Taiwan Today

West Berliners have much to talk about these days, especially "the wall" and their chances of free survival. A favorite place to do it is the Hongkong-Lingnan restaurant, situated in the heart of the city on the Kurfurstendamm, Champs-Elysees of West Berlin.

Attesting to the restaurant's popularity are the signatures found in its big gold and red guest book. Celebrities include West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt and actress Martine Carol.

Berliners enjoy the exotic atmosphere and food. They can choose from a menu printed in Chinese, German and English. It lists 130 authentic Chinese specialties that can be prepared at record speeds. And they can wash the dishes down with hot Kaoliang, Ng Ga Pi or Mui Kwai Lo—wines imported from Taiwan or Hongkong.

It is also from Hongkong that Au Yue, manager of the Hongkong-Lingnan, gets his provisions. He left Canton, where he was born, 30 years ago. He has never been back to Asia.

"I'm sorry about that," he explained, "but what can you do? Such trips are costly, and one can't leave one's affairs, especially if they are in Europe, because nothing must miss the eye of the master. If I turned my back for several weeks, Cantonese rice would become Berlin rice—a kind of paste."

The chief cook of the Hongkong-Lingnan is Chang Pin. From 8 a. m. on, he is in his kitchen. He has 12 Chinese cooks and six young Berliners under him. He worries about lack of appreciation for Chinese cookery.

"Berliners," Chang complained, "eat too quickly. In half an hour the menu into which you've put your heart is gone."

However, business is business, and in this way the Hongkong-Lingnan serves between 700 and 800 orders daily, all of it authentic. Imported from Hongkong, a pound of bird's nest costs the proprietor of Hongkong-Lingnan DM160, including freight and customs. A pound of sharks' fin costs DM120.

Berliners like exotic things. The Hongkong-Lingnan offers them plenty. You'll find Chinese paintings on the walls. The light fixtures are Chinese lanterns. Chopsticks are on the table, even though many diners use the accompanying fork and spoon.

Actors making movies in Berlin usually show up two or three times a week, arriving at 11 p. m. and staying until about 1 a. m.

Child Prodigy Shines

When 10-year-old Miss Chen Pi-hsien left Taiwan for Germany early last year, her folks were worried that she might not be able to live up to her reputation as a musical prodigy in a country noted for its musical talents. It turned out the fears were unnecessary.

The little Chinese girl has proved a prodigy is a prodigy anywhere. She has passed an entrance examination to the Master Class of the National High School of Music in Cologne.

As a rule, only pupils of 16 years of age or older are admitted. Miss Chen did so well in the examination that school directors and Minister of Culture of Nordrhein Wastfall had to make an exception. Her German tutors say she is not only exceptional in music but also shines in other subjects.

Canada

Last Wish Denied

There was a mass burial at Victoria on Vancouver Island one day last November. Laid to final rest were the bones of 849 former coolies from Kwangtung. Their wish for another burial place was denied by the Communist regime ruling on the Chinese mainland.

The coolies were taken to British Columbia during the 1880s to build railways and work the gold diggings of the Cariboo. Like most Chinese, they had asked that their bones be sent home.

All during World War II and the Communist rebellion in China which followed, relatives of the deceased collected the bones and finally sent them off to the mainland via Hongkong. But the Communist regime refused to accept them. There was nothing to do but bury them in Canada.

Facelifting in Chinatown

A new era is dawning at Vancouver's Chinatown, the second largest in North America.

Under a 20-year urban-renewal program, bulldozers have already razed twelve buildings and soon will demolish seven blocks of the ramshackle shops and tenements clustered around neon-lit Pender Street. At least 1,000 of Chinatown's 15,000 inhabitants must move. With them will go many of the shops selling dried sea dragons, serpent's eggs, and curios.

Older Chinese, many of whom speak no English, mourn the disappearance of their familiar surroundings. But the younger generation seems to approve. Educated in Canadian schools and taking on Western ways, they are glad to leave for the suburbs.

They have a Chinese Lions Club now, even a Chinese smorgasbord drive-in. And more than that, Chinatown proudly noted recently that one of its girls had won the Canadian national Scottish dance championship.

South Africa

Money Counts

Members of Cape Town's Chinese community have demanded the "white" status already given to Japanese in South Africa.

"Our civilization is one of the oldest in the world," a Chinese spokesman said, "and if anything, we are whiter in appearance than our friends, the Japanese."

According to a recent ruling of the South African government, a Japanese, whether born in South Africa or visiting, can stay in a white hotel. And a Chinese may not. The Japanese may buy alcoholic beverages. The Chinese cannot buy them without a permit. The Japanese may live anywhere. The Chinese are allowed to live and own land only in specified areas.

Observers noted the new status for Japanese preceded an expected trade increase between Japan and South Africa and the likelihood that a Japanese embassy may open in Pretoria in 1962.

The Sunday Times at Johannesburg hit the nail on the head when it commented editorially: "Of all our cock-eyed racial laws the one about Japanese and Chinese will take a lot of beating. If the Japanese are classed as white then the same privilege should be granted to the Chinese.

"Or is the color of a man's skin determined by the color of money? Our racial laws, far from being inviolate, would appear to be readily susceptible to the influence of cash; and Japanese have cash value which the Chinese have not."

There are some 7,000 Chinese residents in South Africa. Their leaders are planning to request Premier Hendrik Verwoerd for a reconsideration of their status.

Korea

Stiff Sentences

A Korean army court-martial has convicted three overseas Chinese residents of smuggling and of illegal dollar transactions. Prison sentences ranged from 5 to 10 years, but defendants were cleared of espionage charges.

Li Tsai-ching, Korea manager of the U.S. registered Summit Corporation was sentenced to a term of seven years. Drugstore owner Sun Shen-tsan get 10 and former merchant Chang Keh-cheung was given five years. Sun was fined 200 million hwan (US$154,000) and Li and Chang 50 million hwan (US$38,500) each.

They were arrested by the Korean military junta last June but were released on bail prior to the trial, which started on November 27. They were taken into custody after sentencing and sent to Seoul's Sodaemun Prison.

Taipei

Optimistic Prediction

The presence of some 2,700 overstaying Chinese in the Philippines has been an irritant in Sino-Philippines relations through several Philippines administrations. A happy solution is in sight with the inauguration of Diosdado Macapagal as the Philippines President.

This optimistic forecast was made by Philippines Ambassador to China Narciso Ramos on the eve of his home trip late in December. "The new administration will undertake to solve this problem in a manner satisfactory to both sides as soon as possible," he said.

He said Mr. Macapagal is "keenly aware of the existence of this problem." The President-elect, he said, discussed the issue and considered it to be the only irritant between the two counties during his visit to Taipei a year ago.

"He told me then that if and when he became President," Ambassador Ramos said, "he would give his full attention to this matter so that a fair and satisfactory solution might be reached."

The ambassador stressed the paramount importance of Sino-Philippines friendship and cooperation to the peace and security of Asia. "The cooperation between our two countries must be full and complete and therefore all irritants, if any, should be removed," he said.

Ambassador Ramos said he believes the overstaying Chinese issue will be considered by President-elect Macapagal "in the light of our overall relation." He said he is ready to give the new Philippines President a firsthand briefing on the problem during his stay in Manila.

The Awakening

Chinese Communist infiltration into the overseas Chinese community of Indonesia has already failed. This information was given by a Chinese student in a letter to the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission recently.

The writer, who is still in Indonesia, said the disillusionment with the Peiping regime was accompanied by an upsurge of loyalty to the legitimate government in Taipei.

He disclosed the Communist fifth columnists were very active and popular in the city where he lived three years ago. A fifth of the Chinese residents joined Communist-directed organizations and some went to the mainland.

Such returnees revealed the true nature of Communism to the Chinese in Indonesia. Forbidden to go back to Indonesia and forced to work as slaves, the returnees told their bitter experience to their relatives through letters. No longer are there Chinese who would trust Communist promises, the young man wrote.

He reported that the Communist usurpation day of last October 1 went unobserved by the Chinese community in his city. Although the Double Tenth national day was not celebrated openly because of an official ban, the Chinese marked the occasion with many community activities, he said.