C11,2. Pacific Affairs Arms sales to Taiwan Philippines State Department" Deputy Director for Political Affairs, China 1,2.11,27 China developments Taiwan 2 Arms sales %orea Manila, Philippines" Political/ Military Officer 1,2711,,0 US military bases Status of Forces Agreement Attempted coups President ADuino Security 3 P visits Environment 0elations State Department" Bureau of nternational Narcotics Matters, 1,,011,,2 Asia and Africa Aest African traders US Agencies China Primary narcotics producers Euangzhou :formerly Canton), China" Consul Eeneral 1,,211,,- South China world perspective 3isas Economic developments Modernization 3ietnam Taiwan Province differences ntellectual Property 0ights problem Chinese solidarity 0elations Environment nternational Crime Organizations Drug trafficking President NixonFs visit 3 P visits ChinaFs development Manila, Philippines" Deputy Chief of Mission 1,,-11,,, Eovernment 0elations 3isiting Forces Agreement :3FA) 3isas President ClintonFs visit Philippine Presidents nsurgents and terrorists 8 Environment 0etirement 1,,, :0e1appointment in the Foreign Service) Beijing, China" Deputy Chief of Mission 1,,,12000 Assignment circumstances China enters Aorld Trade Organization ChinaFs :government) view of US ChinaFs sense of humiliation Openness Soviet Union Taiwan Environment Emigration Embassy Ambassador Prueher English language instruction Media Eovernment Economic progress 0egional divisions Communist Party PeopleFs Liberation Army :PLA) ChinaFs goals North %orea Elections Missile development Democracy development ndia Nuclear espionage Human 0ights 0etirement 2000 Post10etirement U.S nstitute of Peace :US P) INTERVIEW Q: Today is September 21, 1999. This is an interview with G. Eugene Martin. This is being done on behalf of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. I*m Charles C Stuart Kennedy. Well Gene, we*ll start at sort of the beginning. Could you tell me when and where you were born and something about your family, MA0T N: was born in ndianapolis, actually Speedway, ndiana, which is right next to the racetrack outside of ndianapolis, during the war, in 1,C8. My parents were missionaries in ndia, and they had returned in 1,C1, just at the beginning of the war, for furlough back in the States. Caught in the States and not able to go back to ndia during the war, my father took a church in ndianapolis. Ae were living there when was born. Q: What denomination was your father, MA0T N: He was American Baptist. Q: -es. Where had they been wor.ing in India, MA0T N: They were in what is now Andhra Pradesh, then it was called Hyderabad. t was about 120 miles north of Madras :now Chennai), on the east coast of ndia. My parents were third generation missionaries in the same area of ndia so that essentially was 5home.7 My great grandfather had started the work in that town. guess this is how became interested in foreign affairs. Q: -es. Well, what was it li.e growing up in Speedway, MA0T N: Aell, didnFt really grow up there. Ae left when was six weeks old and moved to %ansas to my maternal uncleFs house because my father was preparing to go back to ndia before the war was over. He went back in early FCC, but women and children were not allowed to go. So my mother, elder brother and moved to %ansas to stay with her brother on the farm until the end of the war. Q: So, well, I mean, you were pretty young. By the time you started being at the age where you remembered things, where were you, MA0T N: Ae went out to ndia when was two on an empty troop ship going out to pick up the troops from the CB :China1Burma1 ndia) theater. The troop ship docked in Bombay, father met us there, and we took the train home. Q: -es. Where was home, MA0T N: Home was, at that time, a small town in ndia called %anigiri, where we lived for a few years. That was where have my first memories. Q: -es. What do you recall first memories, Sort of family life or, MA0T N: guess the most vivid one is when found some red chilies out on the back porch one day. Not knowing what they were, popped several in my mouth. instantly . found out what red chilies were all about. probably ate a whole stalk of bananas to moderate the heat. Q: Well, that*s down in the chili belt, isn*t it, MA0T N: Aell, the hot Madrasi curry is famous in that area. Q: Where did you start going to school by the time you were put into .indergarten or whatever, MA0T N: My mother taught my elder brother and me initially, using the Calvert course, the famous correspondence school out of Baltimore. Q: -es. MA0T N: studied in the Calvert system from kindergarten through third grade, my brother and in the class taught by my mother. Q: How old was your brother, MA0T N: HeFs about a year and a half older than am. Q: -es. MA0T N: My mother was the teacher, and a strict disciplinarian. She kept the distinction that she was the teacher in the classroom and not mother, so we had to behave, sit properly, and not look for motherly attention. That was for about three years. Ae went back to the States in 1,.0 for furlough and spent a year in Ohio, where went to fourth grade. n 1,.1, we returned to ndia and entered boarding school in %odaikanal, one of the boarding schools in the hills of South ndia. Q: -es. Well, as a very young .id, what were you getting from your parents, and your own observations, about the part of India you were in, MA0T N: Aell, was aware of what was going on, albeit at a childFs level of comprehension. remember when Eandhi was assassinated. remember the emotion that overwhelmed the populace, both ndian as well as foreign. remember independence. Ae didnFt have a radio and T3 was many years away from ndia at that point. But we had newspapers and magazines, and occasionally a radio notice would tell us what was going on in the world. One of the other missionaries had a radio which we heard occasionally. remember listening to that, or watching and reading about independence, political movements, Eandhi, and so forth. was very young, only six or seven, but it left an impression. Q: -es. The great separation between the Muslims and the Hindus and all didn*t ta.e place down there, did it, - MA0T N: That was mainly in the north. However, Hyderabad was still ruled by the Nizam of Hyderabad, the local maharajah, who was Muslim as was a large percentage of his populace. Huite a number of families did leave for Pakistan during partition. donFt remember that too vividly myself because there were not many Muslims in our particular area. Q: Did you have an ayah, MA0T N: Oh, well, not really. Peter was our cook, his wife Deenama helped with the cleaning, and a gardener cared for the garden. My brother and ran around in short pants and bare feet, and climbed trees, and played with the cookFs son, Eeorge, who was our best friend. Ae had just a normal childhood. Q: -es. What about language, Where you pic.ing up any language, MA0T N: One of my proudest moments was helping my father find the right Telugu word for 5chimney7 for one of his sermons. canFt remember why he was speaking about chimneys, but knew the word instantly, and he had not learned that in his language class. was Duite fluent, with an eight1to1ten1year1oldFs vocabulary, in Telugu, which was the language spoken in the area. Q: How old were you when you went to boarding school, MA0T N: had just turned eight, on the ship coming back from the States in 1,.1. My mother felt that she had taught us as much as she could at that stage, so we went off to boarding school in %odai, as it was called, a hill station.