Taiwan Today

Jan. 11. A 17-member delegation of the Joint Economic Committee of U.S. Congress led by Senator Lloyd Millard Bentsen Jr., chairman, arrives for a two-day visit. President Chiang Ching-kuo visits the President Department Store in Kaohsiung, Taiwan's largest port city. 13. P.A.J. Liefkens arrives to assume his new post as chief executive of the Taiwan Philips organization. President Chiang Ching-kuo cables condolences to the family of George Meany, former president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization, who died January 10. The opening ceremony of the Badminton Invitation Tournament Taipei 1980 is held with Hsu Nai, president of the Taiwan Badminton Association, presiding. Premier Sun Yun-suan visits Pingtung and Kaohsiung Counties. Marking the 35th Judicial Festival, the Judicial Yuan, Ministry of Justice and affiliated departments hold a ceremony in Taipei. Dr. Arthur A. Kimball, director of Alumni Relations, Florida Institute of Technology, presents four scholarships to the Vocational Assistance Commission for Retired Servicemen. 14. David Dean, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, arrives for a week's visit. Min Kwan Shih, acting speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, arrives for an eight-day visit. The Suao-Hualien railway undergoes a test run with Communications Minister Lin Chin-sheng aboard for the 82-kilometer journey along the east coast. 15. General Hsu Huan-sheng, former commander in chief of the Chinese Air Force, presides at a memorial service for Mrs. Tien Ying King Chang, a Chinese businesswoman in the United States. 16. President Chiang Ching-kuo undergoes a transurethral resection of the prostate. Author Chen Jo-hsi departs for the United States. General Kao Kuei-yuan, the minister of national defense, opens winter military training for college undergraduates at Chengkung Range in Taichung. 17. Twelve writers and a dancer are announced as winners of the Fifth National Literary and Arts Awards. Sheikh Mohammed Ali Al-Harakan, secretary general of the Muslim World League, arrives for a week's visit. John C. Reynolds, president and chief operating officer of ITT U.S. Telephone & Telegraph Corporation, arrives for a two-day visit. 19. Motoo Shiina, a member of the Japanese Diet and son of Etsusaburo Shiina, late vice president of the Liberal-Democratic Party, arrives for a three-day visit. Members of the Chinese Cartoon Association hold an exhibition of cartoons at the Taipei Far Eastern Department Store to welcome the Year of Self-Reliance. Mayor Lee Teng-hui presents the key to Taipei to U.S. Senator S.I. Hayakawa. David Dean, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, meets with Dr. Tsai Wei-ping, chairman of the Coordination Council for North American Affairs, to exchange views on ROC-U.S. relations. Acting Speaker Min Kwan Shih of the National Assembly of Korea receives an honorary doctorate of laws from Ouyang Hsun, president of National Chengchi University. 20. Some 30 speakers and deputy speakers of city and county councils attend a seminar to welcome the Year of Self-Reliance. 21. Nieh Wen-ya, president of the Legislative Yuan, receives Thomas de Vere Hunt, assemblyman of New Zealand. Sheikh Hassan T. Megharbel, director general for Municipal and Rural Affairs of Western Province, Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, arrives for an eight-day visit. Lieutenant General Thomas Sanchez de Bustamante, chairman of the Supreme Military Court of the Argentine Armed Forces, arrives for a week's visit. Leonard Unger, the last American ambassador to the Republic of China, arrives for a five-day visit. A U.S. congressional mission led by Representative Lester Wolff arrives for a two-day visit. 23. World Freedom Day is marked at a mass rally in Taipei with Premier Y.S. Sun as the principal speaker. 24. The Republic of China and the Philippines sign a fishing agreement. Pope John Paul II nominates the Rev. Paul Shan, S.J., president of the "Kuangchi Programme Service" in Taipei, as bishop of Hualien. Premier Sun Yun-suan receives the Paul Harris Award for 18 years of contributions to Rotary. 25. Shintaro Ishihara, a Japanese Dietman, calls on Premier Y.S. Sun to exchange views on the world situation. The fifth Chinese-Korean teachers seminar is held at National Taiwan Normal University. 26. Ni Yui-si, president of the Republic of China Amateur Athletic Federation, presents a medal to Ryoichi Sasagawa, president of the World Karate Federation, for his contributions to the sport. Five American scientists arrive for a visit: Patrick Eugene Haggaerty, general director of the Texas Instrument Inc. of Dallas, Texas; Fredrick Seitz, former president of the Rockfeller University of New York, Carl Gerstacker, former chairman and the current member of the DOW Chemical Co.; Ivan L. Bennett Jr., dean of the School of Medicine of New York University; and Thomas L. Martin Jr., president of the Illinois Institute of Technology at Chicago. 28. Lawrence Ting, vice president of the Republic of China's Olympic Committee, and Lee Yen, secretary general, leave for Lausanne, Switzerland, to attend hearings on the ROC's status in the International Olympic Committee. President Chiang Ching-kuo returns to his office four days after his discharge from the hospital following surgery. 29. The board of directors of the American Bureau for Medical Advancement in China Inc. announces the election of Richard N. Peirson Jr., M.D., as president and Dr. George Humphreys, former president, as chairman of the board. 30. Mrs. Ruth Carter Stapleton, sister of President Jimmy Carter, arrives for a two-day preaching tour. Feb. 1. The Suao-Hualien railway is opened with ceremonies at Nanshenghu near Ilan and Hualien. 2. Wang Hsien-teng, chairman of the China Shipbuilding Corporation, and Bader M. Al-Sayer, deputy managing director of Kuwait National Petroleum Company, sign a contract for construction of four tankers. 3. Premier Sun Yun-suan visits the offshore island of Penghu to extend President Chiang Ching-kuo's Chinese New Year greetings. 4. Three mayors from New Jersey—Guy F. Muziani of Wildwood, Charles Guhr of Wildwood Crest and Anthony T. Catanoso of North Wildwood—arrive for an eight-day visit. Five members of the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea led by Lee Chul Seung arrive for an eight-day visit. Premier Sun Yun-suan addresses a group of Taiwan's outstanding farmers on Farmers' Day. 5. Jay van Andel, one of the richest men in the world and chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, arrives for a three-day visit. The Chinese Women's Anti-Aggression League's Executive Yuan Branch dispatches units to visit the Chen Hsing Rehabilitation Medical Center at Shihpei and the Catholic Elderly Home at Pali Village. 6. General Wang Sheng, director of the Political Warfare Department, visits Kinmen. 7. The China Buddhism Association holds its annual collection for the poor and social service organizations. 8. Louis Vorster, new ambassador of the Republic of South Africa, presents his credentials to President Chiang Ching-kuo. 9. Rafael B. de Piano, director general of Argentina's National News Agency, arrives for an eight-day visit. More than 12,000 representatives from all walks of life rally in Taipei to show their unity, self-reliance and patriotism. 10. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces severance of diplomatic relations with Colombia.