He urged the engineers to adhere to these guidelines and contribute to the struggle, saying:
"In the short run, the goal of our national struggle is to safeguard the bastion of national recovery - Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu - carry out the Three Principles of the People, engage in basic construction and cultivate national strength. In the long run, our goal is to recover the Chinese mainland and build a unified, free, peaceful and happy Republic of China.
"The principle of our national struggle is to thoroughly carry out the Three Principles of the People in keeping with the teachings of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and the last will and testament of President Chiang Kai-shek. Never under any circumstances shall we compromise with the enemy. We shall persevere in overcoming any and all adversities. We shall continue to pursue these undertakings with determination until the Maoist regime on the mainland has been eliminated.
"Our policy of national struggle is based internally on the building of the bastion of national recovery into a free, stable and prosperous society by cementing the people into a single entity of heart and action, while externally we stand firmly in the democratic camp. In our policy toward the mainland, we shall adhere to President Chiang’s instruction to devote ‘70 per cent of our strength to political affairs and 30 per cent to military operations.’ We shall work determinedly in the struggle and shall never be indolent or negligent, thus assuring both our success against the Communists and our national recovery.”
In seeking the success of national struggle, the Premier stressed the importance of pushing forward various construction projects to augment the national strength. He said the new six-year economic development plan effective in 1976 is intended to implement the national principle, policy and goal.
The Premier said the new plan will provide the people with:
- Modern, clean and well-equipped housing.
- Better clothing.
- More convenient mass transportation.
- Improved access to higher education.
- Job opportunities for all.
- A higher standard of nutrition.
The Premier said the success of national recovery is in the hands of the people and that the construction of Taiwan is part of the preparations for national recovery.
A bronze bust of Weng Chung-ming, first chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Committee of the Kuomintang, was unveiled in Taichung by Premier Chiang Ching-kuo.
In an address, the Premier stressed that people on the Chinese mainland and in Taiwan belong to the same family.
Speaking as chairman of the Central Committee of the ruling party, the Premier praised Weng’s persistent struggle in the revolution against the Ch’ing dynasty and against the Japanese occupation of Taiwan as symbolizing the real Chinese spirit and the Kuomintang’s patriotic nature.
He said Weng was the first person in Taiwan to join the Tung Meng Hui revolutionary party, forerunner of the Kuomintang. It is significant, he said, that the unveiling was held on the 30th anniversary of Retrocession Day.
"The Kuomintang and the people of Taiwan,” Premier Chiang said, “belong to one family through thick and thin.” He recalled that President Chiang Kai-shek restored Taiwan to China after leading the army and the people in an eight-year struggle against Japanese aggression.
Now the people in Taiwan must undertake a similar effort to liberate the 700 million people enslaved on the Chinese mainland, he said.
Cadets of six military schools completed their first phase training. Premier Chiang Ching-kuo urged them to unite and fight together.
Every cadet should take advantage of the opportunity to get on education, become a good officer and take the responsibility for recovering the Chinese mainland, Premier Chiang said.
Premier Chiang instructed agencies concerned to step up efforts to help overseas Chinese around the world so as to cement solidarity in the struggle against the Communists.
Mo Sung-nien, chairman of the Overseas Chinese Commission, said the Premier instructed that overseas Chinese:
- Be helped to develop industrial and commercial enterprises and coordinate
their investments with the economic reconstruction of the nation.
- Encouraged to come to Taiwan for schooling.
- Receive assistance in solving the difficulties facing their communities.
- Benefit from simplified entry and exit procedures and special treatment in
Taiwan.
Mo said that overseas Chinese remain firm in their anti-Communist stand and are giving whole hearted support to the Republic of China.
Overseas Chinese all over the world expressed grief over the passing of President Chiang Kai-shek.
They sent cables of support to the new leadership of the nation as President Yen Chia-kan was sworn in and as Premier Chiang Ching-kuo was elected chairman of the Kuomintang Central Standing Committee.
Nearly 20,000 overseas Chinese came to Taipei to attend October festivities this year.
Mo said overseas Chinese have foiled a number of schemes of the Peiping regime in their countries of residence.
Dr. F.A. von Hayek, 1974 winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, said in Taipei that the “land-to-the-tiller” program can promote the freedom of mankind. He cited Taiwan’s land reform program as a good illustration.
Speaking at a seminar on free economy and land reform, Dr. Hayek gave his own explanation of freedom.
He said freedom has two meanings. One is that a man can use his knowledge and talent to pursue his own goals in life. The second is that a man can pursue his goals under the law and without coercion.
If a farmer has his own land and tills it himself, this is an example of a free economy. He will work at peak efficiency and create wealth for himself.
Dr. Hayek said a farmer under a Communist regime, which does not permit the private ownership of land, will be miserable. He will not work hard because he is not tilling his own land.
More than 80 land officials, experts and economists attended the meeting sponsored by the China Land Reform Association.
Some 5,000 Lions from the Philippines, Japan, Hongkong, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, Brunei, Thailand and the Republic of China met in Taipei at the 14th Orient and Southeast Asia Lions Forum. President Yen Chia-kan told the opening ceremony:
"Lions International has sought goals of world peace and human welfare ever since its establishment. Lions have moved forward to these objectives by cultivating friendship, improving social mores, furthering fraternity and the spirit of mutual assistance, contributing to the well-being of all nations, promoting good international relations and upholding freedom. These lofty aims are in harmony with the spirit of the traditional culture of the Republic of China and in keeping with the common aspirations of the free world.
"The traditional culture of the Republic of China is centered on ‘benevolence and love.’ We believe that these two concepts contain the truth of the universe and the meaning of human life. When we talk of ‘love,’ we always imply 'benevolence;’ love would otherwise become a manifestation of selfishness. By the same token, when we speak of ‘benevolence,’ we must include ‘love,’ otherwise benevolence would be an empty word devoid of the potential for implementation. Since your philosophy is furtherance of the spirit of fraternity and mutual assistance, you share with us the ideal of the traditional Chinese culture centered on ‘benevolence and love.’
"Our founding father Dr. Sun Yat-sen inherited this traditional moral philosophy and developed it into the Three Principles of the People. He said: ‘Without morality, a country is not a country, and a world is not a world.’ The lofty intention of the Three Principles of the People is not limited to the interests of one country. Rather, it is to guide all mankind into a ‘world of great harmony.’ The late President Chiang Kai-shek followed Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s will in furthering the Three Principles of the People. He identified the fundamentals of Chinese culture as ethics, democracy and science. He said: ‘Ethics is basic in assuring one’s sincerity, rectifying one’s heart, cultivating one’s personality and regulating one’s family. Democracy is the principle for making a country happy and assuring world peace. Science is necessary to put things in order, to make proper use of resources and to improve livelihood.’ These are the intrinsic elements of the Three Principles of the People. The Republic of China is striving to carry out the three principles so as to bring into being the great philosophy of ‘one world for all.’ You are seeking world peace and human happiness, so your objective is the same as ours.
"We live in a turbulent world. People are bewildered. Life is in disorder. Moral standards are challenged. Consequently, justice is obscured; dividing lines between virtue and viciousness and between right and wrong are blurred. All of the peace-loving people of the world are engaged in a common struggle which seeks to overcome hatred with benevolence and love and to contain violence with the force of justice. At such a time in history, the efforts of Lions International to carry out its activities and realize its lofty ideals have taken on greater significance.”
In a message to the International Symposium on Productivity, President Yen said that the new six-year economic development plan of the Republic of China is aimed at facilitating the transition into a capital-intensive and technology-intensive economy.
Such adjustments must start with a reoriented outlook and a new mentality, he added.
Finance Minister K.T. Li told the symposium the transition to technology-intensive industries is not an isolated event in the Republic of China but part of a regional trend in the East Asian-Pacific area.
"If we are to achieve any further significant progress in the development of our economy,” he said, “we will have to shift our value system from quantity to quality, from production to productivity.“
More than 150 delegates from eight countries took part in the week-long meeting. They came from Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, the United States, South Korea and the Republic of China.
King Hussein said relations between Jordan and the Republic of China will remain close.
At an audience granted to Gen. Lai Ming-tong, chief of the general staff of the Chinese Armed Forces, King Hussein said relations between the two countries have always been cordial.
He said Jordan is grateful for the support and assistance the Republic of China has given Jordan’s economic and military development.
General Lai, accompanied by Ambassador Chen I-fan during the 20-minute audience, conveyed to King Hussein the best wishes of President C.K. Yen and Premier Chiang Ching-kuo.
There are many things Jordan may yet learn from the Republic of China, King Hussein told General Lai.
Much progress must have been made in the Republic of China in the 16 years since his 1959 visit to Taiwan, King Hussein said.
The Arab monarch decorated Gen. Lai with the Kawkab Al-Urdoni (Star of Jordan) Medal. Lai presented a jade vase to the King.
Tibetans fear that their stock will be exterminated by the Chinese Communists within the next 10 to 20 years, according to a refugee who came to Taiwan after leaving his homeland in 1958. The Communists have slaughtered thousands and are compelling Tibetans to marry Chinese. There are about 2 million Tibetans in Tibet proper and about a million in West China.
Ngawang Tenzin Megyur, who came to Taiwan from India in 1959, estimates that 100,000 Tibetans fled their land between 1956 and 1959. About 80,000, including the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of the Tibetans, are living in India, waiting for the day when they can return to their homeland.
Another 1,000 live in Switzerland and about 80 are in Taiwan. Megyur said Tibetan communities in exile are striving to preserve their culture and religion. Special Tibetan schools have been set up. Young Tibetans born abroad “will not forget who they are,” according to Megyur.
A large-scale anti-Mao struggle has raged in Canton since November 1974, according to documents from the mainland. The struggle began when a group of anti-Communist young intellectuals posted a 27,000-word “big character poster” entitled “On socialist democracy and institutions.”
The poster was signed by “Li I-che,” a code name of the group led by Li Cheng-tien, a graduate of a Canton college of fine arts.
Li has been assailed by the Maoists for “opposing the red flag by flying the red flag” and was arrested. The poster discussed “the new problems of the socialist revolution,” “the lessons from the great proletarian cultural revolution,” “Lin Piao’s system,” “the situation since criticizing Lin Piao,” “the countercurrent” and "the 4th people’s congress.”
The poster exposed the absurdity and falsity of Mao’s “proletarian revolutionary line” and “Mao thought.” It pointed out that by seizing power through the “cultural revolution,” Mao’s wife Chiang Ching has become the “new leader” of “the privileged class” and “the new bourgeoisie within the party.”
The poster said that after seizing power from Liu Shao-chi, Mao was still not satisfied with the prospect of Lin Piao succeeding to his power and purged Lin as a “super-agent” and “traitor.”
The poster is said to represent the views of the majority of young intellectuals on the Chinese mainland.
Route of a southern bend railway that would provide the last link in a round-the-island system has been tentatively decided.
Chen Shu-hsi, director of the Provincial Department of Transportation, said the projected line between Pingtung and Taitung would cover a distance of 82 kilometers.
The new railroad project, which will be built after completion of the Suao-Hualien line, will skip Hengchun at the southern tip of Taiwan.
The route will turn eastward at Chaochow, the second largest city in Pingtung county.
Hengchun is left out because of lack of economic importance. The government may consider building a branch line to Hengchun for tourism development.
Omission of Hengchun will shorten the route by some 20 kilometers.
Machinery and manpower being used to build the Suao-Hualien railway will be shifted southward to build the south bend link.
The railway system in Taiwan consists of the western trunk line from Keelung to Pingtung and the east coast line between Hualien and Taitung. The trunk system ends at Suao on the northeastern coast.
The Suao-Hualien line will provide service from Pingtung to Taitung once the narrow gauge Hualien-Taitung line is widened.
Kaohsiung’s shipyard, one of the 10 Major Development Projects, will become an essential and permanent establishment both economically and militarily, Wang Hsien-tang, chairman of the China Shipbuilding Corporation, said.
Addressing the Legislative Yuan, Wang said construction of the shipyard is nearing completion. It is already in partial operation, building a tanker of the 445,000-ton class.
Wang said his corporation should be considered a state enterprise, but has been set up as a private company to make it easier to raise capital and provide more flexibility in operation.
CSBC is cooperating with the Gatx Oswego Corporation in the construction of ships. He said that under U.S. State Department regulations, government guarantees for investment abroad are limited to private companies.
CSBC had estimated its capital need at NT$4,400 million, of which NT$1,100 million was to come from the government and private investors in ratio of 45 per cent to 55 per cent. The remaining NT$3,300 million was to be provided by banking institutions at home and abroad.
This plan has been revised twice to raise the amount of investment to NT$8,013 million, Wang said.
Wang said shipbuilding is still in the formative stage. “We still need to import much of the highly sophisticated equipment that modern ships require,” he said.
The shipbuilding executive stressed the importance of a training program to develop a competent work force and the heavy machinery manufacturing needed for coordinated development.
Kaohsiung Harbor, one of the busiest in the world, will embark on another ambitious program at a cost of NT$6.2 billion, the port authority announced.
Li Lien-chih, director of the Kaohsiung Harbor Bureau, said three major projects will be carried out in six years.
The first will be the construction of a new container terminal, the port’s third. Construction of wharf No. 68 has already started with completion scheduled for 1981.
The new container terminal, which will cost NT$2,700 million, will be able to accommodate the biggest container vessels afloat.
The second project is an undersea tunnel near the original port entrance to link the Chienchen district of Kaohsiung with the Chichin district across the harbor.
Construction will begin in 1977 and is scheduled to be completed by 1981. Cost is estimated at NT$2,700 million.
The third project is resettlement of about 2,500 families living in the Chichin area and Hungmao Kong at the port’s second entrance. The land will be used for shore facilities.
Resettlement of the families, including the construction of housing units, will require an expenditure of NT$800 million.
Kaohsiung, the biggest of the three existing international harbors, has undergone several expansions. The new port entrance, which is part of the second expansion program, was dedicated last summer. It is still being deepened so that ships of up to the 100,000-ton class can call at the harbor.
The continuous expansion of the port is necessitated by the rapid growth of Kaohsiung as the Republic of China’s largest heavy industrial complex. The Waterfront Industrial Park is already the home of several major enterprises, including a steel mill and a shipyard.
The port also serves the Kaohsiung Export Processing Zone and a similar zone nearby.
Crash improvement is under way at Keelung, the second largest harbor of Taiwan, to eliminate congestion.
Adm. Yuan Tieh-chen, director of the Keelung Harbor Bureau, said the four-year program includes:
1. Construction of a second finger pier, including two container berths, totaling
414 meters in length; a container yard of 45,000 square meters; a log basin of
34,500 square meters; and a shallow water wharf of 110 meters.
2. Improvement of piers 19 to 22, including a wharf of 220 meters; three piers
for berthing 5,000-ton ships; a breakwater of 470 meters; a warehouse of
7,500 cubic-meter capacity; and three transit sheds with capacity of 3,200
cubic meters.
3. Pachmen waterfront expansion project: a breakwater of 780 meters, two
piers of 405 meters, cargo storage yard of 60,000 square meters, access
road and parking lot of 22,700 square meters.
4. Purchase of cargo-handling equipment, including two gantry cranes, four 35-
ton forklifts and 150 regular size forklifts.
5. Addition of harbor working boats, including three tugs, a water supply boat, a
fireboat and 13 other working boats.
Twelve freighters will be assigned to a Taiwan-Middle East shipping line.
A conference attended by more than 30 shipping company executives was sponsored by the Provincial Department of Transportation. Chen Shu-hsi, director of the department, urged regular service operated by Chinese shipowners to prevent recurrence of the Laiconicos Gulf case.
Massive investment is required in agriculture as a result of changes in the last two decades, said Dr. Robert Lee, chairman of the Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction.
Farmers are unable to make large-scale investment. They need loans from the government on easy terms, he said.
"Developments have turned the labor-intensive agriculture of the 1950s into capital-intensive agriculture,” Dr. Lee said.
While suggesting loan support for farmers, Dr. Lee also urged stepped-up investment in rural public facilities so as to narrow the gap between the countryside and the cities.
During the last three and a half years, government banks have extended loans exceeding NT$5.1 billion for agricultural renovation, Dr. Lee said.
Labor shortages confront the farmer as a result of industrialization. Between 1969 and 1974, the agricultural labor force in Taiwan dropped from 1,730,000 to 1,640,000 due to the migration of rural youths to the cities.
Farm mechanization has to be stepped up so as to keep production from falling.
Dr. Lee presented these facts:
- Agricultural output increased 1.6 times between 1952 and 1975 while
population was growing by 0.95 per cent.
- Taiwan produces 88 per cent of the food grains it consumes.
- There has been a sharp improvement in diet with reduced consumption of
grains and increased consumption of proteins, vegetables and fruits.
- Farm income increased by 43 per cent in real terms between 1966 and 1974.
The rural population is enjoying more of the amenities of life.
- As of 1974 there were 63 TV sets, 26 refrigerators, 42 motorcycles, 37 stereo
sets and 11 daily newspapers per 100 farming households. The corresponding
figures for 1966 were 1 TV set, 14 refrigerators, 6 motorcycles, 12 stereo sets
and 5 newspapers.
- The farm population dropped from 52.4 per cent in 1952 to 36.6 percent in
1974. In the same period, agricultural production dropped from 35.7 to 16.8
percent of the net domestic product.
- Under the six-year agricultural development plan of 1976-81, the goal of food
self-sufficiency will be 91 per cent, up from 1965’s 88 per cent. Agricultural
growth will be at 2.9 to 3.4 per cent annually.
The Taiwan Provincial Government is taking steps to reserve more land for food crops. Factories and housing projects will be kept from encroaching upon better farmlands.
The Land Bureau of the Provincial Government said the move is necessary if the goal of 2,750,000 metric tons of rice annually is to be realized. Farmland is classified in to 26 grades according to soil, availability of irrigation and other factors.
Farmland from Grade 1 to Grade 12 is considered good for rice. Some 360,000 hectares of paddy belong to this category.
Farm tenancy will be wiped out within the next six years.
The Provincial Government is expected to requisition the 50,000-odd hectares of farmland still owned by former landlords for redistribution to 95,000 farmers who till the land as sharecroppers.
The contracts between the farmers and former landlords were signed in 1973 and will expire in 1979.
As of the end of 1974, 80 per cent of Taiwan farmers had become owners. The remaining 20 per cent consisted of part owners (11 per cent) and tenants (9 per cent).
During the land reform of the 1950s, landlords were permitted to retain ownership of a small portion of their land.
The area varies according to the grade of land. With the land price rising, few landlords have parted with plots still in their possession. The government has been able to buy only 5,000 hectares.
One problem is the price under requisitioning.
There are two suggestions: (1) requisition at the going price and (2) requisition at a price equivalent to five and a half times the value of the annual yield.
Sugar output will be increased to 880,000 metric tons in the 1976-1977 production year, up from 800,000 metric tons.
NT$2,465,150,000 will be invested by the Taiwan Sugar Corporation to raise production, including:
- Development of more wasteland and river bed lands as cane fields.
- Modernization of sugar mills.
- Improvement of transportation and storage.
- Encouragement of farmers and protection of their livelihood.
Labor insurance will be extended to all workers. A national inspection system will be established.
The moves are being taken in response to recommendations of overseas Chinese scholars and experts.
Highlights of the recommendations are as follows:
- Social insurance:
1. All employed citizens will be covered.
2. The rate of premium will be based on the occupation of the insured.
3. To reduce irregularities and ease congestion at the outpatient departments of
hospitals, patients should pay part of the medical bills.
4. Payments for disability and the aged should be converted into an annuity
system.
5. Funds of the Labor Insurance Bureau should be invested for profit.
- Labor welfare:
1. Establish a central supervisory system to oversee implementation of the Labor
Safety and Health Law and the Mining Fields Safety Law.
2. Improve labor union organizations to protect the rights and interests of
workers and raise labor productivity.
3. Improve labor welfare programs.
4. Coordinate labor education and vocational training.
- Social assistance:
1. Continue the “well-to-do program” to aid the poor and the needy.
2. Promote the welfare for the old and help the disabled re-establish a normal life.
- Vocational training:
1. Enact a vocational training law and establish a vocational training system.
2. Set up a new apprenticeship system.
3. Test the ability of trainees to measure the effect of vocational training.
- Urban planning and housing:
1. Public utilities facilities should be completed before housing projects are
undertaken.
2. Work out a set of rules for the development of slopelands.
3. Include funds for housing in government budgets.
4. Encourage private investors to invest in housing projects.
5. Set up a housing agency in the Central Government.
6. Provide a reserve fund to finance housing projects.
Defense Minister Kao Kuei-yuan told members of the Legislative Yuan that the Armed Forces are capable of manufacturing most munitions for themselves.
The armed services can make small and heavy arms, combat vehicles and chemical and electronics equipment. They can assemble and repair jet planes and warships. Military scientists are developing sophisticated equipment.
The fall of Cambodia and Vietnam, Kao said, taught the nation that so-called "international commitments” may be worthless. “We have to depend on ourselves. We have to build our own defenses with our own blood and sweat,” he said.
The services are building up defense capabilities on their own. “We must secure our offshore is lands and wait for the opportune time to launch our counterattack,” Kao said.