"The United States of America will be 194 years old this July 4th. As one historian has said, if the American Revolution had produced nothing except the Declaration of Independence, it would have been worthwhile. Jefferson's immortal words are known to each of you, yet they bear repetition in this and every other year.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
"Nowhere else is man's inheritance of freedom defined more beautifully or more cogently. The shots at Concord and Lexington were heard round the world. But the reverberations from the words of Thomas Jefferson have continued down to this very day. His words have inspired millions to seek liberty. While civilization endures, these phrases will not lose their power to lift the hearts of men.
"Our own founding father, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, has written in San Min Chu I—the Three Principles of the People—that the two finest moments in American history were the War of Independence and the War to Free the Slaves. The story of America, he said, is that of a struggle for quality and this constitutes a shining page in the history of the world.
"The Fourth of July is an occasion when Americans rededicate themselves to love of country. They also renew their faith in the Jeffersonian conviction that the people are sovereign and to be trusted to make decisions that are both right and just. Sun Yat-sen agreed with Jefferson. Chinese have always preferred the view that man is innately good to the pessimistic assertion that the nature of man is evil.
"I am honored and gratified by the opportunity to address this distinguished audience of those who have attended American colleges and universities. Whether American, Chinese or of some other nationality, you understand the traditions, the culture and the aspirations of the United States.
"Undeniably, the United States presently has its full share of domestic problems. Nevertheless, the nation that grew out of 13 disseparate, often bickering colonies is today the richest, the strongest and the freest political entity in the world. Progress is being made in race relations, in the elimination of poverty, in the control of crime and in restoration of the ecological balance. Headlines so often accorded youth troubles have obscured the vast number of campuses where students are pursuing their educations and their search for a better society by wholly nonviolent means. Americans have the skill, the wealth and the determination to cure their ills and bind up their wounds.
"Internationally, the United States is concerned about the awesome responsibility that rests upon its shoulders. Never in history has so much been expected of one nation. Never has a single country defended freedom, democracy and justice in so many places at such monumental cost. World Wars I and II were supposed to terminate war among men but they did not. The United States fought the Korean War and since then has had to fight an even longer and more costly conflict in Vietnam.
"Here in Asia we may be experiencing the darkness before the dawn. The Chinese Communists stand behind the conflicts in Indochina and the tensions in Korea and the Taiwan Straits. Only when the Republic of China under the leadership of President Chiang has destroyed the tyranny of Peiping and recovered the mainland can the Asian region have peace and Korea and Vietnam be united.
"Mao Tse-tung has always feared the people. Finally, in 1966, his apprehensions led him to the last resort of the 'great proletarian cultural revolution.' He tried to pour a population of 700 million into his own Communist mold. He failed, and that failure spells the doom not only of so-called Maoism but of the whole cruel and ugly system that was fastened on the mainland in 1949.
"Mao's quotations persist only as a reflection of lip service in the Chinese people's determination to survive. The Chinese Communist Party was destroyed in the 'cultural revolution' and all of Mao's efforts to revive it have been unavailing. Power is in the hands of the armed forces, but using the military as the instrument of political, economic and cultural recovery on the Chinese mainland is abnormal and impossible. The China of tomorrow will be that of the Chinese people. The instrument of implementation will be the legitimate Chinese government which for 21 years has preserved traditional Chinese values while moving forward toward the 21st century here on Taiwan.
"The facts of the Taiwan-mainland contrast speak too loudly to be ignored by anyone, anywhere. I found on my trip that President Nixon and other American friends have been deeply impressed by the record. Taiwan has 14,000 square miles and 14 million people. The area of the mainland is nearly 4 million square miles and the population exceeds 700 million. Yet the difference between freedom and slavery is such that Taiwan has more than half as much trade as the mainland and the per capita income of nearly US$300 is five or six times the Chinese Communist level.
"Ours is a free and open society. Elections are held regularly and include opposition to the ruling Kuomintang. More than 3,000 Taiwan students go abroad every year for advanced study. The tourist count for his year will be close to half a million. Chinese Communists have dared let only a handful of diplomats out of the mainland, to say nothing of students.
"Do not suppose that these contrasts are unknown to the Chinese on the other side of the Taiwan Straits. Through our efforts and those of other free countries, they know a great deal. Out of this knowledge stems the confident determination to overthrow the bloody rule of the Maoists. Mainland awareness of the facts, of the true situation, results from President Chiang Kai-shek's advocacy of 70 per cent political and 30 per cent military strength. This is an important catalyst in the process of delivering our mainland compatriots.
"Do not conclude, either, that the Communists have been able to empty the huge mainland Chinese reservoir of goodwill toward the United States. The Communist hate words of 'capitalist' and 'imperialist' are mouthed by the mainland people but they are not believed. Guarding the reservoir of goodwill is the long record of American good works in China. The millions of the mainland are aware that the United States has not attacked them despite the many provocations of the Communists. They know, too, that Americans have helped create the miracle which has made Taiwan the most prosperous province in Chinese history.
"The Sino-American association has been long and close. Several factors have been at work to produce this unique relationship of Orient and Occident. Both countries are motivated by strong but unselfish national sentiments. China is dedicated to the ideal of the Great Commonwealth. The idealism of America has led in our time to anti-Communism and maintenance of world freedom and peace.
"From the first, the policy of the United States was based on the Open Door rather than the exploitation of China. America's share of the Boxer indemnity was used to educate Chinese students. Instead of demanding special privilege, the United States sent us doctors and educators. Beset by Japanese militarism, we forged a victorious partnership and then collaborated on generous terms of peace and rebuilt Japan.
"The late 1940s brought the only unhappy pages of the Sino-American story. America's great-heartedness can sometimes result in naivete. The mainland was lost and a Pandora's box of troubles loosed upon Asian countries and peoples. American payment for the miscalculation came quickly enough. By December of 1950 the United States was fighting the Chinese as well as the Korean Communists.
"Once burned, twice armed. The United States has courageously and successfully held the line against Asian Communists for the last two decades. South Korea was preserved. The struggle to save the Republic of Vietnam continues with the Vietnamese assuming an increasing share of responsibility for their own defense. Laos has been held and the defensive capability of Thailand increased. The Cambodians have bravely struck blows of their own in the cause of freedom. Now they need and deserve help in the struggle against the North Vietnamese, the Viet Cong and the Chinese Communists.
"We are today within sight of victory and believe that there will be no weakening of American resolve. Americans are understandably impatient in their demands for peace. Fortunately, many patriotic leaders and citizens are aware that precipitous U.S. retreat or other expression of weakness could lead only to tragedy for their own country as well as for free Asians.
"I like to think that the really basic American decision of July 4, 1776, was one of dedication to freedom for all men. As Dr. Sun said, the establishment of the American Republic strengthened man's determination to be free.
"Man is good. He will be free. The totalitarian Communist has never won and never will.
"It seems to me that this is what the Fourth of July is all about."
In his Independence Day message, U.S. Ambassador Walter P. McConaughy, who attended the American University Club function, said: "Our past achievements owe a great deal to the contributions of nationals and governments of many friendly countries, including of course the Republic of China."
President Chiang Kai-shek, addressing a message to the Provincial Administrative Conference at Taichung, warned against spiritual decadence brought on by economic prosperity. "In the course of our economic development," he said, "we should be diligent and industrious to build up our country." He urged the Provincial Government to emphasize the nine-year program of free education, urban development, farm mechanization and land consolidation.
The chief executive told a meeting of the National Security Council that science must be encouraged to solve problems arising in the course of economic expansion. "Officials in charge of economic and industrial development should determine what kind of technical assistance they need in order to get their problems solved," he said. Government should then recruit leading scientists and engineers to speed scientific development, he added.
President Chiang named a new justice minister. He is Wang Jen-yuan, a member of the Legislative Yuan and secretary-general of the policy coordinating committee of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party). His master's degree in law is from Meiji University in Japan. The outgoing minister, Cha Liang-chien, became a political adviser to the President.
The Executive Yuan (Cabinet) got a new minister without portfolio: R. C. Li, who left the Taiwan Food Bureau after a tenure of 24 years as director. He is a native of Taiwan.
Top military posts were reshuffled by President Chiang. General Lai Ming-tang received his fourth star and became chief of the general staff. He succeeds General Kao Kuei-yuan, who was named personal chief of staff to the chief executive. General Lai, 60, of Kiangsi, had been commander of the Air Force. These were the other appointments:
— Lt. Gen. Chen Yi-fan to commander, Air Force. He had been in charge of operations.
— Vice Adm. Sung Chang-chili, commander of the Navy. He had been deputy commander and succeeded Adm. Feng Chi-tsung, who became chairman of the Joint Operations Research Committee of the Ministry of National Defense.
— Gen. Yin Chun, commander of the Taiwan Garrison Command. He had been deputy commander of the Army. Succeeding Gen. Liu Yu-chang, he received his fourth star.
— Adm. Liu Kwang-kai was retained as commander of the Combined Service Forces.
Nearly 400 leaders of the Kuomintang assembled for a four-day meeting at the Chungshan Building on Yangmingshan. Vice President C. K. Yen presided on behalf of President Chiang, the party's Director-General. He said the world situation calls for redoubled efforts on the part of party and nation.
Personnel changes announced by the Central Standing Committee of the KMT included the naming of K. H. Yu, governor of the Central Bank of China, as chairman of the new Cultural and Economic Enterprise Management Committee. Vice chairmen will be Jerome S. N. Hu, president of the Chinese Petroleum Corporation; Felix S. H. Chang, president of the China Development Corporation; and Li Pai-hung, deputy director of the sixth section of the KMT Central Committee.
Tsui Chui-yen was named deputy director of KMT Archives. His place as vice chairman of the Central Planning and Evaluation Committee will be taken by Liang Hsing-yi, who has been secretary-general of the KMT chapter at the National Assembly. Lt. Gen. Teng Ting-yuan, a member of the National Reconstruction Planning Committee of the National Security Council, takes over the National Assembly post.
Vice President C. K. Yen presided at Expo 70 China Day ceremonies in Osaka. He was accompanied by eight high-ranking government officials. China Day entertainment was provided by a troupe of 200 sent from Taipei.
The Vice President said prospects for increased Sino-Japanese cooperation are excellent. While in Tokyo, he had an audience with Emperor Hirohito and exchanged views with Prime Minister Eisaku Sato on the possibility of a new Japanese loan of US$300 million. At a press conference, Yen said Chou En-lai's "four trade principles" constitute an attempt of the Chinese Communists to blackmail Japanese business and industry.
The 15th conference of the Committee for the Promotion of Sino-Japanese Cooperation denounced the Chou "trade principles." The Chinese government subsequently announced that there will be no trade with any Japanese companies knuckling under to the Chou blackmail.
Another meeting was that of the Sino-Japanese Trade Promotion Committee. Japanese delegates agreed to promote more buying from Taiwan in an effort to correct the huge trade imbalance.
Vice President Yen was the principal speaker at the City Hall rally marking Captive Nations Week. "No nation can evade its share of anti-Communist responsibility," he said. With a total effort, the goals of freedom for mankind and peace for the world can be attained, he added.
President Chiang Kai-shek sent a message to the rally. He expressed confidence that free nations will come to realize that "peace cannot be had without toil, that freedom must be gained with moral courage, that true peace can emerge only when the iron curtain has been pulled down and that an international society with lasting security can be born only when mankind is completely free of slavery."
Ku Cheng-kang, the chairman of the rally, called for the silent masses of the world to arise and counter-attack the enemy.
U.S. Representative Philip M. Crane of Illinois said there can be no true peace and freedom while a third of the world remains enslaved. He said the free world should unite to oppose aggressions wherever they occur.
Meeting in Taipei for three days, the Asian Parliamentarians' Union Council called for support of Cambodia in its struggle against Communist aggression. Ninety-two delegates and observers of the 10 participating countries signed the appeal. They came from Australia, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The Sixth General Assembly of APU will be held at Saigon in December.
The Republic of China dispatched a seven-man official mission headed by Tung Tsung-shan, minister of the Chinese Embassy in Thailand, to Phnom Penh. It was charged with strengthening relations with Cambodia, promoting friendship and determining how the ROC might help the Cambodians improve their defense capability. Foreign Minister Wei Tao-ming and other leaders have pledged that free China will do all in its power to help assure the survival of the Lon Nol government.
Assistance is possible in equipment (such as uniforms), training and psychological warfare. The armed forces of the ROC have maintained a psychological warfare group in Saigon for several years. Officials of the Republic of Vietnam have attested to its effectiveness.
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs James Shen returned from the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the Asian and Pacific Council to report passage of a Chinese resolution that member countries should support Laos and Cambodia as the necessity arises. The meeting expressed concern about the situation in Indochina. Vice Minister Shen said all free Asian countries are well aware that Communist aggression is at the root of turmoil in both Southeast and Northeast Asia.
Foreign Minister Wei Tao-ming said relations will be strengthened with Latin American countries.
Vice Premier Chiang Ching-kuo told the National Conference on Child and Youth Development that the nation must make a massive investment in the education and training of the younger generation. More than 40 per cent of the population is under 15, he said.
One hundred and sixty social workers, educators and legal officials attended the five-day meeting. Mrs. Chu Hsiung-chih, former principal of the Taipei Girls' Normal College, called for child welfare legislation.
The conference resolved to undertake a four-part youth plan in the decade of the 1970s. Stress will be placed on hygiene, education, welfare and protection. For implementation, a council of 27 members is to be attached to the Council for International Economic Cooperation and Development. The government has pledged its support.
National Taiwan Normal University will undertake a US$8 million expansion program during the next three years. By the end of 1973, an eight-hectare site near the National Taiwan University campus will house the College of Science and part of the College of Liberal Arts. Also planned are an auditorium, administration building, library, field house, student union, university school, alumni building, swimming pool, men's and women's dormitories and dining halls, visiting professors' apartments and gymnasiums.
NTNU has trained 16,548 middle school teachers in the last 24 years and has 7,410 students and more than 600 faculty members. New graduate schools will be added this year. The university has an evening division attended by more than 2,000.
A survey revealed that of those failing to pass college entrance examinations in 1969, slightly more than a fifth was neither employed nor engaged in further study. More than a fifth was studying for another go at the exams, another fifth was working and about 17 per cent had been drafted. The number of those failing the exams was 41,000.
More than 8,500 college students began two-month military training at Cheng Kung Hill near Taichung. Defense Minister Huang Chieh presided at the mass oath of allegiance. He introduced General William C. Westmoreland, chief of staff of the U.S. Army, who told the trainees to follow the examples set by Dr. Sun Yat-sen and President Chiang Kai-shek. "These are the two greatest leaders of the Chinese people," said General Westmoreland. "They have set a fine tradition for Chinese soldiers—honor duty and discipline." Some 15,000 family members were on hand for the ceremonies.
Under way at Fu Jen University was a 42-day China Youth Corps seminar in Chinese language, customs and culture for 294 overseas Chinese from the United States, Canada, West Germany, the Congo-Kinshasa and Malaysia. The enrollment breakdown is 189 girls and 105 boys. There are three classes based on proficiency in Chinese language.
Supplies totaling US$7.5 million started arriving in Taiwan from the World Food Program as a contribution to the health and education of children in rural areas. A total of 540 nurseries will be established and 224,000 children are to receive lunches during a period of five years.
The Taiwan Provincial Government pledged tighter enforcement of the law prohibiting factory employment of children under 14 years old. The junior high school attendance rate was only 73.71 per cent outside of Taipei City last year. This is considered much too low under the new program of nine-year education. For 1970-71, the target is 83 per cent but may not be reached.
Four Taipei junior high schools will have classes for retarded children this fall. Each will have room for 20 to 30 students.
The School of the Air graduated 240 students, who are qualified to take examinations for entrance to college and university. They studied in classes conducted by radio or TV and through correspondence. Graduation requires the accumulation of 164 credits. Age of the graduates ranged from 14 to 57.
The Ministry of Education pledged to help the two commercial television stations improve programming. TTV and CTV were criticized by members of the Legislative Yuan for neglecting social education and putting too much emphasis on programs that advertisers favor. An official survey showed 338,316 TV sets in Taiwan at the end of 1969, but unofficial counts range as high as 600,000.
A third commercial TV station will emphasize educational programs and material of interest to the armed forces. Although accepting advertising, it will not seek to make a profit. Sponsors are the Ministries of Education and National Defense. Part of the funding is sought from the World Bank. Existing facilities of the Taipei station of the Education Ministry will be taken over.
Approval was given by the Legislative Yuan for the establishment of the Bureau of Public Health under the Executive Yuan. It will tackle problems of Taiwan environmental health. Operations will include experimentation, inspection of food and pharmaceuticals. harbor quarantine and narcotics control.
The Legislative Yuan passed a new law providing for control of drugs and drug sales. Supervision of plants and pharmacies win be tightened and advertising exaggeration mitigated.
Taipei is planning a US$1.6 million sanitarium for the poor and chronically ill. There will be accommodations for 1,2.00 patients, including 650 mentally ill, 250 with tuberculosis, 100 who are retarded or paralyzed and 200 other incurables. The city also plans an emergency hospital to be operated by Taiwan University Hospital under contract.
Private interests will build a 750-bed, l0-story hospital on Tunhua South Road. This is Taipei's so-called Gold Coast apartment area. The principal sponsor, Chuang Ching-chuan, owner of the President Hotel, is prepared to invest US$7.5 million.
Cerebral hemorrhage continued to top the list of Taipei's 10 major causes of death in 1969. Cancer was second. Heart disease moved up to fifth place from sixth. Suicide made the top 10 for the first time at 1.9 per cent of deaths.
American residents of the Taipei area provided RH-negative O-type blood to permit a heart operation on a 42-year-old Chinese at the Veterans General Hospital. Such blood is rare among Chinese and an appeal was made to the American community. More than 4,000 ccs of blood was donated.
National Taiwan University Hospital has carried out a number of successful kidney transplants in recent years. Now Dr. Lin Tien-yu, chief surgeon and professor of medicine, and his colleagues are experimenting with the transplanting of livers in dogs. Some of the animals have lived as long as 10 days. Liver cancer is a major killer in China.
Taiwan trade rose by 35.2 per cent in the January-May period. The two-way volume was US$1,151 million, an increase of nearly US$300 million over the same period in 1969. The deficit was down from US$28 million to US$8 million.
Exports totaled US$571 million, a gain of US$160 million or 38.9 per cent. Imports were US$579 million, up by US$139 million or 31.7 per cent. Textiles led exports at US$161 million and machinery and equipment topped imports at US$80 million. Leading trade partner was the United States at US$387 million, followed by Japan at US$300 million.
Export-import growth of the Fifth Four-Year Economic Development Plan period ending in 1972 will be 12½ per cent rather than the 12 per cent originally estimated. The change was made by the Cabinet ad hoc group on financial and economic affairs headed by Vice Premier Chiang Ching-kuo. After studying inflationary pressures, the group agreed that Taiwan confronts no sharp price changes for the rest of this year.
The China External Trade Development Council has been established to help manufacturers market their products abroad. CETDC is jointly sponsored by government and industry. Minister of Economic Affairs Y. S. Sun is board chairman and Wu Kuan-hsiung is secretary-general. The council will make market surveys, explore markets and promote trade. Overseas offices will be opened as required.
Y. T. Wong, director of the Board of Foreign Trade, said the government hopes to promote trade by relaxing import controls and simplifying import procedures. Within the next year, BOFT will examine 5,300 controlled imports with a view to decontrolling as many as possible.
Canned foods reached an import total of 5.44 million cases worth US$51 million in the first six months of 1970. The increase was 3 per cent for volume and 4.8 per cent for value. Canned oranges were up 141 per cent and canned mushrooms 21 per cent.
Taiwan Cement Corporation led private enterprises in sales last year with volume of nearly US$39 million. Then came Tatung Engineering Company, US$22.7 million; Yue Loong Motors, US$22.1 million; Asia Cement, US$17.7 million; Formosa Plastics, US$16.7 million; Far Eastern Textiles, US$16.5 million; San Yang Industries (plywood), US$13.5 million; Taiwan Matsushita Electric, US$13.5 million; and Taiwan Pineapple, US$13 million.
Dividends paid by leading companies included 27 per cent by Taiwan Cement, 30 per cent by Formosa Plastics, 18 per cent by Tatung, 30 per cent by Asia Cement and 10 per cent each by Far Eastern Textiles and Taiwan Pineapple.
Yamaha of Japan opened a piano factory in Taoyuan county west of Taipei. Annual production will be 2,000 pianos plus organs and electric organs. Wood used in pianos and organs will be Taiwan cypress. Some exports are contemplated.
Walter Fei, the secretary-general of the Council for International Economic Cooperation and Development, told the Taipei American Chamber of Commerce that the ROC investment policy is geared to the "mutual benefit" of Taiwan and the investor.
Fei said the government expects a substantial amount of capital, technical and managerial expertise, attractive employment opportunities for managers and technicians as well as assembly line workers, foreign exchange earnings and a willingness to buy parts and components locally.
In return, the Republic of China offers low-cost labor, refund of taxes paid on capital equipment as well as imported parts, materials and components that are processed and exported, industrial and export processing zones with standard factory buildings and utilities, repatriation of profits and capital, and an income tax holiday of five years for selected enterprises.
Electrical appliances and electronics have attracted by far the largest amount of external investment. The total was US$147 million (35 per cent) through 1969. Chemicals came second at US$70 million (17 per cent). The United States provided, the lion's share (US$174 million or 61 per cent). Japan was second (US$61 million or 21 per cent). The overseas Chinese total was US$134 million, of which US$55 million or 41 per cent was from Hongkong.
Investment in export processing zones will require minimum capital of US$200,000 under contemplated regulations. The Kaohsiung Export Processing Zone is sold out. A new zone at Kaohsiung will be accepting applications soon. A small zone at Taichung began taking applications early this year. Precision and sophisticated industries are favored. Machinery and equipment is to be new. Foreign employees are to be engineers and technicians, not managers.
Further simplification of investment and import-export procedures is planned by the government. Especially onerous to export processing industries is the red tape involved in the payment and rebate of duties on imports that are processed and sent out of the country.
Work on the Taiwan Power Company's first nuclear power plant is expected to begin in August at Kinshan on the northern coast. Output will be 604,000 kilowatts with completion slated before the end of 1975. Work on a second unit will begin next year and be completed in 1976. Cost of the two will be US$292 million, of which the U.S. Export-Import Bank will provide US$168 million.
Demand for power is increasing at a rate of 11.9 per cent annually. Taipower will spend US$2,740 million in the 1970s to increase installed capacity from 2.5 million kilowatts to 8.6 million kw. By 1980, about three-quarters of Taipower's output will be from thermal sources.
Critics of the government's plan to build art integrated steel mill at a cost of US$400 million or more have said that production would have to be for domestic consumption because lack of experience and high costs would rule out exports.
Not so, Minister of Economic Affairs Sun Yun-suan told the Economic Affairs Committee of the Legislative Yuan. Taiwan's mill would be "highly competitive," he said, because of lower labor costs. He said that labor would represent only 15 per cent of Taiwan production cost, compared with 30 per cent in the United States and 30 to 35 per cent in Japan.
Construction is planned in four stages. The first, covering four years, will cost US$55 million and put the mill in operation. Integrated steelmaking will not be achieved until completion of the second US$194 million second stage. The third stage will expand production from 1 to 2 million tons annually.
General William C. Westmoreland, the U.S. Army chief of staff and former commander of American forces in Vietnam, visited Taiwan for four days. He met with President Chiang Kai-shek, whom he called one of the world's greatest men, saw the defenses at Kinmen (Quemoy) and visited various Taiwan military installations, including an Army Special Forces training center and an armored base.
He told a press conference that U.S. operations in Cambodia had dealt a severe blow to the Communists in Indochina. Cambodia needs moral and material support from its Asian friends, he said, but probably can defend its independence and neutrality without the help of foreign troops. Vietnamization has been so effective, he said, that the United States can withdraw another 150,000 troops without endangering Vietnamese defenses.
General Westmoreland said the United States will honor military commitments to its allies.
Another notable visitor was former Philippines President Diosdado Macapagal, who said his country would support the establishment of a strong regional collective security organization. He suggested that a country such as Japan, Indonesia or India take the initiative in proposing such an alliance.
The Philippines government of Ferdinand Marcos is "staunchly anti-Communist," he said, and will not try to curry favor with the Chinese Communists. Macapagal met with President Chiang Kai-shek to exchange views on the world situation.
Chinese shipping interests marked the nation's 16th Navigation Day with the inauguration of the Taipei Steamship Association. More than 200 representatives of shipping companies attended the meeting.
Wang Chi-hsien, executive secretary of the Shipowners Association of the Republic of China, reported that 36 vessels totaling nearly 400,000 tons joined the merchant fleet in 1969. Twenty-seven vessels totaling 212,000 tons were retired. Free China's merchant marine consists of 174 ships totaling 1,464,000 tons, an increase of 10 vessels and 190,000 tons over 1968.
Plans of the Bureau of Industrial Development of the Ministry of Economic Affairs call for the granting of US$125 million in loans to the shipbuilding industry for expansion and operations during the next year.
Loans totaling US$35 million will be extended to shipping companies for the purchase of new or used vessels aggregating 224,000 tons.
Harbor improvements currently under way at Keelung will be completed in 1972. Three container piers and an elevated highway linking the outer harbor to the MacArthur Freeway to Taipei are included. Because Keelung capacity cannot be raised to more than 7 million tons annually, the east coast port of Suao (south of Keelung) is to be developed as an auxiliary harbor for northern Taiwan. Now a fishing port, Suao will be able to handle timber shipments by 1972 and general cargo somewhat later.
Kaohsiung's second harbor entrance will be completed by June of 1975. Taiwan's biggest port then will be able to handle vessels of up to 100,000 tons. A container terminal has just been opened at Kaohsiung with three berths.
Preparatory work is starting for the new central Taiwan international port at Wuchi near Taichung. Construction will begin in 1972 and take 10 years. However, the port will be able to handle vessels of up to 10,000 tons by 1974.
Northwest Orient Airlines is expected to begin Boeing 747 service to Taipei September 15. Facilities at Sungshan International Airport will be in readiness for the jumbo, although expansion of the terminal building will not be completed until the end of this year.
Taipei is the western terminus of Northwest's service to Tokyo, Seattle, Chicago and New York. NWA 747s will arrive in Taipei at 12:30 p.m. and take off an hour later for the eastbound flight on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
China Airlines and the China Navigation Company are offering a Taiwan-Hongkong (or vice versa) roundtrip by air and sea. The cost is only US$75.50. A first-class cabin aboard the ocean liner adds US$11 to the charge. Travelers must stay at least three days but not longer than sixty. The economy class air fare is US$100 roundtrip.
Engineers of the Ralph M. Parsons Co. of the United States have begun to collect preliminary information in preparation for designing the new Taiwan international airport near Taoyuan about 20 miles west of Taipei. Construction on the US$37.5 million project is expected to begin in 1972. Design work will be completed early next year.
Agreement was signed with a British firm to make a five-month survey of the feasibility of electrifying the Taiwan railway system. Japanese and French experts have already recommended electrification. If the British report concurs, a loan request for US$41 million will be made to the World Bank. The Taiwan Railway Administration would put up the remaining US$34 million.
Governor Chen Ta-ching said completion of the round-the-island railroad system should have priority over elevation of tracks in Taipei City. Members of the Taiwan Provincial Assembly have expressed a similar opinion. The elevation project had the green light from the Executive. Yuan at one time but now is under reconsideration by the Council for International Economic Cooperation and Development.
Governor Chen said Provincial and Central Governments have decided in principle to complete the round-island system in eight years. First priority will go to the link between Suao and Hualien on the east coast, where the terrain is extremely rugged. Other projects will be the widening of the Hualien- Taitung link to standard gauge and the building of a line across the southern tip of the island.
Construction of the North-South Expressway will be started next March. Communications Minister C. C. Chang said the first section will be that between Taipei and Yangmei, to be built at a cost of US$147.5 million. Funding will come from a variety of sources: bonds, loans, tolls, Asian Development Bank credits and an increase in the gasoline tax. Bonds will bear interest of 11 per cent.
Army engineers may help with a part of the 234-mile freeway, which is expected to cost US$468 million. Completion is scheduled for December, 1975.
Approval has been given for construction of a three-mile feeder road in eastern Taiwan to expedite exploration of copper resources. The US$125,000 road will link the Chimei mine with the Hualien-Taitung Highway. Copper reserves in Chimei may total 300,000 tons worth US$250 million.
Tourism projects will receive US$8.5 million in loans from the China Tourist Development Corporation. A suspension bridge will be built at Green Lake near Taipei, the Wulai highway will be widened, air-conditioned buses will be purchased and visitors' facilities improved at Sun Moon Lake and Paishawan (White Sands Bay) in northern Taiwan.
The Executive Yuan has approved plans of the Ministry of Communications to develop tourism as one of the nation's principal earners of foreign exchange.
Although final figures are not yet in, the first rice crop almost certainly exceeded the target of 1,280,000 metric tons. Per hectare yield was about 3,300 kilograms, 50 kg higher than the goal.
Back from the Philippines is a 25-man technical mission that increased rice output by from 77 to 151 per cent in three experimental areas.
Export target for four major agricultural products—sugar, bananas, pineapple and tea—is US$150 million this year. Production goals are 899,200 metric tons of sugar (715,000 for export), 551,912 metric tons of bananas 380,000 metric tons of pineapple and 27,600 metric tons of tea.
Grapes are expected to become a big export earner within a year or two. Sizable markets are available in Hongkong and Okinawa. Planted area has risen from 20 hectares in 1965 to more than 1,000 in 1969. Grapes also are selling well domestically. The Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction says investment in grape growing can be recouped in two years.
Japan agreed to purchase 7,780,000 cartons of bananas (15.15 kilograms each) in July, August and September. The price will be US$2.50 for bananas from Kaohsiung and US$2.55 for those from Taichung. Taiwan negotiators won the volume they asked (up 3,320,000 from the same three months last year) but failed to get their asking price of US$2.70 per carton.
The Executive Yuan approved an appropriation of US$1.5 million from the Sino-American Fund for Economic and Social Development to establish the Asian vegetable development center. The Republic of China will pay 30 per cent of the US$7.5 million operating cost for the first five years. Also contributing will be Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, the United States and the Asian Development Bank.
JCRR will emphasize hog production in an animal husbandry expansion program. The goal for this year is 4,016,000 head with exports of 118,000 worth US$4.5 million. By 1977, output is expected to be 5,737,000 head, of which 868,000 will be exported for earnings of US$33 million.
Taiwan Sugar Corporation is continuing its diversification. The island's largest employer is nearing hog output of a million head annually and has started to raise beef cattle on east coast lands that are marginal for sugar cane.
Output of domestic fowl will be more than doubled in the 1970s. Goals by 1980 are 27 million ducks (10 million now) and 79 million chickens (compared with 33 million). Per capita egg consumption is expected to rise from 65 to 105 a year. A duck research center will be established to serve a branch .of animal husbandry that is doing business of US$25 million annually.
Forty-seven thousand hectares of farmland will be consolidated in the fiscal year that began July 1. Consolidation will total about 700,000 hectares by 1978. The program has increased production from 15 to 30 per cent by making lands more accessible, improving irrigation and opening up farms to mechanization. Ten mechanization centers are to be added to the 14 already in operation. Thirty demonstration plots will be established to show the use of rice transplanters, combines and dryers.
Experiments of the Provincial Forestry Laboratory indicate that sun hemp, a native legume, may be used for cigarette paper. This may lead to a saving of 500 tons of imported cigarette paper annually. Sun hemp paper also may be made into banknotes and other papers.
JCRR is training 30 college graduates to serve farmers' associations as business managers. Improvement of farm management is one of the principal objectives in the government's agricultural modernization program.
Government is spending more than US$121 million on fishery expansion in the five-year period ending in 1972. By the end of that year, the catch will total 800,000 metric tons and foreign exchange earnings will be between US$80 and $90 million. Some 3,100 fishermen are being trained annually.
Chung Cheng Road, named for President Chiang Kai-shek (whose Chinese name is Chiang Chung-cheng), got a new name at the President's request. He suggested Chung Hsiao (meaning loyalty and filial piety) Road. Chung Cheng Road west of Chungshan North Road is Chung Hsiao West Road and the portion to the east is Chung Hsiao East Road. There are further divisions into sections.
When it rains in Taipei, it frequently pours. The biggest thunder-shower of the summer brought 101.2 mm of rain in five hours, giving some indication of why Taipei flood control is difficult and expensive.
The Taipei Municipal Government announced a 10-year program to wipe out poverty by 1980. Measures will include housing, vocational training, scholarships, medical care and stepped-up welfare activities. The count of impoverished stands at 8,592 families and 38,343 persons.
Students of National Taiwan University are undertaking a survey of Taipei land use for public purposes to see if needs are being met. Included are roads, schools, markets, parks, sewers, public buildings, parking lots, public squares, etc.
For this year, the city will spend nearly US$.5 million on improvement of 17 major streets, several of which will be widened.
Governor Chen Ta-ching announced a smile campaign among functionaries of the Taiwan Provincial Government. A lady member of the Taiwan Provincial Assembly had said officials were too grim. The governor said the province (not including Taipei) has 190,000 employees, including teachers, of whom 125,000 are natives of Taiwan.
The Provincial Government helped find 12,677 jobs for the unemployed at vocational guidance centers in the first three months of 1970.
Plans were announced for a general census on December 16, 1970. Special emphasis will be placed on employment information. Preliminary findings will be announced at the end of January and final figures in November of 1971.
Pay raises averaging 20 per cent went into effect for public servants and members of the armed forces July 1. The cost will be US$62.5 million in fiscal 1971. About 80 per cent goes to servicemen, who have been underpaid by comparison with civil servants. The minimum salary will be US$25.75. Cabinet ministers and parliamentarians will receive US$180 and the premier and presidents of the Examination and Judicial Yuans US$265. Government employees also receive housing and food allowances.
Chi Cheng, Taiwan's woman sprinter extraordinary and widely acknowledged to be the world's ranking athlete of her sex, sped on to new records. In Los Angeles she ran the fastest 220-yard dash ever, although a 5.3 mph wind nullified a record. Her time was 22.4 seconds. A time of 22.6 seconds she made in another race was submitted as a world mark. She had run 22.7 in Portland a month before to break the old standard.
Also in Los Angeles, she broke the tape in the 100-yard dash at 10.2 seconds, just under the 10-flat mark she set June 13.
Then she went to Europe. In Munich she breezed through the 200 meters in 22.4 to chop a tenth of a second off the world mark. She ran the 100-meter hurdles in 12.8 to equal the still pending world record.