Taiwan Today

With intelligence and determination he created a kingdom. The late C.Y. Tung, a global shipping tycoon from the Republic of China, im­pressed the world with his intelligence, perseverance and boundless patience as well as his signal successes in the business arena. He died on April 15 at the age of 72, leaving a company based in Hong Kong under whose symbol sailed more than 10 million tons of cargo vessels and tankers. Notwithstanding his strength as a com­petitor, he was known for his elegant speech and a humble manner. Born in the town of Tinghai, near Shanghai, in 1912, Tung was intrigued with shipping from the time he was a child. The spirit of Cheng Ho, the 15th century Chinese navigator who traveled Southeast Asia and Africa, filled his heart. In fact, one of his pet projects had always been to make a movie of the pioneering sailor's life. Tung's love for his country and pride in his people gave him the power to build his business. He had never received much education, but he always absorbed new knowledge and he never really stopped studying. He had an unsurpassed memory, managing in his lifetime to learn English, French and Japanese. For many years he read at least a book a week. Tung's first job was with a Tientsin shipping company where his skill and ex­perience brought him a management position. He married the boss's daughter, and afterwards moved to Shanghai and began to create his own shipping empire. When he was 25 he established, with the support of a friend, the China Shipping Trust Co. There, for the first time, he revealed his financial skills. Though all he built was lost to the Japanese during the war, it did not discourage him. Shipping was his life, and to develop it worldwide was his ideal. After World War II he founded China Maritime Navi­gation and began building his own ships. By 1947 he had a ship sailing the Atlantic and another crossing the Pacific. This was the first time that a Chinese shipper had controlled shipping to such distant places. After responding favorably to a government call to rebuild old Victory and Liberty ships, he launched successful shipping runs to Latin America. At this time he also built a 12,500 passenger liner, the "Ju Yun," which was the first vessel in international shipping to fly the flag of the Republic of China. He studied thoroughly the designs of shipping equipment, and quickly adopted the newest inventions. One new contain­er ship built by him, the "Hong Kong Container Ship," is equipped with a satel­lite navigation system, the latest in ship­ping technology. His firm, Gold Peak Maritime Agency, is now considered to have one of the world's most important container fleets. When he implemented computer operations for his fleet, he es­tablished the company's container con­trol center in Taipei. Tung eagerly advocated new shipping developments. He proposed an interna­tional, high-level educational facility on the seas and, for this purpose, bought a passenger liner which he named the "Seawise Universe." This ship took the place of the "Queen Elizabeth," which was originally purchased and renovated for his seagoing university, but which was mysteriously burned in Hong Kong harbor in 1972. In addition, his China Peak Maritime Foundation also gave scholarships to top students in Asia's schools so they might attend his ocean-going university. His interest extended to support of classical music and the arts. Several artists re­ceived his direct help in their careers. Tung was clearly a man of uncommon ideals. Everyday, Tung would meditate for two hours for, he would say, "entertain­ment." He was a strong believer in Buddhism. To maintain a healthy mind and body, he did not smoke or drink, not even tea; his only beverage was pure water. Even though he was one of the rich­est men in the world, he traveled econo­my class on planes. When eating in a res­taurant, he ordered only as much as he could eat, never wasting. He was not too proud to wash his own clothing. His employees say he was completely loyal to old friends and was readily ac­cessible to subordinates. Often, on meeting persons he had only met once before, many years earlier, he could still readily call out their names. ROC Communications vice Minister Chen Shu-hsi noted Tung's love of the Republic of China. The Tung group's Overseas Orient Container (Holdings) had painted on every one of its container ships the national flower of the Republic of China - the plum blossom. When Tung had the passenger liner "S.S. Constitution" renovated for cruises to Hawaii, he could have had the work done in Hong Kong or elsewhere, but he chose to do it in Kaohsiung. For the dedication ceremony of the liner, he invited many international guests to the ROC in order to indirectly assist his country in developing interna­tional contacts. Along the same lines, he also arranged for the director of the harbor office of the port of Los Angeles to come to Taiwan to establish sisterhood ties with the ports of Taichung and Hualien. Chen noted that, in addition to principles, Tung had a strong sense of propriety. Whenever a new communica­tions minister was appointed, he would fly over to make a personal courtesy call. In recent years Tung seemed to be considering the idea of retiring, but new projects always involved him. Because the tanker business is very volatile, he once thought of buying a Japanese air­ plane design company and an airplane manufacturer. In the last two years, how­ever, most of his energy was concentrat­ed on investment decisions, finance and petrochemical negotiations. When the news of Tung's death reached him, ROC President Chiang Ching-kuo sent a telegram to Tung's wife extolling Tung's virtues as a busi­nessman and patriot and expressing the nation’s great sorrow over his loss.