May 16. USS Kleinsmith, a fast assault transport, was turned over to the Chinese Navy by the United States in a ceremony held at Tsoying navy base in southern Taiwan. Admiral Ni Yue-si accepted the ship on behalf of the Chinese Navy, while the United States was represented by Major General L.L. Doan, chief of MAAG. The transport was renamed the RCS Tien Shan. And Captain Chen Chen-ming, Chinese Navy, assumed command of the ship.
17. Mr. Hagi Farah Ali Omar, minister of Industry and Commerce of Somalia, declared in Taipei that his country is ready to establish diplomatic relations with the Republic of China when it obtains independence on July 1 this year. He believes there will be no obstacles to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries because both Somalia and China are strongly anti-Communist and are struggling to safeguard human freedom.
19. The Chinese Air Force received the first batch of F-104 Starfighters from the United States. The F-104 jet is known as the fastest operational jet fighter of the USAF. Its maximum speed is double that of sound, and its maximum altitude around 76,900 feet.
20. President Chiang Kai-shek and Vice President Chen Cheng were inaugurated as President and Vice President to continue their leadership of the nation for another six years. They took their oaths of office under Mr. Hsieh Kuan-sheng, president of the Judicial Yuan and chairman ex officio of the Council of Grand Justices. The President pledged in his inauguration address that he and the Vice President would "discharge our duty loyally and to the best of our ability. With the trust and under the supervision of our people, we shall do our utmost to implement democracy and rule of law, to effect national recovery, and to achieve our final and all-out victory and success." President Chiang outlined the main program for his third term during his 40-minute address. He said he will make every possible effort to raise administrative efficiency, increase the functions of local self-government, and accustom the people to democracy, the rule and observance of law.
Korean Ambassador Kim Hong Il, on behalf of the diplomatic corps, told President Chiang that his continued leadership in China was "not merely a strong assurance of early liberation of your people on the mainland but also a key to the future of the security of free Asia and world justice and peace." The proceedings of the presidential inauguration ceremony were televised by the Broadcasting Corporation of China in cooperation with two Japanese firms. Messages of felicitations were received from many foreign chiefs of state, including President Dwight D. Eisenhower of the United States, President Ngo Dinh Dien of Vietnam, King Paul of Greece, President Fouad Chehab of Lebanon, President Adolfo Lopez Mateos of Mexico, President Hernan Siles of Jordan, President Romolo Betancourt of Venezuela and President Arturo Frondizi of Argentina, Vice President W. R. Tolbert of Liberia, Emperor Hirohito of Japan, and Acting President Huh Chung of Korea.
President Chiang Kai-shek asked Vice President Chen Cheng to stay on concurrently as president of the Executive Yuan (premier).
21. Captain General Augustin Munoz Grandes, chief of staff of the Spanish Supreme Command, said prior to his departure after nine days of visit to free China, that the Republic of China has become a strong anti-Communist fortress. He lauded the Chinese Armed Forces for their excellent training, rigid discipline, and capable officers.
The second 36,000-ton tanker, SS Freedom, built by the Ingalls-Taiwan Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, was formally christened today. The ceremony was attended by over 400 guests including goodwill missions from Somalia, Peru, and Malaya presently touring Taiwan. The super tanker SS Freedom was built by Ingalls-Taiwan under a contract with the General Tanker Corporation at a cost of US$7,500,000. It will be used to transport crude oil from the Middle East for the oil refinery of the Chinese Petroleum Company at Kaohsiung.
22. Mr. Inche Abdul Aziz bin Ishak, minister of agriculture and cooperatives of the Federation of Malaya, said that his country wishes to enter into closer cooperation with the Republic of China in the agricultural field. He said that the progress made by free China in agriculture is remarkable and that Malaya can learn a great deal from it. At present, three Chinese agriculturists are helping Malaya improve agricultural production under the U. N. Food and Agricultural Organization's sponsorship. Minister Aziz said that these agriculturists are deeply respected by his government and the people of Malaya for their industry and specialized knowledge. Minister Aziz arrived in Taipei on May 17 for a five-day visit at the invitation of the Chinese Muslim Association. He was accompanied by Mrs. Aziz; Mr. A.S. Machado, deputy controller of immigration, and seven Malayan bankers and industrialists.
Mr. Ernesto Moreno Figueroa, first deputy speaker of the Peruvian House of Representatives and head of the Peruvian Parliamentarian Goodwill Mission to free China, said at a press conference before winding up his 6-day visit the policy of Peru is "no deal" with the Chinese Communists and the Republic of Peru will establish a diplomatic mission in Taipei in the near future. Mr. Moreno said that he noted great progress here in all fields including complete freedom, democracy and respect of human dignity. He also praised the Chinese Government for its honest effort to raise the people's living standard.
26. Mr. James Tsun-chi Yu, ambassador to Italy, has been appointed special envoy heading a Chinese delegation to the independence ceremony of Somalia scheduled for July 1.
In a ceremony held at an air base in central Taiwan, an undisclosed number of F-104 Starfighters were formally transferred to the Chinese Air Force by Major General L.L. Doan, chief of MAAG. General Peng Meng chi, chief of the General Staff, accepted the planes on behalf of the Chinese Government.
27. Foreign Minister S.K. Huang and Japanese Ambassador Sadao Iguchi to China signed the 1960-61 Sino-Japanese trade agreement in Taipei. The agreement called for a trade volume of US$65,750,000 each way. Rice and fertilizer are not included. Trade officials predicted that if rice and fertilizer, which are to be negotiated later on, could be kept on the same level as last year, the trade volume in 1960 would represent an increase of US$6,500,000 both ways over 1959. The increase in Chinese exports are found in brown sugar, which is hiked from US$750,000 to US$1,000,000; banana, from US$6,500,000 to US$8,500,000; hat bodies, which were hidden in the miscellaneous last year to an explicit US$100,000 this year; and miscellaneous from US$3,500,000 to US$4,400,000 totalling US$3,250,000. Under the new agreement, the barter account system will be maintained.
30. The Executive Yuan underwent partial reorganization with new heads for four of the eight ministries and two commissions. Mr. Lien Chen-tung, commissioner of the Provincial Department of Civil Affairs, became the minister of Interior. Mr. Lien is the first native-born cabinet member to head a ministry. Mr. Tien Chun-chin, former minister of Interior, moved over to become chairman of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission. Ambassador Shen Chang-huan to Spain succeeded Foreign Minister S.K. Huang. Mr. Cheng Yin-fen, one time chairman of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, replaced Mr. Ku Feng-hsiang as minister of Justice. Dr. Shen Vi, chief of the Bureau of Flood Control and Water Resources Development, ECAFE, Bangkok, was called back to take over the Ministry of Communications. Mr. S. K. Chow, political vice minister of foreign affairs, succeeded Mr. C. M. Chen as new chairman of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission.
31. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs formally announced that President Dwight D. Eisenhower of the United States will visit the Republic of China on June 18-19 at the invitation of President Chiang Kai-shek. President Eisenhower will be the first incumbent American president to visit the Republic of China.
June 1. The Chinese Government donated NT$200,000 to relieve the victims of the recent earthquake and tidal wave in Chile. The relief fund was remitted to the Chilean government by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Government also decided to donate two thousand pieces of bagasse board to Iran where more than 500 people died due to a series of earthquakes last April. The bagasse board, which is recognized as good construction material on the Southeast Asian market, is one of the by-products of the state-owned Taiwan Sugar Corporation.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to set up a Chinese Legation at Port au Prince, Haiti. Chinese Ambassador Liu Yu-wan to Cuba will represent China as concur rent minister to Haiti, and Mr. Chen Chung-chun, who served as consul at Marseilles, Saigon and Haiphong, is named first secretary of the legation.
Mr. O. K. Yui, governor of the Central Bank of China and former premier, died of asthma with influenza complication. He is survived by Mrs. Yui and three daughters.
2. The Cabinet appointed Mr. Shen Chin-ting, former ambassador to Japan, as special envoy to attend the independence ceremony of Congo.
5. The second annual convention of the Federation of Asian Women's Associations (FAWA) opened at the National Arts Hall of Taipei. Madame Chiang Kai-shek addressed the opening session by urging women of Asia to "help lead the fight against Communism, the curse of our present world, by reminding and working with your friends in whatever calling they may be in, to rediscover the obvious." The convention has fifty delegates and observers from eight Asian nations and areas: the Philippines, Guam, Korea, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Republic of China. The President is Mrs. Minerva C. Laudico of the Philippines.
6. Taiwan-born Miss Lin Ching-yi was elected Miss China of 1960 in the first beauty contest in Chinese history. She will represent the Republic of China at the International Beauty Congress to be held in August in Long Beach, California, U.S.A. Acting as spokesman of the judges, Mr. Li Ching-sun said while voting for the Miss China of 1960, they had paid special attention to her height, good figure, her quick wit, grace of manner, and good education. Miss Lin, 22, who measures five foot five and weighs 113 pounds, is a graduate of Taipei's Shih Chien Home Economics College.
8. Mr. James C. Hagerty, leading an advance party to make arrangements for President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Far Eastern goodwill visit, arrived today with Mr. Thomas F. Stephens, appointment secretary, and US communications and secret service personnel. Mr. Hagerty will leave here for Tokyo on the morning of June 10 after working out the major points of the itinerary for President Eisenhower's visit on June 18 through 19.
9. Mr. James Shen, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, warned Cuba that Communist cultural and economic intercourse is merely an "instrument for infiltration and subversion" and hoped that "the Cuban Government is aware of the dangerous consequences." Mr. Shen also revealed that the Chinese Government has spared no effort to protect the interest of the overseas Chinese community in Cuba. "Only recently," he said, "upon representation by our Embassy in Havana, the Cuban Government abrogated the clause in New Cuban Alien Residence Certificate Regulations discriminating against Chinese nationals."
The United States aid commodities will be worth US$52,800,000 in FY1960, announced the Council for United States Aid. CUSA decided to reserve US$500,000 for trade with Italy, and has issued purchase authorizations for the remaining $52,300,000. The Chinese Government has decided to utilize this fund to import US$10,136,000 worth of soybeans, fertilizer, steel products, machinery and tools, medicine, chemicals, chassis and parts. China will use US$500,000 worth of Italian currency to buy US$250,000 of pharmaceuticals, US$150,000 of artificial fibers, and US$100,000 of motorcycles and parts from Italy.
11. The second annual convention of the Federation of Asian Women's Associations closed its six-day conference. During the conference, the delegates adopted 10 resolutions including the promotion of home industries to boost family income, the lightening of women's household work so that they may devote more time to promote peace, justice and democracy, and the prevention of illicit use of drugs and narcotics.
14. A five-man American investment group, headed by Mr. Jimmy Chiang, president and board chairman of Asiatic American, Inc., of Texas, arrived in Taipei to look into possibilities of building a US$5,000,000 tourist hotel in Taiwan. Coming with Chiang are Mr. French G. Hoehn, of Enid, Oklahoma, vice president of Asiatic American; Mr. David J. Oven, also of Enid, capital investor at Asiatic American; Mr. Richard C. Bradley, director of Asiatic American, and president of Cameo Oil Company, at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Mr. Harry V. Wheelock, an architect engineer and vice president of Turmbull, Inc.
15. The 6th annual convention of the Asian Peoples' Anti-Communist League opened in Taipei under the chairmanship of Mr. Ku Cheng-kang, president of APACL's China Chapter and also chairman of the APACL Council. More than 90 delegates and observers from Australia, Hongkong, Iran, Korea, Macao, Malaya, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Ryukyus, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, the Cameroons, Ceylon, Germany, Japan, Jordan, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Nepal, North Borneo, Saudi Arabia, and U.S.A. have come to attend the meeting. Vice President Chen Cheng addressed the opening session in the morning, and in the afternoon, Mr. Ku Cheng-kang was nominated and approved as president of the conference, and Mr. Tran Tam, delegate from Vietnam, as secretary-general. The first session decided to cable the Indian and Burmese governments expressing regret of the conference over their refusal to issue passports to an Indian observer, Dr. Ch. Devananda Rao, and the Burmese delegate, Mr. Thakin Ba Sein, respectively.